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Dermiss

Dermiss (he/him)

5.0

(6)

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Highly rated for: Rule of Cool, Voices, Inclusive

About me

Greetings, My handle is Dermiss and I'm a veteran DM of about 6+ years. I've only very recently started dipping my toes into the waters of professional DMing. I'm quite loose with my DMing style and I tend to take a more improv approach to running games. I'm good with most any tone, even if...well, the tone shifts if that's everyone's cup of tea. My bread and butter tends to be DnD, particularly 5th edition. However, I've at least tried the other DnD systems before it (and hopefully the newest edition in time). Other TTRPG systems I'm quite fond of are Tale from the Loop, Vampire the Masquerade 5th edition, the Fantasy Flight 40K books, and a bunch of others I'm not quite remembering.

GM Style

I tend to be more improv heavy with less planning involved as I like the players to ultimately drive the narrative. I've been told I'm pretty snazzy at voices and that I have a knack from swinging between extremely goofy to grim/horror. I'm generally pretty decent at Combat, though that certainly isn't my focus. I'll absolutely admit that I'm more of a narrative guy in most cases.

Game platforms used
Game Master Reviews (6)

Proficiencies

Players say this GM is great at:

Rule of Cool

Voices

Inclusive

J.R. avatar

J.R.

My first de facto DM. It helps he's a goddamn good one. Not to get too sentimental, but everything I did for multiple years was building from foundations that this man has created. Tales from the Loop was the first system that I earnestly understood, and it helped that he was very kind to let us build off of his work until it had ballooned in scope to something very few of us could have predicted. He is deeply involved, professional as needs be, and matches the energy of the party to great effect. I will never not think of his voiceovers, and how much he put into the performance- sometimes *too* much. Enthusiastic recommendation. This man knows his shit.

Ace avatar

Ace

Genuinely an amazing story teller. I knew next to nothing about the setting he was introducing me to for a oneshot, and five minutes in I was completely immersed despite being in an environment not very well-suited for gaming. Amazing NPC voices, amazing at tying in player story and personality to games, very good at balancing combat encounters to make them challenging and feel winnable. Just an excellent DM, all around.

Viviano avatar

Viviano

I've been in a handful of tabletops with him as the Game Master over the years, and he ensures to make sessions fun for the whole group to enjoy. His characters and ideas bring life into the story, he listens to the players of feedback and suggestions, and he allows players to get creative and interact amongst each other in roleplay-focused campaigns he usually runs (but isn't afraid to get combat started if he feels it is needed). My favorite tabletop with him on the GM seat would definitely be from being in the Tales of the Loop campaign, a tabletop set within the 1980s in Nevada with the group consisting of kids / teens. While there was the Loop building the group had to worry about, we also had to deal with a jellyfish alien having a cult following and wanting to take over the planet to bring back the extinct jellyfish alien race, as well as time-travel messery in a couple sessions or so (including going through a groundhog's day for a festival event one session), and so on.

Bunnibelles avatar

Bunnibelles

Dermiss is the GM that got me into TTRPGs. After one campaign of his, it was so incredible I couldn't put the hobby down. He's accepting, patient, and incredibly fun as a GM. From very fun, zany NPCs, to very dramatic storytelling, and always involving the PCs in unique and detailed ways. If you need a GM to help you get into TTRPGs, or an experienced GM for a more experienced crew, Dermiss has you covered.

SkullHareStudios avatar

SkullHareStudios

Really awesome DM in our private games especially. He does well to set the mood and tone of the story and his best aspect is genuinely how kind he is in making sure everything is accessible for everyone and knows when the rules are meant to be broken to make something fascinating.

FirePtarmigan avatar

FirePtarmigan

If I could've ticked every box on the "how would you describe your game master" question, I would have. Dermiss has been a DM for our friend group for years, and I've never been left disappointed or underwhelmed by any game he's run. He's a man who cares deeply for the craft, and for his players, and he brings a hard-to-replicate spark to games that I've rarely experienced from other DMs.

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