Jon
he/him
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About Jon
A long-time player and GM of tabletop RPGs with over thirty-five years of experience, I have been running D&D 5e for nearly seven years. I began my journey with as many "choose-your-own-adventure" style books as I could get my hands on, progressing to the red D&D Basic Rules Set by the time I was ten years old. My teens and twenties were spent wih Cyberpunk, GURPS, Storyteller, Traveller, and many more. Outside of gaming, I have worked multiple jobs, from craftsman to teacher, giving me a wealth of real-world experience and knowledge that I try to use to make my game worlds more grounded and "lived-in". I would like to think of myself as a storyteller first and foremost, and I enjoy developing stories for my players and (more importantly) with them. My aim as a GM is to create interesting and fun game worlds and situations that the players can engage with, changing the developing stories with their characters' actions. The Rule of Cool plays a large part in my games - I enjoy cinematic descriptions of action scenes, both creating them myself and especially having players describe their characters' actions in such a way - although very careful not to allow game-breaking precedent to be set! I look forward to sharing stories with you.
At a glance
1 year on StartPlaying
Featured Prompts
I became a GM because
Somebody had to do it! And I enjoy telling stories and sharing stories.
My favorite books are
Many and varied. A very select sample would include the works of Terry Pratchett, Jim Butcher, Alan Moore, and Susanna Clarke among others.
When I'm not running games I'm...
Generally planning the next session or worldbuilding in my head. I also play video games and run a very small YouTube channel dedicated to video games.
How Jon runs games
My games are planned in order to be fun for the players. That said, I enjoy roleplay, both between players and NPCs, and between the players themselves. I try to leave space for player interactions whenever possible. Combat will sometimes be very challenging, but even smaller encounters have the potential to be lethal. I lean towards cinematic combat descriptions and encourage my players to do the same. I find combat to be much more interesting when players are using the environment, swinging on chandeliers and that sort of thing, and going into detail about the types of actions they are attempting to perform. I have been known to increase a player's chance of success based solely on how cool the action is. As you can imagine, the "Rule of Cool" plays a large part in my games. In terms of the story, I will include jokes and not-so-subtle puns in my games and some NPCs will be designed to be silly. Not everything in a game should be epic and world-changing - the smaller moments can be as much (if not more) fun and memorable. I will allow bending (and occasionally even breaking) of the rules if it seems fitting to do so and, if the rules are unclear, I tend to decide things generally in favour of the players.
Featured Prompts
If my games were Movies they'd be directed by...
Guillermo del Toro, ideally. Probably Uwe Boll though.
Rules are...
Important to keep in mind. That way you know when and how to break them.
When it comes to voices
I do my best. That's about all I can say. I'm not a voice actor.
Jon's ideal table
My table is a place to have fun and share in the creation of a story. It is not just a series of combat encounters with loot at the end - rather the story develops based in large part on the actions (and inaction) of the characters. Roleplay is strongly encouraged, both within the party and with NPCs, and your backstory will likely feature in any longer campaigns. I prefer homebrew worlds, which also gives players the opportunity to be creative with their characters.
Featured Prompts
I love it when a player
Surprises me. There's no better feeling than being outmanoeuvred by a player who has thought outside the box and done something that you didn't even consider.
Jon's Preferences
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Game Mechanics