Gunnhrafn

he/him

5.0

(11)

Timezone

America/new York

Language

English

Identity

Teacher/Educator

Game Designer

About Gunnhrafn

Welcome! I'm Gunnhrafn (he/him), and I'm a long-time GM (26 years of experience) who loves to run a wide variety of games for a wide variety of people, including introducing new players to role-playing games and introducing players to new games. I first started GMing in 1986 and I first began playing TTRPG back in 1982. As a GM, I enjoy shared story-telling and collaborative world building. I run one-shots (which can run 1 to 3 sessions), campaigns, and can be hired to run a game for a group, a one-to-one single-player game, teach a game system, or help with character creation. If I'm not currently offering a game you're interested in or at a time that works for you, drop me a line and we'll see what we work out. For custom bookings please contact me with an inquiry. I'm available to run one-shots, short-run games, and campaigns for groups and individuals (for one-to-one gaming). I'm also available to teach game systems. Rates will vary depending upon the request. I use Discord for communication, and a mix of theater of the mind, Foundry VTT, Roll20, Quest Portal, and Google Sheets depending upon the game.

At a glance

2 years on StartPlaying

37 games hosted

Highly rated for: Inclusive, Teacher, Creativity

Average response time: Under 1 hour

Response rate: 100%

Featured Prompts

I became a GM because

it was the only way to ensure I could play games. Back in high school, a friend and I alternated begin GMs so games were run. I GM now because I love exploring a wide variety of games, and the best way to try out games I want to play is to run them.

How Gunnhrafn runs games

As a GM, I run inclusive, welcoming tables, and I strive to balance play style to players' interests and to the game system. I approach being a GM as I do as an educator: My job is try to provide the best experience I can for each player based on their interests and comfort levels. I welcome strong role-play and player-driven narratives. Is your character looking for their long-lost mentor? Role-play that by looking for that long-lost mentor. I take cues from you. My default style is theater of the mind supported with maps and images, but I also build in tactical combat situations complete with battle maps and exploration maps as appropriate. For instance, while I run a Pirate Borg game primarily through theater of the mind, naval combat often calls for a battle map.

Featured Prompts

I deal with rules issues by...

trying my best to interpret rules fairly, taking in player concerns. If I need to make a decision to keep the momentum of the session going, I will with the understanding that we can return to the discussion and retcon decisions if needed. I'm also happy to have players look up rules during play.

I once ran a session...

in which everyone was so focused on being in the moment that no one realized no dice had been rolled until the session was over. Roleplay and player decisions made dice rolling unnecessary for that session.

Gunnhrafn's ideal table

Featured Prompts

I love it when a player

comes up with a brilliant idea that "ruins" my plans, as a player once described it. My actual plans are to provide situations for players and their characters to navigate, and I love it when a player comes up with a brilliant take I hadn't considered.

I think metagaming...

is best handled by understanding Player Knowledge and Character Knowledge and how those can be roleplayed. A PC doesn't know the stat block of an adversary, but a PC also doesn't act in situations as players would. Using player knowledge, what questions might be reasonable for a PC to ask?

My perfect party mix is

whatever players want it to be. My job as GM is to make a game playable regardless of what kinds of characters players want to play. For example, I've run D&D campaigns without anyone playing a healer. No one wanted to play one, so I told them not to worry about it. My job was to make that work.