Sam

he/him

5.0

(5)

Timezone

America/chicago

Language

English

About Sam

My name is Sam, I have a musical theater degree and a board game collection worth thousands of dollars. I have a passion for sharing things I love with people who have yet to experience them, teaching rules and sharing experiences. I've been running games since early high school after I played one disastrous game of D&D and all my online friends went "But you *played* D&D, so teach us!" and that's been about my position ever since! Since then I've run games in many systems, always excited to find what some systems will do better than others. D&D is alright, but I love teaching people what other systems have to offer. The narrative dice of the Genesys system, the sanity and realism of Call of Cthulhu, the zany character creation of Icons. Star Wars by Fantasy Flight and D&D are probably my strongest systems, but I'll learn and run any system at least once if anyone shows any interest.

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Highly rated for: Creativity, Teacher, Inclusive

Featured Prompts

My favorite books are

The Welcome to Night Vale novels, the Star Wars Darth Bane and Heir to the Empire trilogies, Darth Plagueis, and Dune.

My favorite system of all Time is

The Star Wars Narrative Dice system, I love how it naturally creates storytelling collectively.

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

Playing board games, video games, baking, and rehearsing for musicals.

How Sam runs games

I'm used to a lot of roleplay at the table. My groups are often very chaotic, and I'm a very "go with the flow" GM who really loves when my players throw me a curveball I need to work with. When combat comes up, which I personally don't feel like it has to every session, I handle it differently depending on the system. But generally, I like trying to make sure every combat is some amount of a struggle. I don't pull punches so when you get out of it it feels earned and exciting. When running modules I tend to throw in more interesting and harder enemies in place of preset ones to add some more dynamics to the situation.

Featured Prompts

I once ran a session...

Where all the players were supervillains infiltrating an infinite magical plane in which the most powerful sorceress in the multiverse resided, trying to assassinate her, with a fully designed magical elevator sending them to a bunch of wacky magical rooms.

Rules are...

fun. Generally I like to follow the rules of the system we're playing, though I'm always receptive to bending or breaking the rules if it'll be more fun, and I'm happy to take suggestions and thoughts. I also certainly have my own preferred houserules for some rpgs.

When it comes to voices

I prefer to give some form of voice to all NPCs, and I always hope that my players will have some distinct voice for their character, even if it's just slightly deepening or heightening their voice. I'm not a voice actor (yet) but I am a performer and I like to think I give distinct and fun voices.

Sam's ideal table

My games I just want to feel like we're all laughing and having fun. We're playing a game after all. But when applicable, I do want my players to know when to take things more seriously. I like having a mix of class clowns and leaders at my table, and I especially love having at least one diligent note taker when doing longer form campaigns.

Featured Prompts

I love it when a player

takes notes. I love it when a player cracks jokes. I love it when a player asks for things they want. I love it when a player makes a sub-optimal character decision with consequences. I love it when a player makes a decision that stunlocks me and I have to figure out the next step.

I think metagaming...

is a tightrope. Some is important sometimes, such as knowing when to follow a story thread even if sometimes it's not fully clear for the character. But I prefer when generally players are more into their character's mind, ignoring the failed perception check or their knowledge of enemy weaknesses.

I think min/maxing...

is fine depending on the situation. I'm very aware min/maxing isn't antithetical to role play. However, if a player is min/maxing and others are making sub optimal characters for fun, sometimes it can lead to the min/maxing overshadowing others. Communication of expectations is key