Zaya

he/him

5.0

(18)

Timezone

America/los Angeles

Language

English

Identity

Indigenous

Teacher/Educator

Game Designer

About Zaya

David the Strong grew frustrated, stood up, and said, "You know what? Forget this puzzle. I'm going to break down that door!" He climbed up the stone ledge, he swung his hammer, and the door exploded with thunder magic, blasting him off the ledge and onto the puzzle on the floor, which triggered a fire trap. And with everyone at the table crying from laughter, that's how David the Strong died in a one-shot. A little about me, my name is Zaya, I'm a teacher, I've been a GM for TTRPG's for over 20 years now, and am lucky to have completed a majority of campaigns that I've helped start. You will find me running published content like Curse of Strahd, Lost Mine of Phandelver, and Star Wars EotE: Scum & Villainy, but with heavily modified story beats to shape the players background into the narrative. My campaigns typically last 1 to 2 years and they are sandbox / open world main quests that are filed with: side quests, tactical combat with boss phases, building and maintaining strongholds, relationship leveling system for recurring NPCs, music, character voices, background art, dynamic lighting, unique NPC tokens and creature types, puzzle handouts, magic items wishlists, lifestyle bonus system, downtime activities, homebrew rewards, and more. I'm just starting out on here so I'll be running a heavily modified Lost Mine of Phandelver mini-adventure. Once I get established, I would like to do some more long-form campaigns like Curse of Strahd. Be sure to check out my games list and if there's a spot open then come have a seat at the table and let's unleash our imagination together.

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Highly rated for: Inclusive, Storytelling, Teacher

Average response time: 8 hours

Response rate: 100%

Featured Prompts

My favorite shows/movies are

Movies: Terminator 2, Rogue One & ESB, LotR, and Fury Road. Shows: Band of Brothers, The Pitt, Cowboy Bebop, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Invincible, One Punch Man, and Andor.

The three words my players would use to describe me are...

Adaptable, empathetic, and evocative!

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

I'm spending time with my wife and kids. :)

How Zaya runs games

1️⃣ Pre-Session 0. We discuss your experience as a player; your favorite table you've ever played at, your worst table, your expectations out of the game, and ways we can brainstorm weaving your character's backstory into the plot without spoiling it. Plus, I gotta see if everyone can mesh well. 2️⃣ Session 0. We gather the entire party. We all discuss social norms, group expectations, and maybe we'll even build out a team charter that we can point to as a reference anytime there's contention among group consensus. 3️⃣ Session 1. And with background music on, we begin with the opening ceremonies; a soaring birds eye view of the city, panning through the streets and then up and away to the mountainous horizon, where glory and gold awaits. Everyone at the table introduces their characters and we start our big adventure. 4️⃣ Session 1.2. So you've gotten into combat, which means combat music, unique enemy tokens and creature types with real tactics and motivations, hazardous terrain, top of round complications, and encounters that require involved objectives to overcome together as a team. 5️⃣ Session 2 and Beyond. Factions remember you and may recruit or target you, you've gained new enemies, you've angered old ones, and they are adapting to you and rumors about you. You're building friendships and alliances, forming rivalries and romances. You're following leads while in the middle of uncovering a massive conspiracy. 6️⃣ Your character's backstory becomes the future plot device. Lost family members resurface, and the choices made before the campaign began and the choices you made in the beginning start colliding with the adventure in front of you. And your decisions determine how the story ends.

Featured Prompts

My favorite trope is...

A good redemption arc.

Rules are...

Good, but they shouldn't get in the way of a better story.

Zaya's ideal table

I'm pretty easy going, having a microphone is enough for most games. But my IDEAL table has high engagement and respect for others. Some examples include: 1. Cameras on so we can read facial expressions. 2. Respectable levels of background noise. 3. Players that are focused on the game and not multi-tasking so everyone's time and moment in the spotlight feels respected. 4. Minimal cross-talk during important scenes and even less meta-gaming.