Dax
any/all
5.0
(14)
Timezone
Language
About Dax
I've loved telling stories for as long as I can remember, and got my first TTRPG experience playing MERP with my father and brother at a single digit age. At university, I played at but mostly ran for the Games Society. Every player who turned up had to be placed at a table, so these games were always oversubscribed, with the largest being 12 players. I ran mostly Call of Cthulhu, but also some D&D 3.5, and homebrew systems. One campaign was played in pure theatre-of-the-mind, with no mechanics, even dispensing with dice rolls to keep things moving with so many players. For years after that, I would run games with friends trying to perfect a homebrew system, before eventually being drawn into 5e by the Guildmaster's Guide to Ravnica. My first 5e campaign was run at my workplace and helped build bridges between departments there, it was well loved and brought to an end by Covid. I promptly discovered VTTs, used them to reconnect with old friends, and now run 2 simultaneous groups with friends and friends of friends around the world. I also ran a OneD&D playtest campaign with players from different places. I'd like to run some non-D&D systems, mostly Fabula Ultima and the FFXIVTTRPG. Taking the step to doing this for a living is long overdue.
At a glance
Less than a year on StartPlaying
5 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Knows the Rules, Storytelling
Featured Prompts
I got started GMing...
At my university game's society. These were often games with vastly too many players as everyone who wanted to play had to be seated somewhere.
People are always surprised when I tell them
I have a person named after me.
When I'm not running games I'm...
Learning. It's important to me that I understand the world as deeply as I can.
How Dax runs games
I am a world builder first and foremost who puts narrative at the core of the campaign. Even when running a prewritten campaign I flesh out every character and location, producing an immersive world that feels alive. I like to run a good balance of roleplay, exploration and combat, in a ratio that varies depending on what the current arc demands. This variety also extends to combat, I enjoy running interesting enemies, battlemaps with gimmicks and encounters with puzzle-like solutions (though, not all the time, obviously). I pay attention to the characters that players bring to the table, bouncing off of their backstories and motivations, but also making sure that niche options chosen feel at least somewhat valuable. Beyond that, I use music heavily and I illustrate NPCs using Hero Forge. Where are my weaknesses? I suck so badly at running romances with NPCs that I won't even offer that service, and I've never run a one-shot that I was happy with.
Featured Prompts
My games focus on...
Narrative and fantasy.
Rules are...
...a toolbox and a set of guidelines. It's ok to deviate from them.
Dax's ideal table
My table is immersive, and players who want to be a part of a story are a great fit. The vibe jaunts from serious to goofy, and you'll often be hard pressed to predict what the tone of the next scene or moment will be. There is always music playing (which you can turn off), and the world will react to what you do in a believable and compelling way.
Featured Prompts
I think metagaming...
...something people often get too hung up on. By way of example, It's ok for your character to know rules things by way of knowing the in-universe quality those rules represent. 5e is a tactical combat game among other things afterall. There is such a thing as taking it too far though.
I think min/maxing...
Is fun as long as it doesn't come at the expense of the narrative or overshadow other players. A character should be about expressing a fantasy and exploring options that will be fun to play with, they should be more than a collection of mechanical options sourced from a whiteroom optimisation guide
My table is not the place for...
Romance arcs and/or sex roleplay. Take that somewhere else.
Dax's Preferences
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