Happy Chthonian 🤪👾

he/him

5.0

(5)

Timezone

America/chicago

Language

English

Identity

Artist

Game Designer

About Happy Chthonian 🤪👾

Hey hey! My name is Christof (Stofsky, Stofer, or Elstoferino if you're not into that whole brevity thing), and my brand name is Happy Chthonian 🤪👾—because being a brand is like being a person without all the complications of having a soul (or a phylactery)!! 🙃 Game Mastering is my absolute favorite, and while I am fresh to the StartPlaying platform, I bring a proven track record from the Real World, backed by 5-star reviews from my long-term, real-life players. I love facilitating exploration and creative problem solving in rich, fantastical worlds, seeing what schemes players come up with, and letting the world change, grow, and react in response to character actions. If you have any interest in playing, please reach out! I would love to welcome you to the table. I specialize in two fairly different styles of RPG. For busy adults, total newbies, narrative enthusiasts, and creative problem-solvers, I offer a "Rules Ultralight" experience. That means fiction-first play using streamlined mechanics (like Cairn-style auto-hit attacks, slot-based inventory, and zero stats/levels) and quick character generation in which we roll up unique weirdos in 60 seconds. These games rely on your real-world cleverness rather than character stats. If you prefer more crunch and deep immersion, I run a RAW sandbox in my favorite setting - Dolmenwood! These campaigns focus on long-term exploration of a vast world dripping with detail and folklore. Dolmenwood uses lore-integrated rules for everything from campsite cooking and blessing-based magic to specific wine inebriation effects and wilderness exploration, all adjudicated by your’s truly as a neutral referee dedicated to giving you the Dolmenwood experience as the authors intended :)

At a glance

2 years on StartPlaying

Highly rated for: Creativity, Voices, Storytelling

$20 per session

Featured Prompts

My favorite shows/movies are

Movies: The Matrix Furiosa The Thing Spirited Away Rosemary's Baby Minority Report Princess Mononoke Blade Runner 2049 Shows: I Think You Should Leave Over the Garden Wall Midnight Gospel The Good Place Avatar: The Last Airbender Rick and Morty Invader Zim

My favorite system of all Time is

Uh, Dolmenwood!! Domestic Lichhounds whose bay can turn undead! Three rarity tiers of unique beers, ciders, wines, teas, and spirits! 6,000 miles full of lore, dungeons, fleshed-out and interconnected NPCs, dungeons, hidden bonus spells and items!! Sweet jumping chili bean is it GOOD!

The three words my players would use to describe me are...

Listening I listen like an owl listening for mice in the underbrush; I paraphrase back to make sure we're picturing the same thing. Dedicated My players appreciate how much I do to make their actions ripple through the world. Unflappable Whatever weird course the PCs take, I am THERE for it.

How Happy Chthonian 🤪👾 runs games

I am all about emergent, character-centered stories! I ditch pre-planned plots in favor of rich situations ready to explode in a hundred different ways (including, sometimes, just to be real here: …character death! 😳). To keep the focus on the story, I run games "theater of the mind" so no one has to fiddle with software. Combat and exploration move fast, and we generate detailed scenes by leveraging the infinite cosmic powers of description, human imagination, and screen-grabs of artwork. I actively reward clever player approaches by foregoing dice rolls when you describe a feasible plan, have the right gear, or aren't facing immediate danger. I also love getting into the acting—portraying monsters and NPCs with unique voices, mannerisms, and gutteral snarls. And I love new player - teaching them the rules through play, benefiting from the fresh perspective they bring to the game! Because safety and trust are the vital foundations of play and creativity, I always elicit and honor players' boundaries while communicating with openness, transparency, and flexibility. I welcome and celebrate diversity, and my table is a safe space where BIPOC, queer, trans, neurodivergent, and disabled players are always valued, respected, and more than welcome.

Featured Prompts

I once ran a session...

In which a pack of elementary schoolers (my nieces and nephews, playing their first RPG session) used a spell scroll to flood an entire dungeon to neutralize the monster within. My lateral-thinking heart grew three sizes that day 🧠💗 🌊

My games focus on...

Player-character actions and their short- and long-term consequences! Early in one years-long campaign, the party opened and abandoned a plane gate. Months later they returned and the place was ruled by fiends 😈 Said one PC: "This game shouldn't be called D&D. It should be called Consequences."

When it comes to voices

I get into it! My dream job would be to be a cartoon voice actor. I've played a foppish footman, leprous beggar, and cartoony gargoyle on the cast of the MN Ren Fest, and I love developing and portraying a wide range of voices and mannerisms.

Happy Chthonian 🤪👾's ideal table

My favorite tables are the ones where we are all supportive of one another. Great players share the spotlight, give one another grace, and act like a fan of the party. The vibe is chill, friendly, and excited about what the party is up to. I bring a lot of humor to the game and welcome it from others, so the table might not be a good fit for people who want a constant, rigidly in-character vibe.

Featured Prompts

If you're into ___, you're going to love my table

Creative problem solving! I'm talking: using a rope to lasso a golden statue in a cursed pool at the bottom of a pit. Plus gloves to keep your hands from touching the curse water. Plus a lubricated saddle on the edge of the pit to keep the rope from fraying. 🤌

I love it when a player

Leverages situations, gear, physics, and psychology to come up with a clever and effective solution that I would never have thought of on my own in a million years!

I think metagaming...

Is fine. It's fun to inhabit a character and think from the PC's limited perspective. But it's also okay for players to play the way THEY want, with info they have, without worrying too much about what the character would do. But no reading/using GM-facing setting/adventure info!!