Kendo

any/all

5.0

(13)

Timezone

America/new York

Language

English

Identity

Streamer

Podcaster

LGBTQ+

Queer

BIMPOC

Black

Disabled

Neurodivergent

Game Designer

About Kendo

Hey there! I'm Kendrick or Kendo, whichever you prefer, and I want to be your Game Master! Quick things you should know about me: I'm a 30 year-old, queer, neurodivergent, black nerd who's been playing TTRPGs since 2012. I love body horror, political intrigue, improv comedy, mecha anime, and the weird places where fantasy and sci-fi meet. I started my foray into TTRPGs playing D&D 4e in high school when a friend of mine got me into watching the Counter Monkey series on The Spoony Experiment. Hearing him recount tales of friends and strangers coming together to tell the wildest stories possible always made my heart race as I yearned to do the same. Now I can. Nowadays, I primarily run lots of non-D&D-esque TTRPGs like Monster Hearts 2, Rapscallion, and Kids on Bikes. Though I prefer using Tales of the Valiant or Chasing Adventure for my heroic fantasies, I still love getting down and dirty with D&D 5e. I'm mostly known for being on the marketing team for Kobold Press and as the creator and GM of the queer-horror actual play podcast, Tales Yet Told. If you want to get a sense of how I run things, you should check it out. https://www.TalesYetTold.com

At a glance

2 years on StartPlaying

Highly rated for: Storytelling, World Builder, Inclusive

Average response time: Under 1 hour

Response rate: 100%

Featured Prompts

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

The Quiet Year, Rapscallion, and Kids on Bikes

My favorite shows/movies are

TV • Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul • Succession • Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon • Atlanta • Black Mirror Anime • Mobile Suit Gundam • Re:Zero • Monster • Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju •One Piece Movies • Amadeus • The Lobster • Knives Out • Dr. Strangelove • Sinners

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

Making videos about TTRPGs, producing my actual play podcast Tales Yet Told, or thinking about game design... I think about TTRPGs a lot...

How Kendo runs games

• Collaborative Storytelling: Our game is a conversation between all of the players at the table. Our journey will be shaped by the desires and expectations of the group as a whole, so that all of us have ownership over the story we tell. • Engaging Roleplay: My goal is to give you the chance to immerse yourself into our fictional world as deeply as you desire, knowing I'll be there to play in the space with you. Expect to see your backstory interwoven into the narrative and to have those threads pulled on so you can have your moment. • Combat Is Story: The role of violence in a narrative is something I take very seriously. It does not happen without reason and its consequences should be considered before resorting to it. Depending on the system I'm running, combat can sometimes take a backseat in priority but when swords are drawn, things get serious. I love tactical combat (with side objectives and crafty enemies) just as much as I like narrative combat (Theatre of the mind and emotional). • Choices Matter: I make the stakes of my game matter on every level, from world-spanning events to intimate conversations. I'm going to give you hard choices, so you can swing for the fences. Do you really want to take this artifact, knowing the queen's advisor might be scrying on you? Your efforts, do in fact, make a difference.

Featured Prompts

If my games were Movies they'd be directed by...

Hiro Murai (Atlanta, Barry, and Legion)

My games focus on...

How the players interact with the world, how their actions change it, and how the world changes them in return. Characters are malleable things and our game is the catalyst and documenter of their change.

Rules are...

They are the framework we've agreed to use to tell our story. They should act as a foundation we always return to when we don't know what the truth of the story demands of us. But like all tools and walls, they can be bent for the narrative.

Kendo's ideal table

There are essentially two modes my tables oscillate between, relaxingly humorous and chillingly tense. Usually a game can switch modes in a matter of moments, it just depends on where the story is taking us. I like my games to be full of drama and horror but that doesn't mean the world stops being funny or mundane. So come prepared to feel the full spectrum of human emotion and have a blast doing so.

Featured Prompts

If you're into ___, you're going to love my table

games full of intimate horror, genre bending, and high personal stakes

I love it when a player

Makes a bold, in-character decision that takes the story in a whole new direction (as long as it isn't taking away from the fun of everyone else at the table).

My table is not the place for...

Bigotry of any kind. I have zero-tolerance for racism, queerphobia, transphobia, ableism, xenophobia, or broadly the dehumanization of anyone regardless of intent. I curate my tables to make sure everyone there feels safe and supported as we explore our shared story.