L

he/him

Timezone

America/chicago

Identity

Veteran

About L

Simmered and set within the stew of Gygax, Jackson, Petersen, Reign-Hagen, and so many more marvels, I am a lifelong storyteller who has given himself wholly to the craft of entertainment found within our dreaming. With a résumé nearly as aged and steeped as Red Box Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, only now do I find the will to invest in new troupes and adventure beyond my physical reach. I stand prepared to offer indulgent and daring exploration of the mind and will in a variety of game settings. My narrative passions focus on realms built on the foundations of Dungeons & Dragons, Vampire: The Masquerade (specifically all of the broad, new and classical White Wolf-related settings, including Scion editions and similar), and Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu. By others summoning my will, I can provide storytelling entry to these indulgent experiences for any troupe that asks. I aim to provide visceral, improvisational, and exploratory nuances—and depending on the game—quite certainly combat, action, and energized adventure. I am also versed in a variety of independent and narrative-forward systems such as Annalise, GURPS, Fiasco, Monsterhearts, Mörk Borg, Blades in the Dark, Ten Candles, and Trophy Dark. Whether players seek introspective horror, gonzo mayhem, grimdark survival, or collaborative tragedy, I am ready to meet them there. All anyone must do is ask.

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Featured Prompts

My favorite books are

Machiavelli's The Prince, H.P Lovecraft's assembled works, Sylvia Plath poetry collections, USFS 1919 : The Ranger, the Cook, and a Hole in the Sky (and related novellas), and the Divine Comedy

My favorite system of all Time is

Oddly, Marvel Super Heros (tsr). Wild and chaotic as it was the set up was quite entertaining. Since I consider Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu quite handy. Better if muddled with some modest homegrown concepts, but the simply percentile system really keep things moving.

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

Focused on family, board gaming, or tooling within python code. Alone time for me is spent reading classical poetry, cosmic horror books, or world building.

How L runs games

While crafting narrative experiences, I focus on the role of entertainer. If that requires consistent adjudication of dice rolls and mechanical precision, so be it. If it calls for narrative theatrics and improvisation, all the better. What it will never be is lifeless by design. My stories are player-driven, responsive, and empowering. Characters live, characters die, but the goal remains unchanged: the players must be fulfilled. Game worlds evolve based on the lives players lead within them—never merely as victims of fate, nor as forces the world must always yield to. The job, after all, is to guide the stories—but the players are the voices within them. It’s not only about my story. That’s the realm of fiction writers, capitalizing on novels and prose. I’m here to lend my voice to new worlds and dramatic expression within the confines of curated settings and simple mechanics. I come equipped with decades of built worlds and deep experience managing the visions of others. That is the role I seek: to aid in creativity and fun, wherever the story leads. I’ve never sat at a full table where player desires were ignored, nor seen a truly successful host who served only themselves. This is my offer—to craft narratives where players are the center of a growing, evolving universe, no matter the setting.

Featured Prompts

If my games were Movies they'd be directed by...

Robert Eggers surely, Im big on horror and old world narratives. One of my players still gets chills anytime they hear the tune "My Darling Clementine". Other runners up would be: Mike Flanagan, with notes of Midnight Mass series, I adore the surreal and as such Denis Villeneuve or Guillermo de Toro

I once ran a session...

In Afghanistan on an overnight 3 day overwatch mission with a guard posted on rotation with 360⁰ view while we stayed up in shifts.

Rules are...

Important as tools to serve the will of the players, for the GM theyre the framework that players can use to predict play. Ultimately, the rules are there to guidance and to keep players from quibbling over "nah-uh you didnt hurt me I say I punched first" issues. They arent, however cudgels for GMs

L's ideal table

I prefer loads of improv, and derailing sandboxes that always seem to find their return to the darker tides of a full narrative. I play the game as a game, surely. Yet, I narrate and prepare in literary measure with thematic narrative beats, heroes journey drives, and character STORY development at focus. All distilled in a boil of emotional twists, rules guided outcomes, exploration of grey mortality, and if fitting the game setting played wildly heroic colorful description.

Featured Prompts

I love it when a player

Respects rules and boundaries, but works a personal narrative that drives deeper meaningful stories. PvP is annoying - player versus self is better :) Really depends on the game - but open in-character and improv rule guided play is my favorite.

I think it's a red flag when players...

Lose the plot and fixate on "winning" or dominating the table rather than focus on 2 key notions: everyone wants to feel good after gaming by having fun and feeling seen/heard/important. Or forget they and their character are not the same person.

I think min/maxing...

Has its place, games with heavy combat or goal focus work well for that. I prefer more focus on the story, voice, and drama of the character than their perfect dice rolls. In some games that is important however. Really depends. I've done it alot, I figure we all want to feel exceptional at a table.