Gary
he/him
4.9
(9)
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About Gary
I have been playing and DMing various editions of D&D since I was in middle school in the late 80s. I GM D&D 5e and D&D 2024 in two home games right now. I have over 9,000 hours of DMing and play on Roll20, which is the virtual tabletop that I use. I use Discord for voice chat. I have run several D&D campaigns to completion, including Baldur's Gate: Descent into Avernus, Dungeon of the Mad Mage, and Curse of Strahd. I have also run Mutants and Masterminds 3e home campaign in the recent years, and I running an Essence20 Transformers home campaign. I have a Bachelor's Degree in English and have several creative writing courses during my university experience. Special needs are extremely important to me since I am clinically depressed. I will keep a safety deck on the Roll20 VTT and I will have session zeroes to ask players questions about what they want and what they enjoy in a TTRPG and where their boundaries are. I won't charge for a session zero. I don't tolerate disrespect toward me or other players, and while I will discuss issues with people outside of game time, I will kick and ban immediately toxic folks and repeat offenders. I do not run or tolerate PvP during my games.
At a glance
Less than a year on StartPlaying
Highly rated for: World Builder, Storytelling, Inclusive
Featured Prompts
I became a GM because
I enjoy storytelling, world-building, and in-character roll-playing. Oh, yeah, and combats and other challenging make the story more interesting, more collaborative, and are fun, too!
I got started GMing...
In the late 1980s when I was in middle school. I ran one game a week of 1st/2nd ed. AD&D for friends at their houses on weekends. I game mastered and also got to play all throughout high school and university as well.
My favorite shows/movies are
Almost anything Star Trek, Marvel. DC, Superman, Jurassic Park, Top Gun, Macross, and Transformers TV shows or movies. I also loved and own the Lord of the Rings extended versions.
How Gary runs games
I enjoy running in-depth character interactions as much as I enjoy dynamic combats over varied terrains and literally running fights. I can provide detailed in-depth descriptions, but I also use the best maps that I can, and not just for combat. I find it can help players stay focused if they have a map with nice scenery and character art to look at.
Featured Prompts
I deal with rules issues by...
I deal with rules issues by making a temporary call on the spot and trying to be as fair as possible about it, and then either looking up or having another player look up a rule, or taking a player aside after the game and discussing a fair interpretation or modification going forward.
My games focus on...
My games focus on collaborative storytelling, in character interactions with the world and the beings that inhabit it, and of course, the struggles of the players characters, both in ways both martial, interpersonal, and against the environment.
Rules are...
Rules are necessary to help ensure fairness among players' characters and give them a concrete way to interact with an otherwise imaginary and abstract world. They also give GMs a way to judge the power level and fairness of challenges that they set before the players.
Gary's ideal table
My ideal table is where the players and their characters cooperate both in and out of game, and where the players can collaborate with me to make the story more fun for them. I want the players to have fun and enjoy their characters and the adventure story, but need respect and I need to have some fun telling the tale as well. I'd like to have players help me tell stories that they will remember positively for a while and even tell their other gaming friends about it.
Gary's Preferences
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