Jasmine

she/her

5.0

(4)

Timezone

America/los Angeles

Language

English

Identity

DMs Guild Writer

LGBTQ+

Queer

Women/Femme Identifying

Game Designer

About Jasmine

Hello! It's me, Jasmine! (Or, in some circles, "Troacctid.") I'm a queer tabletop geek, freelance writer, and professional GM! Why should you hire me? 1. I'm experienced! I have thousands of hours of experience behind the GM screen, and an encyclopedic knowledge of multiple tabletop roleplaying game systems. (I like to think I’m among the world’s foremost experts on character optimization in Dungeons & Dragons 3.5e, having personally written over 350,000 words’ worth of in-depth strategy guides for it. Don’t get me started on warlocks. I have Opinions.) I’ve been the house DM for my local game store since 2017, running at least one or two sessions of D&D Adventurers League every week. So I've got the chops! 2. I'm a good storyteller! I have a background in creative writing and critical media analysis (gotta put that English degree to use somehow), and I'm a confident public speaker. 3. I'm really flexible! I run an inclusive table, and I'm comfortable accepting any players—new or experienced, young or old, confident or shy, you're in good hands with me. And I can run a lot of different systems, too.

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Highly rated for: Knows the Rules, Inclusive, Teacher

Featured Prompts

My 3 systems I'd bring to a desert island would be

1. D&D 3.5e, a heavy mechanical system that has an incredible depth of rules complexity and replayability. 2. DIE RPG, a heavy story game with the ability to generate high drama and deep emotions. 3. D&D 4e, a heavy tactical game for those crunchy, board-gamey vibes.

My favorite system of all Time is

Dungeons & Dragons 3.5e is my old stomping grounds and the system I'm the most invested in by far, despite its many flaws. I feel like I know almost every inch of it and I have opinions about all of it. There's something about a crunchy char-gen system that rewards mastery over the rules.

When I'm not running games I'm...

Singing! I'm a semi-quasi-sort-of-professional choral singer! I'm also a writer (I've posted a lot of words on AO3, and I've even dabbled in freelancing here and there), and a big fan of tabletop gaming in general (I have a pretty substantial board game collection).

How Jasmine runs games

Family-friendly. You can expect my games to be rated PG. I mean, I’m not morally opposed to coarse language or mature themes for groups that want to explore them, but it’s not really my default mode. I’m happy to run games for kids, too! I used to host a monthly D&D game for middle schoolers at the local library. Good fun. Lighthearted. Sometimes things get a little bit silly, and that’s okay. Every D&D party ought to have at least one quest that devolves into an absurd farce. I’m not afraid to lean on the fourth wall a little, or sprinkle in a few terrible puns here and there. Expect my games to have a healthy dose of wit and whimsy! By the book. I cut my teeth in the world of organized play, and it taught me that part of the fun of tabletop RPGs is working within the framework of the rules to complete your quest. For me, the rulebooks are not an impediment to the story—they are the canvas upon which the story is painted! (Figuratively. Please do not draw on my rulebooks.) Extemporaneous. Some GMs prepare huge amounts of material in advance. I’m not one of them. I’ll prepare the broad strokes, keep a general outline in mind, and improvise details on the spot as needed. I especially like running pre-published modules: it saves a lot of prep time, and I can pass those savings on to you!

Featured Prompts

I deal with rules issues by...

If I know the rule, I'll give a confident, declarative ruling. ("Don't forget to add your +2 for flanking and +1 for high ground.") If I'm not confident, I'll quickly double-check the source, or ask the player to quickly confirm for me. ("Does the spell have enough range to hit from this distance?")

My games focus on...

Plot. I want the party to have a clear goal for the session, and focus the story on their attempts to accomplish that goal. For me, the problem-solving is the most exciting part of RPGs, so I don't like to meander too long in scenes that don't advance the plot in SOME way.

Rules are...

...important. The rules are the game. I want to respect the designers' vision. Generally, that means coloring inside the lines.

Jasmine's ideal table

I try to run an inclusive table—everyone is welcome, and I'll do my best to accommodate your needs! If you're happy to be here, then I'm happy to have you! If you're a newbie, let me know and I'll try to hold your hand a little more, show you the ropes. If you're a veteran, that's great too; it's always a joy to riff off of a competent player who knows their way around a quest. I try to strike a balance between different styles of gameplay. You can expect there to be some combat, but not all combat. You can expect there to be some roleplay, but not all roleplay. And when I can, I like to sprinkle in some open-ended problems with multiple valid solutions—the kind that make you scour your character sheet for cool special abilities that you could leverage in this niche situation. My experiences in organized play have trained me to be acutely aware of the pacing of a session. When you never know whether your table will have the same players from week to week, you learn pretty quickly how not to accidentally end the night on a cliffhanger! I'm very conscious of what scenes are "important" and what scenes aren't, and I don't like to "waste" time on things like e.g. a random encounter against 2d4 dire rats. I'd rather move the plot forward!

Featured Prompts

I love it when a player

...devises a creative solution to a problem using their established abilities in an unexpected way. I live for that stuff!

I think min/maxing...

...is the responsibility of the game designers to encourage or discourage in the rules of the system. If we're playing a game that's balanced such that the optimal strategy is to boost one stat at the expense of dumping others, I'm not going to make a Shocked Pikachu Face when players do that.

My table is not the place for...

...bigotry. In this house, the fascists are the bad guys.