William Hicks
he/him
5.0
(5)
Timezone
Language
Identity
About William Hicks
Hello! My name is William Hicks, and I have been a Game Master for 8 years now. I have experience running several genres and settings, including games using my own homebrew. I have significant familiarity with Dungeons & Dragons, specifically 5th/5.5 editions. I also create my own content for the system as @HicksHomebrew on Instagram and Reddit. Beyond D&D, I am adding to my list of familiar tabletop games. I am able to run Lancer, a mech-based system, and am building familiarity with Pathfinder 2e, Cyberpunk Red, and Fabula Ultima. My goal as a Game Master is to make experiences that players will remember and enjoy long after the sessions. I want to bring the passion and joy I feel when interacting with tabletop games to the players. Outside of tabletop games, I am a huge fan of other nerd-coded media such as anime and video games like the Final Fantasy, Persona and Hades series. I love to read and write, especially when it involves various fantasy genres which I often incorporate into my games. As a player and a GM with several campaigns worth of experience, I know that finding the community is often the hardest part. I began playing D&D in 2020 during the pandemic and was lucky to find a community that I still play with today. What drew me to Startplaying.Games was that veterans and people completely fresh to the community can meet fellow players and Game Masters creating new tables that will hopefully last for years.
At a glance
Less than a year on StartPlaying
Highly rated for: Storytelling, Beginner Friendly, Inclusive
$20 per session
Featured Prompts
I became a GM because
There are many stories and worldbuilding ideas I come up with in my spare time that I want to share with people and have them interact with and build on. There is nothing greater than coming up with a deep and intricate story with friends.
When I'm not running games I'm...
Either enjoying my favorite media like the catlog of Fromsoftware games and anime such as Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood, or I'm working on homebrew material for existing systems and my own personal ttrpg systems currently in the works.
How William Hicks runs games
My GM style centers around three main tenets, a character/player driven story that encourages and rewards roleplay, combat that is impactful and part of the greater narrative, and a fleshed out world that encourages players to interact and live within it. I use the choices and interests of my players alongside my experience with home-brewing to craft a bespoke experience for each table. In doing this, it allows me to work with my players directly to tailor the story to what that table wants to interact with. Combat is a core part of many ttrpg, and something that I enjoy immensely. However, I often have the encounters mean something beyond combat and be something that advances the plot, though there are times when the entire table enjoys a good fight club or coliseum scene. I draw from my interests in other media, history, mythology, and folklore to create worlds that feel grounded and that players find themselves attached to and want to explore. I craft stories where actions have consequences, but player agency is at the forefront, allowing each table to find their own creative and unique ways to experience and enjoy the adventure including ways that I hadn’t even thought of. I have run games of various lengths and emphasis, some being combat-heavy, while others have been more intrigue and exploration dependent, with combat being a result of necessity rather than a first resort.
William Hicks's Preferences
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