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DMThac0

DMThac0 (he/him)

5.0

(11)

Streamer
Teacher/Educator

4 years on StartPlaying

20 games hosted

Highly rated for: Creativity, Voices, Storytelling

About me

Hello adventurer! I welcome you to my table, my name is DM Thac0, a reference to the beginnings of Dungeons and Dragons armor class calculations. I've been playing D&D for over 30 years, starting with the blue box, and have been at it ever since. I have become familiar with DCC (Dungeon Crawl Classics) and DC gaming systems, and I've dabbled in many others. I've also run games for conventions, Garycon and Dulucon. I absolutely enjoy being a GM/DM, being in the hot seat entertains me and it is wonderful watching my players get involved with the stories, characters, and adventures that we play. As your DM, it is my goal to give you a game that you will enjoy and, hopefully, talk about with fond memories. Everyone is welcome at my table as long as they're willing to get lost in a story and team up with other adventurers. I love bringing new players into the fold, helping them learn how to play, getting them comfortable with a game that allows anything to happen. Experienced players allow me to try out new ideas, tactics, and homebrew situations. There is room for the actor who goes all in on their character, there is a place for the person who's just comfortable narrating what their character does. I understand that everyone has a comfort level and certain needs to be met, and I'm willing to try to craft a game to meet those. I prefer homebrew games over modules, however I will run whatever the group would like. Homebrew, games that I write rather than using a book, have been the staple of my DMing style for about 20 years. Building elaborate worlds, stories that incorporate the world and characters both. I tend to craft epics rather than one-shots, however, if a short game is what your group would prefer, I have no problem working with that. If the group would prefer a module, I will work do make it feel unique to the group, sometimes adjusting bits to fit the play style or character decisions. Lastly: The "rules" are more like guidelines, your imagination runs these games!

GM Style

New player Friendly! I will help you learn how to play, and do everything I can to make it enjoyable. I am a story DM, preferring to spin a tale involving the character in the world. I will toss combat out when it seems applicable, or as random encounters. I live by the motto: "I don't kill characters, players kill characters", meaning: I will try to give you all the tools or information you need for a decision, but I will not save you from your decisions. I will bend the "rule" in favor of the players. I try not to let the ruling in the book outweigh what the players want to do, but I will say no to an idea that doesn't work within the boundaries of the game. I prefer players try to differentiate what their character would do rather than what they know as a player. Often times a character's motivation is not the same as the player, these situations can make for memorable moments in games. I prefer Theater of the Mind with battle maps to help visualize combat. Whether it be at the table or in software like Roll20, Fantasy Grounds, or Shard, I feel that battle maps or other maps, are tools to assist rather than replace Theater of the Mind. (Theater of the Mind means using your imagination and the descriptions from the DM to visualize what is going on in game) I toy around with voices, personalities, and motivations for my NPCs. Some have elaborate backgrounds, some just have a name. I am a Twitch Streamer (Affiliate), if you are of a mind to be on stream with your group, that is an option as well. It is not necessary.

Social
Game Master Reviews (11)

Proficiencies

Players say this GM is great at:

Creativity

Voices

Storytelling

drwave avatar

drwave

Played 20 sessions

Great DM who led us thru one DnD adventure in the underworld. Highly recommended

Steve Damon avatar

Steve Damon

Played 19 sessions

Joe is a lot of fun to play with. Very respectful of the players and impossible to rattle. He does a great job bringing the game to life.

Katie avatar

Katie

Thac0 is a fun and fair dm with a lot of experience and a lot of imagination. Every game I’ve played with him has been loads of fun and he helped ease me into the role playing world. I’d recommend him for both new and experienced players

Turk avatar

Turk

I have played multiple games with thac0 over the past few years. He is always fair and fun to play with. He gives each one of his player's appropriate table time and always takes out extra time to help new players learn how to play. If you are new or old to ttrpgs thac0 is easy yes from me!

Ray Frenden avatar

Ray Frenden

THAC0 was a knowledgeable, fair, inventive, and patient GM in each of the sessions I've gamed under him. Anyone lucky enough to spend some time with THAC0 at their table is in for a good time!

jentendo avatar

jentendo

DMThac0 provides a challenge in each of his games as well as a keen focus on how to bend the story to ensure a fun game for all. His campaigns have a great balance of narrative exploration as well as opportunities for murder hobo-ing. Additionally, he's incredibly creative and strives to give an immersive experience for his players. Thac0 is extremely open to feedback or thoughts from his players on how to make the game more fun or more interesting for them, but also brings so many great ideas of his own to the table.

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