About me

Greetings and Salutations! My name is… Corwin the Black Wolf… My quest… is to run great D&D games with great people. My favorite color… is gold with platinum trim! Just call me Corwin (sounds like it is spelled). I also answer to, “Hey you I forgot your name.” I am the son of a Methodist minister and a high school math teacher. My father majored in Old Testament, my mother was the first woman to graduate from Indiana University with a physics degree, and my brother is now a rocket scientist (aerospace engineer). I've been playing D&D since 1977. I was five years old, and my brother was eight. In 1979 my older brother and friends got a module called, “The Tomb of Horrors.” My parents surmised that it would be too scary for me to play. So, my brother and friends, employing their ‘10 year old logic’ and solved that problem by making me the DM. That way; I wouldn’t ‘play’ the module I would ‘run’ it. What I realized quickly was that the PCs are at the mercy and benevolence of the Dungeon Keeper. They found that out quickly as well. I was hooked. Being the dungeon’s keeper clicked and I’ve never looked back. Since I could barely read at the time; I had to learn how to fly by the seat of my pants and as it turned out I was good at it. That was forty six years ago (46!!!). Good lord, I can hardly believe it. I love D&D and I love a good game and I love good people that play the game. I’ve run more games than I can count; and still going strong. I have more stories than there are pages in a paperback, and I’m still in awe of how much fun players have.

GM style

Greetings and Salutations! My name is… Corwin the Black Wolf… My quest… is to run great D&D games with great people. My favorite color… is gold with platinum trim! Just call me Corwin (sounds like it is spelled). I also answer to, “Hey you I forgot your name.” Being the dungeon’s keeper clicked and I’ve never looked back. Since I could barely read at the time; I had to learn how to fly by the seat of my pants and as it turned out I was good at it. That was forty six years ago (46!!!). Good lord, I can hardly believe it. I love D&D and I love a good game and I love good people that play the game. I’ve run more games than I can count; and still going strong. I have more stories than there are pages in a paperback, and I’m still in awe of how much fun players have. THE BASICS ROLE PLAYING: I love the dialogue. PCs can expect to encounter situations that they CAN NOT defeat in combat and are gonna have to parley. TACTICAL COMBAT: I like a medium paced tactical combat. It is necessary in the 5e game to go slow enough for players to be deliberate with their actions and actually attempt the things they built their character to do. I’m great with brand new players. BONUS ACTIONS: A ‘bonus action’ can only be used to do a thing that specifically says it can be a bonus action. You can’t cast a fireball as an action and then another fireball as a bonus action every turn, etc.… Meta magic rules apply. COUNTERSPELL: It is broken. It is banned. End of story. LEGENDARY ACTIONS: They are considerably nerfed. This is also why counterspell is banned. INSTA~DEATH: If you fall into a one hundred foot deep pit without feather fall, and land on fourteen foot poisoned spikes, you’re not gonna survive. PUZZLES & RIDDLES: You will encounter one in almost every game session. They are typically variations on classic puzzles, like the ‘Gordian Knot’. Simple math and logic tests are also there. However, anything requiring advanced interdimensional differential equations is way too complicated for D&D. Forget that. TRAPS: Traps have been nerfed since 1st edition into being little more than a joke. I have extensive experience in running actual traps. Here's how it works. They can kill you. Anyone who wants to run down the hallway to set off all the traps, is mocking the game. Not cool. Traps are about as deadly to PCs as they are to Indiana Jones. They CAN kill you dead. They can also be detected, and disarmed, and often times avoided. Respect the game. Players who run into mine fields deserve to be obliterated. Don’t be that guy. MY STRENGTHS AS The DUNGEON’s KEEPER INCLUDE IMPROV: Flying by the seat of my pants. The players will almost always do something I won’t anticipate. I encourage players to come up with clever strategies and ‘bend’ the rules. ACTING: I used to be a captain on the Jungle Cruise at Disneyland. I’m great with acting and voices. QUICK RULES DISPUTES: My guiding principle in adjudicating rules is; ‘Does it make sense for a CHARACTER in the game to try it, even if the rules don't talk about it?' If the answer is yes, then we roll dice and see what happens. EXPERIENCE: I have played since the beginning. I have a fantastic overview of how the world of D&D works. WHAT I’M NOT FLEXIBLE ON HUMOR: is capped at PG-13. WOKE: Being woke is perfectly acceptable in my games. We strive to use preferred pronouns. However, they are not enforced with an Iron hand. Some people don’t wish to be woke and as long as they are respectful the are just as welcome. ANYONE having a chip on their shoulder is not a good fit. DON’T BE A JERK. I don’t allow shouting matches, or antagonizing players (even passive aggressive). My rule regarding this is as follows: The PLAYERS need to be friends before the game starts, while the game is being played, and after the game concludes. If you want to see what level of rivalry I allow in my games watch an old movie called, “Tango & Cash”. It’s got Sylvester Stallone, Kurt Russel, and Terri Hatcher in it. BOOTING PLAYERS: I used to be the ‘bouncer’ in a mental hospital (no joke). I’m good at de-escalation. I have booted seven or eight players in forty four years of being the Dungeon’s Keeper. Stuff like cheating, picking fights, or excessive immaturity, typically get a three strikes and you’re out. If you think another player needs to be removed; do not say that to them. Direct message me; I’m the Dungeon's Keeper and I’ll handle it. Sometimes the person demanding a player be booted, is in fact the actual player who needs to be booted. By the way; I guarantee you that I was aware of the problem before you said anything and am looking for an opportunity to get it done quickly with very little shouting... I've been doing this a while. ABOVE ALL: Dungeons and Dragons is a team sport. Using a real world example, Michal Jordan did not win a single championship by himself. He needed people like Scotty Pippen, Horace Grant around him to win. Even Dennis Rodman had to cool stuff to play with Michael and win three championships. Have fun, allow everyone else to have fun. This miniature dissertation just scratches the surface of me as the Dungeon’s Keeper. Let’s have some fun. Corwin May the wind be at our backs, and a stout brew on our lips.

Games played

Game platforms used

What's StartPlaying?

Tabletop Roleplaying Games Run by Game Masters