Kodi Gonzaga
they/them
5.0
(3)
Timezone
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Identity
About Kodi Gonzaga
Hi! I'm Kodi Gonzaga, a.k.a. jaztice, and I love playing narrative heavy, role-play heavy story games. I also design my own TTRPGs and write novels in my spare time. By day, I'm a project manager, so I've got all those organizational skills down pat, including the dreaded specter of scheduling. Telling stories and helping people feel heard, seen, and understood is one of my greatest passions in life, so I figured becoming a professional GM would be a good idea. We'll see if I was right!
At a glance
3 years on StartPlaying
Highly rated for: Inclusive, Knows the Rules, Creativity
Featured Prompts
My favorite books are
Circe by Madeline Miller, The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin, Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke, The Tiger's Daughter by K Arsenault Rivera, Another Kind by Cait May and Trevor Bream, Nimona by N.D. Stevenson, Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir
When I'm not running games I'm...
writing YA novels, drinking Thai boba tea, watching Ghibli movies, petting my cat, hanging out with friends, and playing TTRPGs instead of running them!
How Kodi Gonzaga runs games
My style is VERY focused on the characters and their importance within and influence on the story. In fact, story typically comes first for me, though now that I've designed a few games myself, I really value well-crafted mechanics too. I've never been a huge fan of running or playing games where you can shift characters in and out easily---not that those games can't be fun! They just really aren't my speed. I personally love playing in games where my character's backstory is tied into the world and where my character's motivations are considered and taken advantage of during play. Because of that, I've honed a LOT of skills that involve weaving character backstory into games and using character motivations subtly yet effectively as a way to indulge my own desires! That said, I work best with players who aren't afraid to of making big, exciting, and tough choices during play. YOU need to care about your character and their story for my games to work. But once you do care? I will cradle that story and give it wings, and with your help, we'll watch it take off and fly away to become greater than either of us imagined. Basically, if I wanted to tell a story by myself, I'd go write a book. I do it all the time. But sometimes I want to tell a story with others so we can all create it, follow it, and find out what happens in it together! That's why I play TTRPGs. That's why I GM. If that's the experience you're looking for, then you've found the right person to run your games.
Featured Prompts
If my games were Movies they'd be directed by...
some horrifying but beautiful amalgamation of Steven Spielberg, Hayao Miyazaki, and Gary Trousdale.
My favorite trope is...
found family! And angst. Preferably both. >:)
Kodi Gonzaga's ideal table
My ideal table tends to be very casual but also very invested in the story. Out-of-game, I want folks to feel comfortable and safe with each other, able to trust one another and be friendly... but also capable of setting boundaries, having meta discussions about the story or the game, and taking a step back if needed. Players at my table are responsible for working with everyone else to curate and cultivate their own experience. What that really boils down to is you creating a character that plays into themes you're interested in and caring about that character's journey. Once you've done that, I'm golden! I'm also learning to take my own wants and needs for play into account, mostly by making sure the story scope is narrow enough that the things we explore are already things I'm interested in exploring. Once I create the box of "stuff I want to play with," I give it to y'all, and depending on what you pull out of that box, that's what we end up exploring! It tends to work pretty well.
Featured Prompts
If you're into ___, you're going to love my table
plucky super kids, healing from trauma, badass action scenes, found family, and teenage angst
I love it when a player
makes a character decision or takes action as their character in a way I never would've expected --- and yet also makes perfect sense!
I think metagaming...
should be a discussion about what's best for the players and the story (in that order) instead of an attempt to wrest narrative control from each other and "win" at something that ultimately isn't win-able.
Kodi Gonzaga's Preferences
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