Gal

he/him

Timezone

America/new York

Language

English

Identity

Queer

Neurodivergent

About Gal

I have been a GM for almost a decade because I love off-the-beaten-path systems and concepts. I prefer frameworks, not hard rules, and will work with you to bring a concept to life and connect you to other players in the game for a cohesive and creative experience!

At a glance

1 year on StartPlaying

Featured Prompts

I became a GM because

I love seeing what people will do differently with an idea, and what I can learn about others in seeing how they bring a concept to life.

My favorite shows/movies are

Sailor Moon, Assassination Classroom, Person of Interest

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

reading, researching, and dreaming of a better world. Fortunately, TTRPGs let me make at least a more interesting one with other people.

How Gal runs games

I am a deeply narrative ST, with a preference for systems with flexibility. My first game, both playing and STing, was World of Darkness, and what choice of stat + skill a player chose to use was always fun to interpret and apply. I like 7th Sea for the same reason, as well as Legend of the Five Rings (although be warned, I take a very critical eye to some base assumptions of that setting). I do character voices!

Featured Prompts

I once ran a session...

where the characters had the decision to save or doom an entire world: Europa the Incarna had decided to take in some Wyrm-tainted Pentex creations, and the characters could choose to murder the creatures (and be justified by their society's rules), betray her to Jupiter, or keep her secret.

My games focus on...

interpersonal relationships and the ripples of character choices, and the dynamic nature of the worlds I am putting characters into. I will change an entire aspect of the world and alter the course of a story off of a single player choice if it resonates with the other characters and my theme.

Rules are...

useful but not law, with the reason for why they are there and what they are meant to simulate (or constrain) more important than following them to the letter.

Gal's ideal table

Ideal table is five to six players who are bought into the base idea and interested in learning or applying information about a game; if I am running a Rokea game, I am really hoping for players who have some understanding of ecology or at least a hatred of deep sea dredging. If I am running L5R, I am interested in players who think beyond their characters' understanding of Bushido to the realpolitik behind it. If I am running Dreadful Secrets of Candlewick Manor, I really hope the players are interested in the theme for that particular run even if their characters don't know Morgan from Morgause.

Featured Prompts

I love it when a player

picks up on some minor detail I mentioned and runs with it, even if they go someplace with it I didn't intend or I wasn't planning on.

I think metagaming...

is a tricky concept, because as s players (and GMs) we're here for enjoyable escapism and sometimes that's going to diverge from the choices a character would make. I don't mind it as long as a player is using a limited amount of outside information towards a more complex and fun story for everyone.

My table is not the place for...

one-dimensional understandings of a theme or system. A W:tA game is not just about 'killing Wyrm creatures'. An L5R game is not just about 'number go up' for your character's Honor. A superhero game is not just about thwarting bank robbers, and something set in a D&D world is not just about level.