Dan

he/him

Timezone

Europe/london

Language

English

About Dan

I'm a 36 YO living in the midlands of England. I'm a professional Animator and Illustrator by trade, so I have a keen eye for bringing characters to life! I've had a lifelong passion for animation, film and storytelling generally, my most recent narrative obsession has been the anime Frieren. I'm an avid videogamer, classic survival horror is my genre of choice, I also keep a wide selection of board games, favourites being Treasure Island, Captain Sonar, Dead of Winter, Carcassonne and War of the Ring. I have been GMing a homebrew campaign for a little over a year, I have run several multi-session one-shots previously and I have been playing in D&D parties as a player for over 4 years. After finding my stride with GMing I very quickly grew to love the creative and narrative opportunities the role brings, finding it to encourage and test many of my lifelong interests, fusing them unlike anything I've been involved in before. I also have taken up drawing my own combat maps & dungeons, which has proven a hit with players - I often end up drawing character portraits or sketch scenes from in-game hijinx.

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Featured Prompts

I became a GM because

the more I played D&D the more I wanted to see behind the curtain. After taking the plunge with a few homebrew one-shots I've been hooked ever since. I very quickly grew to love the creative and narrative opportunities the role brings, finding it to encourage and test many of my lifelong interests.

My favorite shows/movies are

The Matrix, The Incredibles, Fellowship of the Ring and Pirates of the Caribbean are a few of my all time favourite movies. Recently I've really enjoyed KPop Demon Hunters & Barbarian. Arcane, Breaking Bad, Parks and Recreation, TNG/Voyager & most recently Frieren are some of my favourite shows.

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

an Animator, writing scripts, drawing storyboards, and bringing characters to life through animation. I also run a small Etsy store where I create video-game and pop culture themed greetings cards and stickers. I'm a big survival horror fan, I'm usually playing a recent indie release or 90s classic.

How Dan runs games

I try to cater for each of the three pillars - roleplay, exploration and combat fairly equally, although personally I favour roleplay and exploration over combat. I enjoy digging into character backstories and motivations, creating interlinking threads between the characters and the world they are exploring, hopefully allowing for dramatic discoveries and unlikely relationships to unfold. I'm a lover of a good puzzle to get players scratching their heads, talking and working together, I also like to employing introspective questions to allow players to get to know their own and each others characters better, for those quieter moments in an adventure. - I run D&D 5e (2014) - I use FoundryVTT for combat & dungeons, music, sfx & flavour imagery. - I use D&D Beyond for Character sheets / inventories & stat tracking. - I tend to use several house rules. - I (try to) do voices, going for cadence and memorable quirks over accents. - I tend to draw my own region, city, combat maps and dungeons. - I can sketch character portraits or in-game scenes upon request.

Featured Prompts

My games focus on...

Characters; PC's and NPC's, heroes and villains and their potential interlinking histories, backstories and futures and how all of them influence or are a part of the unfolding story and world around them.

Rules are...

for the most part, to be followed. However I'm not against bending the rules so fun can happen. I also use a house rule where a PC wants to perform an action, cast a spell etc that is slightly outside of the rules, we can bargain with your resources so you may be able to still do what was in mind.

When it comes to voices

I try. I typically go for cadence, mood or qwirks over accents, as all accents I do end up Irish. I like to encourage my players to do voices too, but it's okay if they feel uncomfortable with it.

Dan's ideal table

I like to think my table has a fairly relaxed atmosphere, the feeling of friends meeting up on a Saturday night for board games, a couple of drinks and snacks for some make-beleive and collaberative storytelling. I try to cater for each of the three pillars of D&D - roleplay, exploration and combat fairly equally, although personally I favour roleplay and exploration over combat. I'm not beholden to the rules but tend to follow them pretty closely, I do also impliment some House-Rules of my own. I don't really tolerate PC's causing chaos for chaos' sake, e.g. deliberately going against the grain without narrative or motivational reason, or seeking to disrupt an ongoing quest or story thread just for the lulz. I appreciate players arriving on time, understanding when the spotlight is on others and keeping their phones down (paying attention).

Featured Prompts

If you're into ___, you're going to love my table

uncovering mysteries, survival horror, swashbuckling, puzzle solving and uncovering truths about your character

I love it when a player

thinks creatively about how to use their skills and actions in combat, dungeons and in roleplay. I also love it when a player embraces their characters personality as much as they feel comfortable doing, so a distinction between themselves and their character can be felt.

I think metagaming...

kinda spoils the fun and the immersion, but can sometimes be unavoidable.