Shepherd-of-Ulthar
he/him
5.0
(5)
Timezone
Language
About Shepherd-of-Ulthar
Hey there! I work at a bookstore here in Germany, which means I’m surrounded by stories every day — just the way I like it. I’m an avid reader of all things sci-fi, fantasy, and speculative fiction. I started GMing about ten years ago while studying literature at university, and I’ve been hooked ever since. If I could build my ideal book series from pieces of my favorites, it would have: the dark political intrigue of The First Law by Joe Abercrombie, the wit and humor of Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, and the vivid world-building of Scott Lynch’s The Lies of Locke Lamora. If that blend sounds like your cup of tea, we’ll probably get along just fine. When I’m not running games or reading, you’ll usually find me deep in a complex board or card game. My current favorite (and mild obsession) is Arkham Horror: The Card Game. I love exploring its clever mechanics — but what really draws me in is losing myself in its rich, interconnected storytelling.
At a glance
Less than a year on StartPlaying
Highly rated for: Creativity, Storytelling, World Builder
Featured Prompts
My 3 systems I'd bring to a desert island would be
D&D 5e It’s just home for me. I can run it half asleep, and I’ve tweaked and changed it over the years to do and be exactly what I want it to. Blades in the Dark Great system. It’s lean, clean, and elegant. Pathfinder 2e Hear me out — sometimes I just like it when it goes "crunch crunch".
My favorite books are
If I had to assemble my ideal book series by taking parts from some of my favorites, I would choose: The dark political plotting of The First Law by Joe Abercrombie The occasional humor from the Discworld series by Sir Terry Pratchett The vibrant setting of Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora
My favorite shows/movies are
I love the vibes and general flair of Arcane. At least once a year, I have to rewatch Avatar (not the blue cat-people one). I don’t care what became of it — the first few seasons of Game of Thrones have a special place in my heart.
How Shepherd-of-Ulthar runs games
I'm very much a story-first GM. I play for the great emotional moments of character growth, shocking plot revelations, and brilliant, out-of-pocket ideas. I reward creative players who want to contribute to the worldbuilding and enjoy collaborating with me. I like to craft intricate but limited spaces in which the PCs can upset the balance of power between different factions. I don't normally prepare plot, but I do prepare places, scenes, and characters. I also figure out what would happen if the PCs didn’t do anything — and then I extrapolate the consequences of their decisions by comparing them to that baseline. I enjoy thinking about how the world would dynamically change around the PCs as they grow and become more central to the goings-on of the world. I'm not really into travel-heavy scenarios, where the group is presented with a brand-new town every session like a clean slate. Instead, I prefer it when that slate becomes more and more stained the longer we go on. In the end, I always find that my campaign notes resemble the red-taped corkboard of a ragingly paranoid detective. And i love that!
Featured Prompts
My favorite trope is...
The King in Hiding, or the Secret Noble. If a player comes to me and says, "I want to be first in line to the throne, but here’s why I’m sleeping in a barn right now..." I get immediately excited. Don’t be afraid to be a big deal in my world. it’s your world too, so grow some deep roots.
Rules are...
A Suggestion from a Well-Meaning Friend Some structure is important, but I prefer to have an action-first approach to roleplay. Just tell me what you want to accomplish and how your character would go about doing that, and then we can worry about how we express it through game mechanics.
When it comes to voices
Well, I’m not a voice actor. Moreover, though I’m a fluent English speaker, it’s not my mother tongue. So I’m sparing with accents and exotic voices. Instead, I try to characterize my NPCs by describing their mannerisms and behavior to you in evocative language.
Shepherd-of-Ulthar's ideal table
Featured Prompts
I love it when a player
Thinks About the Game Between Sessions The best part of tabletop gaming is the story in our heads — and we get to enjoy that even away from the table. So if you want to shoot me a message about what your character does during downtime, or where you think their arc is going, I’m stoked to hear it.
I think metagaming...
Its fine as long as it makes the game more fun for everyone, not less. I’m a genre-savvy guy, and when I’m in a horror game and hear a noise from the scary basement, you’d better believe I’m grabbing the low-battery flashlight and heading down there.
Shepherd-of-Ulthar's Preferences
Game Mechanics