There are so many good things to say about our GM here, it's a little hard to cherry-pick what to go over, so I'll hit some key points as best I can to outline what really makes him stand out, to me. Our group here are all fairly seasoned veterans to gaming, some of us having done so since single-digits of age, but when we get together we tend to be pretty wild and frenetic an experience, that (from personal experience) is SO much fun, but reigning people in to keep them from completely bogging everything down is a critical skill. This GM has the proverbial 'cat herding' instinct down pat, allowing enough of a lead to have all the fun we want, but getting us back on track quickly and arbitrating as necessary. His characterization is spot-on, not too bogged in the realm of details given during playtime, but he has a feel for all the characters he needs to represent, making the world feel much more real and lively. None of the characters he's put into the game have escaped me with regard to details; Names, characteristics and their respective importance all are easy to keep front of mind, and trust me, I can DEFINITELY have difficulty with that. The amount of planning and preparation he brought to the table was astounding to me, making nothing hang on any technical or bookkeeping details at all, everything was ready-to-go and well rehearsed, making it clear he knew the system, story and his tools very, very well. I could (and would) go on-and-on-and-on but genuinely, you just know when you click with a GM and can have that repoiré that is going to work, and for me, this was it. Absolutely give him a chance if you can!

This GM does a wonderful job of describing his world and the things in it. The world feels alive and at times both dangerous and welcoming. He sets the scene well and allows his players to really chew the scenery if they want. He is also very good at working with players when they want to try something strange or unusual finding a way to work with them in the ruleset to allow them to do what they want to do. Combat is also very fun. He knows how to make it feel dangerous and provide a challenge with out leaving the characters feeling like they couldn't do anything. His way of describing the battle really brings a nice visceral feeling to combat.

Our storyteller has a polished, well-prepared presentation, confident delivery, and extremely evocative descriptions. He's been at this a long time, you can tell, and has developed a very strong storytelling method, interesting characters, and a tough-but-fair approach in the matter of rules and rulings. The energy of the entire group went right up as a result, full engagement.

Our group had an excellent time in our game. There was opportunity for everyone to roleplay and interact with each other, but there were never dull or empty points. When character discussion had openings where things might fall quiet in many games, there were NPCs and plot developments to keep us all moving along in the story without interrupting our opportunities to learn about the world and our adventuring party. When we encountered scenarios where players wanted to do something fun or cool that the rules might not necessarily allow, but wouldn't cause any lasting impact on the game, we were allowed to use creativity to do fun things like craft a very simple mask for a character even without a crafting skill that would normally be required. That ended in a funny failure that had us all laughing and let our characters all have a goofy moment we shared and could have the characters bond over. One thing I really appreciated was how quickly the combat went. We've all been in games where a combat happens and you feel like you've spent an hour getting to your next turn, but that didn't happen here. The players all had basic and limited experience with the system, but between a good crew, a DM who helped make quick rulings on the spot with the option to look back on the rules later, and lots of well done automation and management of the VTT, we really went through combat quickly and with everyone getting to accomplish a lot. No one was left out or bored waiting for turns to come!

Gnoll for Initiative ran my first game on StartPlaying, and it was a great experience. It was clear that he had planned thoroughly for the session ahead of time, to the point where I initially thought he was running a module (he wasn't), and while he allowed us plenty of time to chat out-of-character when it was clear that was what his players wanted to do, he was also great at keeping to a schedule, so we felt like we'd hit a number of great story beats, both for our characters and for the plot as a whole. A lot of great maps with sound and animation were in use, as well as an ambient soundtrack which he changed depending on what was happening in the game at the time. Gnoll's long experience as a GM shows, and I would heartily recommend him to any potential players.