Kevin Haulsee(Lighthearter)
he/him
5.0
(12)
Timezone
Language
Identity
About Kevin Haulsee(Lighthearter)
I have been a DM for over 15 years, with experience in D&D(3.5e and 5e), FATE, Deadlands, the Star Wars RPG, and plenty of homebrew systems besides. If it can happen at a table, I've probably dealt with it, good or bad. As a DM, I love picking elements out of player backstories and making them play significant roles in the plot of the story we tell as players together. One of the games I remember most fondly was one based around superheroes, where everyone supplied a 3-6 member Rogues' Gallery and thus saved me from having to make basically any villains for the entire campaign, because anything I could want was right there! I'm actively looking to run games in 5e and Deadlands, but could be persuaded to look at settings such as V:TM if there was interest!
At a glance
3 years on StartPlaying
Highly rated for: Creativity, Storytelling, Inclusive
Featured Prompts
I got started GMing...
when my sister's then-boyfriend turned out to be a GM in 3.5e D&D. I was 10 or 11, and was instantly hooked!
The three words my players would use to describe me are...
Reasonable, Responsive, Adaptable.
When I'm not running games I'm...
working on my novel projects. The methods of making the two feed into each other in fascinating ways - I wouldn't run a game like a book or write a book like a game, but there are lots of shared principles!
How Kevin Haulsee(Lighthearter) runs games
My style is collaborative: I love picking ideas from player backstories and concepts to rework into my own plots. I tend to enjoy roleplay a bit more than combat, as I'm a Theater of the Mind GM above all(mainly due to having an online group many years before any of us discovered common tools for virtual tabletops LOL) but I love a good fight just as much as anyone. All in all, I'm pretty laid back and just love a good RPG.
Featured Prompts
I deal with rules issues by...
focusing on what's more fun for the group as a whole. In general, I think rules issues are the worst part of a game and rules lawyering actively detracts from the fun, so I try to avoid crunchy situations as much as possible.
Rules are...
necessary frameworks for the mechanical games we play, but should never be taken literally. The best games are the ones with the fewest rules and the most fun.
When it comes to voices
I love making accents for NPCs and always strive to come up with new ones, whether modeled on pop culture or invented myself.
Kevin Haulsee(Lighthearter)'s ideal table
My tables are focused on fun, whatever that means for the players involved. Players who enjoy roleplay, who can laugh but also be serious at need, who like combat but don't feel the need to slay a dragon every session, who enjoy making subplots and engaging with NPCs, are my dream players. The more you engage with what I offer, the more you'll get back, and I live for the moments when PCs wind up creating something I can use purely from their own engagement with the world I've offered.
Featured Prompts
If you're into ___, you're going to love my table
roleplaying, telling a story, and having fun combat and skill challenges without worrying about inventory tracking or rules debates.
I think it's a red flag when players...
get really invested in exact words, whether nitpicking NPC dialogue, my own rulings and descriptions, or text in rulebooks. The spirit of the law always matters more than the letter of it, and exact words-ism is usually a shield for a "player vs GM" mindset.
My table is not the place for...
crunchy, nitty-gritty, rulesy play or super-tactical VTT combat. At my tables, we play to have fun, and crunch and fun are in my view directly counter to each other.
Kevin Haulsee(Lighthearter)'s Preferences
Systems
Platforms
Game Mechanics