Jesse

he/him

Timezone

America/kentucky/louisville

Language

English

Identity

Artist

Cosplayer

About Jesse

I have been playing TTRPGs since grade school, and have been DMing about 30 years. I firmly believe that story trumps rules, and often move tales along with hand waving of things which would bog down the plot. I enjoy magic, and have spent a little time as an IRL magician, as well as a lot of time studying mythology, occultism, and religion, often incorporating such into my narratives. I usually tend to tell stories in genre of horror or high magics, and often create my own worlds to tell them in. I prefer a party size of around 3-5. I find that gives a good balance of group involvment and keeps teh down time between actions lowest.

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Featured Prompts

I became a GM because

If I have one skill I am best at, its story telling. I love painting wild and strange worlds in the minds of others. I enjoy the idea of showing someone, even if just in their mind's eye, something they have never seen.

I got started GMing...

...when I was about 10. My friend ran two table top games for me and I got hooked, but since it took forever for us to get together to play, I started trying my own hand at it. Before long I was DMing almost exclusively, as more and more people turned up to be interested.

How Jesse runs games

I've been playing tabletop games most of my life, and am a passionate story teller. I tend to lean heavily on plot and story, encouraging character development and creative problem solving. I generally play rules light, hand waving rules and rolls when they will bog down the narrative. I prefer players who role-play their characters rather than just throwing dice and numbers at things. Most of my story telling is in the form of theatre of the mind, using apps like Roll20 for dice and occasionally combat, should the situation require a more detailed look at the battlefield, etc. I tell games in three formats, One shots (or 5-room dungeons), short story (2-6 sessions), and epic campaigns (as long as they take), though in the case of the latter, I will probably not be running and long play games for a while, until i think i have a solid enough group together, and a bit more experience on this platform. Most of my tales lean towards magic and horror, though I have told a story or two in every genre I can think of. I like worlds like MAGE, Cthulhu, Ravenloft, and other "Bump in the night" kind of tales. As an IRL magician, and as a fan of horror, mythology, occultism, folklore and multi-cultural religions, my magical worlds tend to have very deep lore which those familiar with such studies often find rewarding. I generally gravitate to the rules systems of MAGE 20E, or D&D 5e with some home brew details added.

Jesse's ideal table

My dream table is a group of players who knows their characters well, and play them with heart. Character voice, and in character actions make a story memorable. Players who can work together, and and able to think outside the box to solve problems as a team, and are more interested in evolving their characters than stacking their numbers.

Featured Prompts

I love it when a player

speaks and acts in character. Not that they need to use a funny voice, but, reacts to a situation as they they would. (i.e. Just because you saved against fear doesn't mean your character wouldn't run away from that giant spider. They HATE spiders.)

I think min/maxing...

is fine, if there is an appropriate reasoning. Most people are just doing so to swing their dice rolls and get their highest bonuses, which tends to make for a very boring character. There are certainly exceptions, but I am here for story, not recreational mathematics.