HoodieSticks

he/him

5.0

(11)

Timezone

America/new York

Language

English

Identity

Neurodivergent

Teacher/Educator

Game Designer

About HoodieSticks

Hey there! My name's Erik, but online I go by HoodieSticks. I'm an improvisational GM - the kind that is 100% ok with players that decide on a whim to ignore my carefully placed plot hooks and run off to a completely different city. I believe that meaningful choices and strong character moments can happen anywhere and anytime (with the right prompting). I want my players to feel free and immersed, instead of thinking about what the GM "intended" for them to do. But beyond that, I just want my players to have fun! Like many others, I got my start with Dungeons & Dragons 5e, but have since experimented with a wide variety of other systems (the FantasyFlight Star Wars RPGs, Pathfinder 2e, the AGE systems, Pugmire, Blades in the Dark, Bleak Spirit, and more). I've even created my own TTRPG rulesets and homebrew, because I'm a game designer at heart and I'm fascinated with the ways rules and mechanics can get people to roleplay. I love the camraderie and the wild moments that emerge when a story is being crafted on the fly, and I hope to keep creating those moments for decades to come. Here's hoping I get to meet you at my table sometime!

At a glance

4 years on StartPlaying

7 games hosted

Highly rated for: Creativity, Rule of Cool, Inclusive

Featured Prompts

I got started GMing...

I have a cousin who loves dogs. Like, *really* loves dogs. She works at an animal shelter and talks constantly about the dogs there. She encouraged me to run a family game of Pugmire (a dog-themed TTRPG) for her and 4 other TTRPG newbies. If you spot any dog-person cameos in my games, that's why.

My favorite system of all Time is

Bleak Spirit. It's a pretty unconventional game given that it has no GM, no combat, and only has a single PC controlled by the whole group, but it blew my mind. It's so good at creating these organic mysteries that seem so real. Not a good fit for StartPlaying, but with friends it's fantastic.

How HoodieSticks runs games

My #1 goal when running games is to give players interesting decisions. That applies to combat encounters, social situations, downtime, everything. I want you to feel like your choices matter, and that those choice are unique to your character. I know there are lots of shy or quiet players out there, and I want my table to be accommodating of that. I might offer some rewards for speaking up and taking the lead on certain things, but I will never punish you for being shy. I also make sure to establish lines and veils before roleplay-heavy games, so everyone understands what each other's boundaries are. I can't promise balanced encounters. In fact, I rarely try to balance them much at all. I instead adjust the enemy's strength based on narrative importance - the bumbling town guard will be way weaker than you, but the evil mastermind will be so far above you that you can't possibly win in a fair fight. I get such a rush watching my players come up with creative solutions to encounters that would otherwise be unwinnable, and I try to interpret the players' ideas in the best possible light to facilitate this.