Shane

he/him

5.0

(29)

Timezone

America/chicago

Identity

Veteran

Teacher/Educator

About Shane

Hello. My name is Shane. I was introduced to RPGs when I was 12 years old and was hooked from my very first session. I have been playing and running RPGs, on and off, for the past four decades and hope to continue for many more! I have run many different games and genres, but my favorite is fantasy RPGs. My GM strengths are involving players, improvising scenes, and game pacing. I have run games for a wide variety of people over the years. By my rough count, I have gamed with over 500 people over the years and run 31 longform campaigns to completion. Finally, I would be honored to be your GM and take you on the adventure of a lifetime!

At a glance

3 years on StartPlaying

176 games hosted

Highly rated for: Creativity, Teacher, Storytelling

Average response time: Under 1 hour

Response rate: 100%

Featured Prompts

My 3 systems I'd bring to a desert island would be

AD&D (2nd edition) for classic fast-playing fantasy campaigns D&D (5th edition) for epic and superheroic high fantasy campaigns Pathfinder (2nd edition) for tactical crunchy fantasy and highly customizable character building options

My favorite books are

Bartimaeus Sequence - Jonathon Stroud Chronicles of Narnia - Lloyd Alexander Dragonlance Chronicles - Tracy Hickman & Margaret Weis Earthsea Cycle - Ursula Le Guin Legend of Drizzt - R.A. Salvatore Lord of the Rings/Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien

My favorite shows/movies are

Movies: Back to the Future Godfather Princess Bride Raiders of the Lost Ark Raising Arizona Star Wars: New Hope Shows: Battlestar Galactica Breaking Bad Firefly Game of Thrones Star Trek: Deep Space 9 Wire

How Shane runs games

I run fast and fun games with a casual, relaxed, and welcoming table vibe. My games feature an even mix of combat, exploration, and roleplay, with slightly more emphasis on action and exploration than on deep first-person roleplay. I put a lot of effort into the games I run. I use high-quality images, maps, and tokens to help players visualize scenes. You can expect me to lean into the rule of cool, while mostly sticking to rules as written. When it comes to roleplay, I focus on creating realistic NPCs with believable motivations. Finally, I provide a lot of custom handouts, NPC portraits, images, maps, and ambient music to enhance player experience. But the main thing for you to know is that I focus on ensuring players have their moment to shine and are excited for the next session. People play RPGs to escape the ordinary and do cool stuff. I ensure that happens, in every game.

Featured Prompts

My favorite trope is...

Ending sessions with a cliffhanger.

Rules are...

Important as a framework. Rules as written is generally my style but I don't shy away from making a ruling to keep the game moving.

When it comes to voices

I try to provide unique voices for most NPCs, but I focus more on portraying NPCs with unique personalities and motivations than on having them sound different, funny, or quirky.

Shane's ideal table

Players who will fit best at my table are players who build their characters around the campaign theme, play a character who will support other characters in the party, and build characters with connections to the other characters and campaign setting.

Featured Prompts

I love it when a player

Adds details to their background as a campaign develops, rather than coming to the game with a fully fleshed out character.

I think metagaming...

Should be avoided when possible. It's more interesting when players can separate their personal knowledge from their character's knowledge.

I think min/maxing...

Is okay when the whole group has decided that's the sort of campaign they want, but I prefer games where there's less focus on trying to build the strongest character possible.