Scott

he/him

5.0

(5)

Timezone

America/los Angeles

Language

English

About Scott

Hi there! I’m Scott, and I’m a game master located in California. I love jointly creating compelling storylines with my players in our campaigns. In fact, most of my favorite memories in gaming are when my players do something completely unexpected and push the story in a direction that I (and my NPCs!) had never foreseen. I also enjoy helping players learn how to play D&D 5e (many of my one shots have been for new players). I’ve been a GM for over 10 years, in two different stints: most recently over the past 6 years running three long term campaigns and numerous one shots for D&D 5e, and previously when I was a teenager GMing AD&D. I hope you join me in one of my games!

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

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

$15 per session

Featured Prompts

I became a GM because

I love creating worlds and backdrops for my players to explore and influence.

I got started GMing...

...when my high school friends wanted to play D&D and someone had to become a dungeon master. Once I did, I was hooked!

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

...backpacking, running, cooking, reading and spending time with my family.

How Scott runs games

As a game master, I enjoy creating campaigns and worlds with my players. I believe my role as a GM is to establish a compelling setting and memorable residents (characters) that my players can explore and influence. I love seeing what my players do, and most of my favorite memories in gaming are when my players do something completely unexpected. My games span the three pillars of play: combat, exploration and social interactions. I follow my players’ leads on how deep they’d like to go on each pillar, but I think a balance of the three is often best. My games have a mix of quick combat encounters and more tactical battles that will test players’ ingenuity. My campaign settings run deep and I believe that exploration and social interactions are often the best ways for players to immerse themselves in the game world. In social encounters, my players have a chance to build alliances and factions, to attract followers and to try to change the world around them through their influence. I strive to create memorable NPCs that players will want to build deep relationships with. I seek regular feedback from my players on how the game is going and I incorporate their desires for the campaign in ways that will be memorable.

Featured Prompts

I prep by

...being inspired by real world historical and current events as well as fiction. My goal is to have a rough framework within which the players can explore and to have a sense of how the world and NPCs would react to the actions of the players.

My games focus on...

...a healthy mix of combat, exploration and social interaction. I try to give my players a wide amount of latitude and agency to influence the worlds that I create, and I love it when they dive deep and create ripples of impact on different levels in the world.

Rules are...

...frameworks to help guide imaginative storytelling and to help create a sense of immersion. I generally hew to rules as written, but there are plenty of times when my groups and I have discarded a rule in a situation in order to help drive a creative outcome.

Scott's ideal table

For my campaigns, players who are interested in immersion will probably get the most out of my games. I try to create environments, NPCs and factions with significant complexity to enable such players to go deep on backstories, lore, exploration, in-character adventure preparation and espionage. My tables have had a broad assortment of players at them–from folks who are deeply immersed to those that are more casual and just want to hack and slash at a few monsters. Everyone is welcome, but I think the table works best when the players have a common, shared understanding of how deep they want to go on immersion in the world. My one shots tend to be a bit more straightforward such that anyone can join and have fun, but they will also include some level of intrigue, factions and just enough complexity to give a deeper sense of the world to players who look beyond the surface.