
Dante Santos (he/him)
5.0
(35)
4 years on StartPlaying
580 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Inclusive, Storytelling
About me
NOTE: I have availability to start one 5e campaign (Hardcover, Wildemount, or homebrew). Send me a message if you are interested! Greetings Adventurers! I’m Dante, a stage actor with an engineering degree, and I’m here to craft an immersive D&D 5e experience with you. My goal is always to curate a world that both affects and is meaningfully affected by players and characters. I nurture a truly collaborative storytelling experience. I’ve played a variety of table-top role-playing games starting in highschool, and am an active member of the local Adventurers League community both as a player and GM. I also GM oneshots virtually for groups across the country (~60 sessions for various groupings of ~45 players by the end of 2020). My long-term campaigns include, but are not limited to: four Wildemount campaigns, various Wizards of the Coast hardcovers (LMoP, SKT, ROtF) a highly modified Waterdeep Dragon Heist/Dungeon of the Mad Mage/AL Season 8 campaign, and a customized version of Adventurers League Season 4 (the Barovia/Curse of Strahd season) which I’ve run multiple times as a Lvl 1-10 campaign. I can offer a variety of one-shot adventures for any level, longer-term hardcover adventures, and custom campaigns for D&D 5e.
GM Style
As a GM I value player agency, creative solutions, multi-faceted diverse characters, and a supportive gaming atmosphere. My effort as a GM goes towards: developing deep and diverse NPCs that the characters have strong feelings about, designing set pieces (encounters, towns, nations) that engross players and characters alike, finding ways to dig plot hooks into characters’ emotions and backstories, and creating assets (tokens, maps, handouts, props, music, etc) to provide a more immersive experience for the players. And yes, I do the fun character voices! I keep my games colorful, varied, and engaging. For example, my players have furiously scribbled on sticky notes to solve a puzzle in an insidious dungeon. Other times, we have roleplayed downtime activities that add flavor to acquiring new feats (practicing at a gun range behind Blackstaff Tower in Waterdeep or convincing a doppelganger to provide meditation lessons to learn Telepathy). Recently, a party played hot-potato with a Nergaliid egg stolen from them by some invisible hags. Rule of cool/”Yes and…” is my leading principle with “rules as written” being used as a groundwork to ensure a balanced game. I am open to house rules ranging in complexity from “cats have darkvision” to poison crafting mini-games and beyond. I don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all gameplay style, and I don’t expect players to conform to “my way of doing things”. Part of what you get when you hire me is active discussion and design for your players needs, desires, and boundaries. It is my job to ensure that every player feels supported and comfortable at the table. A safe gaming environment leads to more engagement, roleplay, and fun! Let’s work together to create the right game for you!
Games played
Game Master Reviews (35)
Proficiencies
Players say this GM is great at:
Creativity
Inclusive
Storytelling
I LOVE playing at Dante's table. It is always a fun time- he is so thoughtful and creative in how he executes each session. He is also supportive to new players and really does such an amazing job. Your Druid decides to question the random flock of sheep, your Paladin has a creative use for Locate Object- no problem. I've had the joy of playing several sessions with Dante it is always a blast!
I've played in now 3 campaigns with Dante over the past two years. I wish I could select literally ALL of the tags above. He is both an excellent storyteller, has a very solid understanding of rules as written, AND knows when to go with what's fun and cool. He has an excellent safety system and is always open to chat about what is going well and what could be better. He uses music, immersive storytelling, character NPC voice/development, world building and overall is the best GM I have ever encountered. I'll play with him weekly as long as he is GMing!!!!
Dante is an amazing DM who brings a lot of fun and variety to his games and makes just traveling from one destination to another entertaining and engaging. Dante is great at breathing life into the world with his descriptions, maps and by keeping track of the in world day, month and year. He is incredible at pacing and leaves room for great rp moments. Every boss fight so far has been great! Dante is also great at creating well developed and fun npcs, both friends and enemies. Even random people that we’ll probably never see again leave a mark. So with all that said you should definitely check him out. Happy gaming!
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