Cory
he/him
5.0
(18)
Timezone
Language
Identity
About Cory
Building Parties ⚔️ |🤝Making Friends Hi, I’m Cory! I’ve been playing Dungeons & Dragons and other tabletop roleplaying games since 2006, and I’ve spent the past 10 years bringing stories to life as a Game Master. I specialize in original, homebrewed campaigns built around the characters at the table. I believe the most engaging stories are the ones the players help create. When you join one of my campaigns, your character’s backstory, relationships, ambitions, fears, and goals become as important as the larger adventure. Building and developing communities is a passion of mine. Whether it’s at the table in fantastical realms full of heroes and villains, or out in our real world creating spaces where the underserved are treated with dignity and respect, I love when people connect finding joy and comradery on this funny little floating rock. When I’m not behind the GM screen, I’m usually at the gym, taking my mini dachshund to the farmers market, or writing my homebrewed settings with the hope of publishing them one day. ☕Table Vibe’s ☕ 👥 Human first. I promise to make mistakes, fumble around, look up a rule I forgot, lose a character voice mid roleplay, and have a tech issue or two here or there. 🐒Laid back, laughter, making friends, active Discord. Roll dice and be merry! 🍄 Inclusivity is paramount. Whether you’re neurodivergent, LGBTQ+, brand new to TTRPGs, or a veteran player, you’ve got a seat at my table.
At a glance
Less than a year on StartPlaying
47 games hosted
Highly rated for: Inclusive, Storytelling, World Builder
$30 per session
Average response time: 10 hours
Response rate: 100%
Top Game Master
One of StartPlaying's top-rated GMs, a player favorite and highly recommended.
Featured Prompts
I became a GM because
I love storytelling and playing games. So naturally the two went together and I became a GM.
My favorite books are
The Name of the Wind, ACOTAR, Dungeon Crawler Carl, anything by Brene Brown or Mel Robbins.
When I'm not running games I'm...
at the gym, out in the community advocating for people, reading a book, sitting at the pool. Living a life 15 year old me would be proud of.
How Cory runs games
🎲Platforms: We will use Discord to communicate between us and use Roll20 and D&DBeyond/Demiplane as game engines, for character sheets, and maps and other artwork. 🎭Roleplay: NPC's will have notable voices and ticks, there will be a few monologues, queue the suspenseful music and smoke machine (ok ok apparently the smoke machine is a "fire hazard" and against OSHA, whatever...) ⚔️Combat: Combat (and victories...and defeats) will feel earned and impactful. Lair actions, environmental hazards, and dynamic battlefield elements encourage my players to think strategically and use their characters’ abilities in creative ways to overcome challenges. 🧭Player Agency: Your character your way, if I wanted to write a novel and be in full control of all the players, I'd just do that. Roleplaying games and TTRPG is about telling a collaborative story, thinking outside the box, weaving new information into the ether of the plot and moving it forward. Player agency is the upmost important to me.
Featured Prompts
I prep by
obsessing over player characters. Their backgrounds, secrets, and goals shape the world around them. I build scenarios instead of rigid plots, letting players explore freely and make meaningful choices. The story grows from their actions, creating a living world where the adventure writes itself.
My favorite trope is...
My favorite trope to explore as a DM is planar travel. I love the idea of adventurers stepping beyond a single world and venturing across different realms of existence. Traveling between planes opens the door to wildly different environments, and make it feel epic!
Rules are...
as written. I love the rule of cool for things that don't effect game play but, you are not using Druidcraft to essentially cast Ensnaring Strike. lol
Cory's ideal table
Who thrives here? Imaginative, story-driven players who like flexing their character in roleplay, puzzles, and clever skill checks. Sometimes talking your way past the guard is better than stabbing him. Who won’t enjoy this table? “That guy.” No lone wolves, no jerks, no spotlight thieves doing random chaos that stalls the game. This is a team sport. Tone of the campaigns? Somewhere between Game of Thrones and Monty Python. Epic stakes, dramatic moments… and occasionally someone falls off a wagon because they tried something incredibly stupid. What does your DM secretly love? Wild plans. If you think it might work, try it. Creativity and resourcefulness are always rewarded. What can players expect? Fair rulings using RAW, a little Rule of Cool when it fits, and strong respect for player agency. Your choices matter. What’s the table philosophy? It’s not about me or one player. It’s about all of us telling a great story and having fun together. Advice for players? Play your flaws. Sure, you’re a legendary hero… but are you still a sucker for a good tavern meal? Do you hate getting dirty? Are you irrationally afraid of geese? Flaws make the story better. DM superpower? Making every player feel like the main character while still letting the whole party shine, circa 2016. Best moment at the table? When strangers become friends and the table fills with jokes, banter, and unforgettable moments.
Featured Prompts
I love it when a player
lean into flaws. Like yes, I want to see the egotistical bard throw a punch at a heckler. Yes, your 8-intelligence fighter did a stupid thing when he was trying to be smart. Lean into it.
I think metagaming...
is that it should stay as far away from a TTRPG as possible. There is always going to be some level of knowledge players bring with them from outside the game, and that is unavoidable. However, I encourage players to focus on what their characters would realistically know, feel, and do.
I think min/maxing...
has its place. If I say we are running an optimized campaign in a Session Zero, then by all means min/max. But, I truly think a lot of the flavor of story comes more from the failures rather than the successes.