Joel Ottwell

he/him

5.0

(4)

Timezone

America/chicago

Language

English

Identity

Neurodivergent

About Joel Ottwell

-Hi, I'm Joel Ottwell, and I'm a D&D Zealot. -Running/Playing D&D is the joy of my life! -I believe the two most important rules of D&D are: Be kind and have fun. People deserve to be treated with dignity, honor, and respect, and it's my honor and privilege to partake in this amazing hobby. -Over the past few years, I went from getting my co-workers and friends to play D&D to getting an entire game store to play. I've gone from zero experience DMing to Forever DM in no time. -As for how I got an entire game store playing D&D, long story short: I went to my LGS on their D&D night, and they said I was the only person to show up in weeks. So, I DM’d weekly at that game store for a year and a half. Now we have over 40 people playing at seven tables. Three of those tables have DMs who started at my table, and I encouraged/mentored them to start their own adventures. -I started playing D&D 5e when a high school friend introduced me to the game. While I loved playing, it wasn't until I started binging Dimension 20 that I really fell in love with D&D and TTRPGs.

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Highly rated for: Beginner Friendly, Voices, Storytelling

$20 per session

Featured Prompts

People are always surprised when I tell them

I'm a Jesus Freak (a non-denominational Christian). Mostly because I try not to let my beliefs get in the way of the game. If that's a red flag, I totally understand. I hope I can represent Jesus' love, acceptance, joy, and community by creating a safe, open, and inclusive table for everyone!

The three words my players would use to describe me are...

Inclusive, patient, and descriptive

How Joel Ottwell runs games

I love character-centered stories. I want to know you and your character. If I don't know you, then there's nowhere to go. I love creating worlds with warring factions, forgotten gods, evil villains, and memorable yet grounded NPCs. I've always preferred running modules, but I don't make it easy for myself. I love combining worlds from different modules and splicing together storylines, weaving in PC backstory to create an adventure only your character could experience. I prefer high-stakes battles; I've never enjoyed random encounters. I like my worlds grounded and reliable; I wouldn't call them realistic, but they have to be consistent. I do my best to abide by the rules of the game; I understand the “Rule of cool,” but I rarely condone it. I love to roleplay, but the focus isn't on me; it's on the player. The world may be unfair, but when I GM, I try to be fair. Most importantly, I love bringing joy and having fun as a party.

Featured Prompts

My games focus on...

YOU are what makes this game interesting. Nevertheless, I'd like to refer to: Brennan Lee Mulligan's "5 things that make stories good" 1. Swords 2. Family 3. Magic 4. Kissing 5. Death That's what it's about, baby! What more do you want?

Rules are...

Super important! I need to know that if I kill you, it's fair and square. JK, Kinda... I think rules are important, but they aren't why I play this game. I play every week because people have fun. If the rules are in the way, then we'll figure it out. But for real, you might die.

Joel Ottwell's ideal table

I think tables, like most things, need balance. It helps if everyone has an agreement to the importance of the lives of their characters. Each character/player should have dreams, ambitions, allies, bonds, regrets, bad habits, and enemies. But for real, can I please get one note-taker? I have so much lore in my head, and it's okay if no one remembers. Just keep in mind that I like plot twists and crazy reveals, so if no one remembers, you might just invite Asmodus, disguised as your new NPC companion, to join you.

Featured Prompts

I love it when a player

Takes notes Has an interest in the world, so the world feels more real/alive Has dreams, allies, family, ambitions, commitments, bonds, debts, fears, regrets, and enemies. Tells me what they want and actually has the patience to wait for me to give it to them.

I think min/maxing...

Is totally fine Just remember, however hard you try to survive what I’m throwing at you, I’m going to try just as hard to deliver you a fate worse than death, fair and square.