Keaton Howerton

he/him

Timezone

America/chicago

Language

English

About Keaton Howerton

My friend introduced me to D&D and I was actually pretty hesitant about it. I had never done anything like it and thought it would be too much for me, like it would be too nerdy of something for me to do. Little did I know that I would fall in love with the TTRPG in the very first session when I got to create my character and then play at level 1. I could see the possibilities and craved to play more and more after that. My group played about once a week, then once every 2 weeks, and then we fell off. It was frustrating to not be able to see what else I could do in the game, but also my friend was GM'ing and he made it sound like a huge task to accomplish every week. Years later, I decided that after years of longing to play again and not being able to, I wanted to give it another shot. I dipped my toes into being a DM myself for my college teammates and it was...not great, lol. I was very new and controlling and restricted gameplay. However, I got my redemption a couple years later with the same group of friends I started with and we ended up playing a continuing campaign for about a year and a half. It was such a joy to get together with my fellas and see the excitement on their faces as I took them through different scenarios with their beloved characters. The hard truth is that there always seems to be an abundance of players and a shortage of people who are willing to GM. That's why I'm here: to be the GM that friend groups are looking for. To be the GM I wanted.

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Featured Prompts

I became a GM because

I know what it's like to yearn to play a TTRPG and not be able to.

My favorite books are

the Red Rising Trilogy, The Wolfman, and The Sword of Kaigen

When I'm not running games I'm...

playing D&D!!!

How Keaton Howerton runs games

My desire as a GM is to give my players an adventure packed with twists, turns, growth, laughter, and thrills. I want to get into the PC's backstories and have their stories and goals fleshed out in the games. I want to make connections with the PC's stories to the story we are playing in. I love roleplaying, but I understand that some players need an intro to it, and need to a GM to assist in getting them to try it out in a safe space. I can do a variety of voices and I'm just itching for the chance to make the world we play in full of color. I enjoy tactical battles, medium-stakes combat, and seeing players dive into their creativity to make things happen in ways even I wasn't expecting. My goal is to reward creativity and PCs really getting into their characters. I want them to solve the riddles and conundrums I set before them, I want them to outsmart me, but I won't make it easy peasy. I want to push them to be the best version of their characters AND themselves. I have a few house rules I usually play with, but I'm open minded to however players want to play. I will offer these up before we start. I also like to give players the option to start with a magic item, to start level 1 with a feat, and to home-brew magic items to their liking.

Featured Prompts

I deal with rules issues by...

talking about the rules with players, looking up what it says in the books, and then coming to a compromise with the players that best fits the current moment in the game.

My games focus on...

roleplaying and badassery

Rules are...

1. Leave your egos, pride, and judgements outside of the game room. 2. Refrain from talking over, or making decisions for, other players. 3. Stay true to your initial dice rolls (unless instructed differently by the DM).