Emmalise Emsweller
she/her
5.0
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About Emmalise Emsweller
My name is Emmalise, and tabletop gaming is in my blood. I was raised in a family night is a board game followed by a Star Trek marathon house hold. In my family, nerd is not an adjective, it's a way of life. I have played TTRPG's for the last ten years, and been GM'g for the last 6. I mostly run D&D, but have dabbled in pathfinder and have been excited to start Daggerheart! (As soon as I find a party) The thing I love most about table top gaming, is the community one develops to play them. I love collaborative games that require people to work together to succeed. As a GM, I love watching a party overcome obstacles together. Right after that, I love the chaos of putting a bunch of people together in a situation, and watching them run amok. Chaos is the lab in which ideas are formed and tested. It is the factory of fun. I was born and raised in the middle of nowhere Montana. No seriously, there were no other towns near us for almost 150 miles. It was a beautiful landscape straight from a fantasy book. Christopher Paolini based much of Elea on the Montana wilderness, and it is astounding. I moved to Chicago some 4 years ago, and love it. The diversity of cultures, activities and backgrounds is beautiful. I can't imagine being anywhere else. These places I've lived in make it very easy for me to imagine and create fantastical landscapes. From the way people live, to the landmarks that make places special, immersing myself in the fantasy world is easy. Come join me.
At a glance
Less than a year on StartPlaying
3 games hosted
Highly rated for: Inclusive, Storytelling, Creativity
Average response time: Under 1 hour
Response rate: 100%
Featured Prompts
I became a GM because
I enjoy story telling. I remember reading aloud to my siblings and making different voices for the characters. I always enjoyed the feeling of watching someone become enwrapped in the story you are telling. TTRPG's are a great avenue for that kind of story telling. Also, dice make brain happy.
My favorite books are
Fantasy writen by Women. A couple of my favorites are Dread Nation by Justina Ireland, Sing Me to Sleep by Gabi Burton, The Cursed Kindred Saga by Penn Cole, and Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan. But your girl does have a soft spot for Tolkien and Sanderson.
When I'm not running games I'm...
Participaiting in some group thing. From creative club, to youth group, to voluntering at my local nonprofit, to movie nights with my roomates. Im typicaly happiest in a group, finding a way to bring up D&D.
How Emmalise Emsweller runs games
I've said it before, I'll say it again, my favorite thing about tabletop gaming is community. As a GM, I love to work with players to develop beautiful character stories that I can build a campaign around. Rigid plots are great for books and movies. But when it comes to TTG, I want PC's to be integral to how the story develops. There is no predetermined ending, actions determine endings. I also believe that variety is the spice of life, and as such love doing a variety of things with and in my campaigns. I have written campaigns that bring together the legends of King Authur and Robin Hood, made bounty hunters the good guys, dropped thieves in the middle of Greek myths, and have pirates exploring the universe looking for treasure. I love spelljamming because a party can go to any world. And we do. I work to incorporate exploration, social interaction, and combat into a beautifully balanced experience. I want my players to search for the proverbial edge of the map, meeting new people and getting into scrapes. NPC's are ways for me to get to know you better. Combat is so important for character and story development, but I don't love to kill PC's. As such, I work hard to craft combat that is engaging but ultimately winnable. This does not mean that I won't let my PC's die, I'm just not trying to kill anyone. (Looking at you Brennen Lee Muligan) I want everyone to have fun. Flirt with the dragon, rob the store keeper (if you can), take down kingdoms. But mostly, have fun!
Featured Prompts
My games focus on...
Party colaboration and world building. Anything can happen, you can discover new worlds and rule them. So long as you keep your party at your side.
Rules are...
Made to be finagled. Rules allow us to be able to organize chaos into something everyone can partake in. But rigid rules are tough on creativity. As a GM, I enjoy hearing shenanigans and firmly believe in the rule of cool. Present your ideas - respectfully. Then unleash the chaos.
When it comes to voices
I get so excited to use an accent or pitch! And then I get five seconds into using the voice and I realize, I have to remember how to do this every time this character comes on screen. And I hate my life choices. But then I think of a new voice for a character... It's a vicious cycle.
Emmalise Emsweller's ideal table
Featured Prompts
If you're into ___, you're going to love my table
Baldur's Gate 3. From how you can interact with almost any NPC, to how you can explore so much of the map and experience so many different things that had plot pertinent consequences, BG3 is one of my favorite games of all time. And I like to bring that explorative, open world concept to my table.
I think metagaming...
Is hard to not do. Metagaming is taking knowledge that a player may know and applying it to a PC without regard as to whether the character would know that. But the player experience is so much more fun when we lean away from metagaming. Because then you're living your PC's reality, not your own.
My table is not the place for...
Hate of any kind. Be it hate for another player or something going on in the world. While what we are experiencing can affect our role play, it is not an excuse to be hateful toward anyone, in game or out. Feel your feelings, but do not let them hurt others.
Emmalise Emsweller's Preferences
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