Jacob

he/him

5.0

(18)

Timezone

America/new York

Language

English

Identity

Published Writer

Artist

Game Designer

About Jacob

Howdy! I’m Jacob—a writer, artist, programmer, and game designer currently dwelling in the foothills of Appalachia. I started playing tabletop roleplaying games in 2012. I was just out of college, and the bass player of the band I was in at the time (Eddie Doldrum—have ya heard of ‘em?) suggested we (the aforementioned band) try Dungeons & Dragons. It only took her running one session to hook all of us. We quickly cycled through D&D 4th Edition, D&D 3.5, and Pathfinder, until I discovered that a new edition of the world’s most popular roleplaying game was in public testing. Then codenamed D&D Next, it offered what I was looking for at the time: a system with a lighter touch that would allow me to run the kinds of adventures my imagination was overflowing with. I took over running our weekly games and never looked back. Since then, I’ve played and run (mostly run, being the forever GM that I am) dozens of different games—from story games to old-school revival and everything in between. I even wrote a few of my own games (Fell—have ya heard of it?) and published adventures. I’ve completed multiple year (or years) long campaigns (how many GMs can say that?) thanks to my wonderful players. I love these games we call TTRPGs. I’ll never stop.

At a glance

1 year on StartPlaying

50 games hosted

Highly rated for: Creativity, World Builder, Storytelling

Featured Prompts

My favorite books are

Anything by Italo Calvino, Kurt Vonnegut, Octavia E. Butler, Samuel R. Delany, or Ursula K. Le Guin.

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

Reading, hiking, or playing retro video games.

How Jacob runs games

My principles of play are: • Rulings over rules • Fiction over mechanics • Information, choice, consequence • Danger is obvious • Fighting is deadly • Keep it weird I run player-driven, open-world games focused on the emergent story that results from choice and consequence. The environment and the people in it respond to your actions, for good or ill. Everything you do matters. I run games patiently. I love introducing new people to tabletop roleplaying games. You can focus on the fun and fiction happening at the table—I’ll guide you through the rest. You'll always have the information you need when you need it. (But I still appreciate a player who’s read the rules and takes notes—what GM wouldn’t?!) Most importantly, I keep it weird. I've been known to do funny voices for the freaky little guys in the dungeon from time to time (read: most sessions, probably). Welcome to the table.