Sweeney
he/him
5.0
(5)
Timezone
Language
About Sweeney
Roleplaying games have had a vice grip on me since I was a kid, long before I knew what TTRPGs even were. The obsession began with Warcraft in middle school and quickly spiraled to include other all-time greats like Oblivion and Skyrim, Dragon Age, and the Witcher series, all of which have become huge influences on my storytelling style. Despite all my invested time into those worlds, I had never played a TTRPG before. They had never crossed my path. My first real introduction to the medium was when a classmate turned me on to the Glass Cannon podcast. I was hooked, but between sports and other commitments I never found the time to indulge in a game myself. So over four years I quietly absorbed several thousand hours of podcasts during the formative years of the hobby, and was in awe of the people turning it into a living while I was neck deep in finance courses. My break came just after I graduated. I moved to a new state, and was lucky enough to become friends with someone at a part-time job who was just starting a group to play 5e. They needed a DM. I had learned, through audio osmosis, how the system worked. The rest is history. I have now had the honor of DM'ing hundreds of games over multiple campaigns over ten full years. I often have 2-3 campaigns running at once, average about 10 sessions a month, and have never felt more fulfilled that I get to spend my free time outside of work creating moments and memories with wonderful people.
At a glance
Less than a year on StartPlaying
Highly rated for: Storytelling, World Builder, Beginner Friendly
$20 per session
Featured Prompts
My favorite books are
Red Rising (the first series I found that I couldn't put down), Mistborn (Sanderson's "lite" worldbuilding), House of Leaves (in print of course), and Between Two Fires (because gothic horror).
My favorite system of all Time is
MÖRK BORG! It is so wonderfully simple, so delightfully insane, and so fast paced that I often use it to introduce the concept of roleplaying games to my friends. Few dice and easy math, as well as no guardrails, earns it a top spot on my list.
When I'm not running games I'm...
at the office thinking about running games. Or at the gym thinking about running games. Truly I have found that life consists of long stretches of muddled time between plotting, planning, and running games. My notes app is the scrawling of a madman who had but moments to get thoughts to paper.
How Sweeney runs games
I was weaned on live-play podcasts, so I'm a stickler for rules but will always bend them to reward creative thinking and good roleplay. Your plea to the guards really tugged my heartstrings? Take an extra +2. You made a point to roll in gnoll guts before sneaking past the camp? Gross, I'll give them -4 on their perception checks. That said, it's my job as divine interpreter of the world to keep the story train on *some* tracks, so I expect there to be mutual trust between the players and myself when I make a ruling that is "technically" not RAW. I really enjoy roleplay, and will always embody the characters you come across, but I do not require the same. I find it easiest to get players involved when the person they're talking to has a personality and voice regardless of whether that is reciprocated. Feel free to give me whatever you're comfortable with, I will always give you my best in return. Finally, I enjoy combat with stakes. I want you to feel like heroes, but I want big victories to be earned. I encourage players to know their characters, their builds, and their abilities. But I will not punish "sub-optimal" play. There is nothing satisfying about a two hour combat because nobody has the perfect spell. And don't worry if you're new! Character creation is one of my favorite parts of the game, and I love working together to get you to a point where you live your fantasy and still feel like you're contributing to the game mechanically.
Featured Prompts
I deal with rules issues by...
making a call in the moment. I don't want to sit and spend time you paid for litigating the grammar of the handbook. I expect my table to trust me that I will make a fair call in the moment, we will move on, and I will reach out to the affected party afterward to chat through the decision.
Rules are...
meant to confine the world as a whole, not define it. Rules serve a specific purpose and when that purpose is no longer served, it calls for a deviation from the rules. But their framework still grounds the system in some form of reality. It's all a balance, I love to reward narrative choices.
When it comes to voices
I am not a voice actor, but I try my best. There will be a clear delineation between my voice and every speaking NPC to make it easier for players to tell when they're getting flavor or a speech. Get ready for several vaguely European accents and some deep voices.
Sweeney's ideal table
You'll fit in at my table if you ask questions. If you make an attempt to invest yourself in the world. If you want to learn your character and inhabit them. If you want to co-write this story with me. If you try to play off your peers and collaborate. If you like a mix of dramatic reveals and levity. If you don't mind the occasional anachronism. In short: my tables are full of people who take the game seriously, but not themselves.
Featured Prompts
I love it when a player
sends me a backstory! I spend a good amount of time between session 0 and 1 rewriting portions of the campaign to better suit the characters in it, and always include personal quests. I promise I'll work with whatever you give me, but the more detail the easier my job becomes.
I think it's a red flag when players...
choose not to work together. Everyone deserves their time in the spotlight, sure. But TTRPGs are by and large collaborative games. In my campaigns very few challenges can be overcome alone, and failure is a certainty if one person chooses to sabotage the party.
My table is not the place for...
actions without consequence. I work hard to bring this world to life for you, and you pay good money to play in it. If you fireball every tavern and murder every NPC, expect there to be consequences. Like being removed from the game. I love shenanigans, but wanton chaos is too far.
Sweeney's Preferences
Systems
Game Mechanics