Devon Jade

I got started GMing...

In quarantine, looking for a way to entertain myself and my two little sisters. I basically homebrewed a Fisher-Price version of DnD (just six skills/modifiers and only one d20) and we had a blast. Then I discovered the Powered by the Apocalypse system and have been GMing that ever since!

My favorite shows/movies are

Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul. Proud of it! They're masterpieces of TV and taught me MANY of the storytelling techniques I use in ttrpgs. They're such confident and purposeful shows that aren't afraid to adapt a good idea to a better one when they find it. I try to emulate that in my own GMing.

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

Listening to music to use in games! Seriously, I make playlists for different kinds of story beats and just listen to tunes while imagining what could be happening in a session when it plays. I love a good needle drop.

I deal with rules issues by...

doing what's fun for the table! We don't win these games by defeating enemies and saving innocents; characters do. WE win by feeling like heroes, and heroes can lose. If a rule is built to support your idea but add a consequence, that's the point. If a rule would kill your idea, f*ck that rule!

If my games were Movies they'd be directed by...

Me, lol. I describe everything through the lens (ha!) of how you'd experience it onscreen. I'll use "match cuts" to connect ideas between scenes, or a "close-up" to tease an object's importance. If a character feels small, I'll describe a wide shot. If things are hectic, the camera is shakey. etc.

My games focus on...

Role-playing! How does your character solve problems, and how are they affected by the solutions? My job as a GM is to give your character opportunities to overcome their obstacles in their own way. At my table, successes are always triumphant and failures are always insightful.

If you're into ___, you're going to love my table

storytelling and character development! Role-playing gives us an opportunity to experience a different life and learn lessons in ways we'd never get to ourselves. There's nothing quite like watching a player be surprised by their own character's choices, but still commit to them.

I love it when a player

asks me a question so clever and out-of-left field that I can only just sit there with my head in my hands because their idea is infinitely more clever than anything I could've come up with. Just absolutely rock my sh*t, why don't you. I'll say yes to anything if it's cool.

I think metagaming...

can be awesome and cool if the purpose is for collaborative storytelling. If I ever think metagaming would work better as an actual scene, I'll say so. Our goal as a group is to create a compelling story! We're on the same team, and I welcome a team huddle.