About me

I remember it like it was the day before yesterday. A group of friends sat on the porch of a row home in Gilbert, Arizona. The sun rose lazily over the Superstition Mountains, and though it was summertime, the day was not yet scorching hot. None of the friends had ever played Dungeons & Dragons before, save for the nerdy guy from across the street who had gathered us together. He owned one book and one set of dice, but it was enough to get us started. That day, Fre Talis was born, a sneakthief and cutpurse in the classic and noble line of Robin Hood, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. That day changed my life forever. Ever since that day, I have been in love with roleplaying games! It's a hobby and a lifestyle and running games, especially games for new players, is a dream job I never thought might one day happen. And yet here I am. And there you are. If you're still interested, read on! I am Simon of the House Fiasco, first of my name, the jack of some (but really, not many) trades, the most jovial of game masters, regent of hooligans and rapscallions, lord of nothing in particular, scribbler of words, eater of Hawaiian pizza, protector of small fur-bearing animals, breaker of chairs, and speaker of dad jokes! The name is just a nom de guerre, of course. (Isn't that a great phrase? Say it with me. Nom de guerre. You can feel the italics tickle your nasal passages, vibrating with arrogant titillation as the idiom instills a certain degree of superiority into the left frontal lobe of your cerebral cortex, can't you?) My real name might be the unfortunate, bland, and pedestrian "Scott" or "Patrick" or "Brian." But you have to be realistic, nobody wants to be named Brian, except maybe Brian Blessed, who has really ruined the name for the rest of us with his history of sparring with the Dalai Lama, climbing Mt. Everest while handcuffed and blindfolded, and keeping a full grown grizzly bear hidden behind his massive beard. If you're going to be named Brian, you must be Brian Blessed. If you aren't Brian Blessed, what's the point? I am not Brian Blessed, and the strange alien overlords that talk to me through a psychic eggplant insisted on a more exciting name for their Earthbound representative, so Simon Fiasco, the Jovial GM it is. When not sitting in front of my computer creating inspiring campaign worlds (no doubt with my mouth hanging open like I just saw the ghost of someone almost (but not quite) interesting), I spend my time on a balcony overlooking the Arkansas River, playing Death Metal's Greatest Hits on my diamond-studded kazoo. I don't pretend to know the meaning of life, but I know the meaning of "sesquipidalian", and that makes me feel all extraordinarily exceptional on the inside. If I am at my computer (and, let's face it, that's the majority of my time), mostly I'm either playing video games, devising dastardly villains, or doing something equally as silly, like pretending the Photoshop skills of someone with no true artistic talent really matter.

GM Style

I'm a wild and crazy kind of guy, tossing dice like a nine year old on a roller coaster tosses cookies. (In other words, only when absolutely necessary!) I believe that role-play needs to be at the center of role-playing games, with combat and other aspects of the game taking a back seat to the actual story. That said, I'm not against combat, but you're still likely to see a two-to-one split, with about twice as much role-play and exploration as combat. Provided you can keep your sword sheathed, that is. For the most part, I run either Dungeons & Dragons 5E or Genesys. I prefer my games to be played with a more narrative style. At the moment, I find the flexibility of the Genesys RPG scratches just about any itch, but D&D5E does very specific things - like high fantasy - very well. I'll also run games using 13th Age, Five Torches Deep, Cortex Prime, The Dresden Files RPG (Accelerated) and the Genesys precursor, FFG's wonderful Star Wars RPG. I'm also interested in learning other systems, as well, should you find my current stable of games not broad enough. My table is always a safe place LGBTQIA+ players, as well as friendly to neurodiverse individuals, as well, employing player protections like a gaming consent form, the X-Card, and Lines & Veils.

Games played

Game platforms used

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