Professional Game Master

Ian Panthhe/him

About me

I am husband and father first. I am an avid reader of and listener to both fiction and non-fiction. I have enjoyed video games since the arrival of Pac Man (which my friends and I called "the fish & squid game" before it became a household name). I am an academic and an educator. All these elements, including a background in drama shape my GM style which I am always seeking to hone and improve.

GM style

Both as a player and as a Game Master, I enjoy the surprising and unexpected that are hallmarks of Dungeons and Dragons. As a GM, I aspire to be player focused, to create memorable encounters and challenges, and foster an overall atmosphere of friendly fun. I am on the players' side even if the monsters are trying to kill them. I prefer a low to medium magic setting where magic is like the elements controllable but potentially wild. A campfire can become a raging forest fire. I like to keep things PG or PG-13. I grew up on Star Wars and am a big fan of the MCU and that represents the tone I try to set in most of my games. However, they may occasionally veer into a Walking Dead or Classic Monster Movie vibe. New Players are welcome at my table. I enjoy introducing people to this hobby. As an educator, I am a patient teacher and encourage patience and kindness at the table. While I do have some drama experience, I am working on transferring this skill into RPG social encounters. I define Role Play minimally as having your character do what your character would do. Players are free to ham it up as much as they want or simply describe what their PC does. At present, I employ theatre of mind with some tactical map play using DND Beyond and AboveVTT. In the near future, I hope to begin GMing Pathfinder 2e on Fantasy Grounds and am exploring other RPG systems.

Games played

Game platforms used

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