Judge Zella

she/they

5.0

(2)

Timezone

America/vancouver

Language

English

Identity

LGBTQ+

Queer

About Judge Zella

I may be "The deadliest game master alive!" In my earliest days I had to sneak out of the window at night to play a forbidden game but as I matured I played many sessions at LFGSs and Conventions and many with friends! I started playing Table Top games officially at the age of 15 with the 3.5 starter box set with the Blue Dragon mini-figure and I fell in love with the hobby. I moved on to other games over that time with Call of Cthulhu being my favorite during my early years and Dungeon Crawl Classics being my current favorite. I grew a love of running "deadly" games and every game and system I run is deadly in it's own right. Call of Cthulhu is the only game I run with traditional character creation because I don't believe in feeding into player power fantasies too much, you can earn power, but if you are going to build a character to your exact wishes then the most powerful being you should be able to make is a librarian, in my opinion. At my table victory is won "Arte et Marte" by strength or by valor not through min/maxing or power gaming. My style is a bit atypical, but, while I do have a thousand hours as a GM I have just as much, if not more, time doing public performances, speaking engagements, and paid work as an actor and comedian for stage, screen, and radio! That level of experience allows me to run engaging and fun sessions for everyone, even the dead! While me and my players enjoy a challenge at the table, that doesn't stop me from considering the healing potential our hobby has when taking into account potential safety techniques to use during the campaign.

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Highly rated for: Knows the Rules, Teacher, World Builder

Average response time: 1 hour

Response rate: 100%

Featured Prompts

My favorite shows/movies are

Movies: (I love Cinema!) - The Passion of Joan of Arc - Shin Godzilla - Shredder Orpheus TV: (I hate TV!) - Cowboy Bebop - David The Gnome - The Plainclothesman

My favorite books are

I read a lot of Classic Fiction. Political Theory / Spy Stories / Tactical Espionage (The dryer the better). Gold/Silver Age Horror, Fantasy, Sci-Fi. Big history buff so old magazines and newspapers get read if I'm on a lark. EC comics (Golden Age and Revival). Heavy Metal Magazine (Same).

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

Focusing mostly on the 3 R's mostly Reading, Writing, and [Redacted]. I play video games. I love game design in general and don't usually stick to one thing very long. I don't play hardly any online games. I deeply enjoy cooking. It's a form of magic and an expression of love. Cook for someone <3!

How Judge Zella runs games

As a self-described "Deadliest Game-Master Alive!" my players can expect the stakes at my tables to be high, and I don't mean for the realm, I mean for their character sheets. I'd like to think that I can challenge the most seasoned pros while elevating newcomers to the same plane and getting them to work together within a standard convention time slot while keeping the rest of the table entertained at the same time and that's something I have accomplished more times than I can really remember. When it comes to random chance I almost never fudge the dice, and I let the players be as challenged as much as good pacing will allow. Keep the story moving while giving everyone a chance to shine at the table is the goal. I really go for the pacing of television with my games, each session is an episode featuring characters with strengths and weaknesses that are going to be explored or touched on at least once in each self-contained narrative but building into a larger plot enjoyed by those who are paying attention. Even though I don't really like television I appreciate all story telling mediums. I'm a pulpy GM with a penchant for the tropes of Sword and Sorcery. That means personal stakes, grit, guile, and goals. Your alignment doesn't make you a good or bad person, your actions do, your actions have consequences both good and bad on a personal level that we will explore, and it doesn't matter if your characters bones are forgotten in a desert wasteland or interred at the peak of a golden tomb, the realm prevails, and continues on without your character, still ripe for future adventures for you and the party.

Featured Prompts

I deal with rules issues by...

While every system is different I usually place my priories with the Story being the most important part. The Simulation of the game world being the second most important. The "game" part of the experience being the least important. If I am succeeding you should forget you are playing a game.

My games focus on...

"Arte et Marte" victory won through strength or valor. You may not be able to win by tackling a problem head on. Running away to regroup or approaching from an egregious angle that your foes would never suspect, improvisation, quick thinking, and wits will carry you further in battle than your arms.

I once ran a session...

Of Call of Cthulhu "The Haunting" using period accurate tourist maps of Boston, including the original locations of the Boston Globe, bus routes, library, and the neighborhood from the adventure. I also was able to pull an almanac to include weather patterns days the game took place.

Judge Zella's ideal table

Dungeon Crawl Classics: The table is a raucous gang of treasure seekers, coins used to bolster the dice flow back and forth with great frequency from player to gm and back again! PCs explode with some frequency. Call Of Cthulhu: The table ebbs and flows like tides ruled by moons unknown. Laughter brings faux-mitigation to unknown and ever rising tortures; themselves driven forward by an unmerciful gloom. PC's die in unexpected, shocking, and climactic ways. Traveller: The table is abuzz with the possibilities of the next adventure, and plans for where to go next, moral questions are being weighed against material supplies, and tough choices are being debated by the crew of the ship. PC's die during great battles, due to personal sacrifices, or during character creation. ;) All Tables: Should feel like an adventure! The peril will be real, beloved characters can be lost FOREVER! The choices the characters make will carry weight and the choices the party makes can have lasting consequences for the realm.

Featured Prompts

I love it when a player

Uses the random gear they find in an unexpected way. It's always a wonderful surprise and memorable moment when players put together some outlandish contraption out of all their random stuff. Don't forget your towel!

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

Start playing another game at the same time they play a tabletop game with friends. I don't mind doodling, note taking, or even googling or researching topics related to the game in most cases. But, please don't boot up LoL, WoW, FFXIV or a mobile game during the session. It is kinda disrespectful.

My table is not the place for...

IRL Political Discussion- I understand everything is technically politics but as a rule of thumb if what you want to say includes a political figure or event whose existence runs concurrent with the timeline of life of any of your fellow players then its probably best left unsaid. I'll talk too much