Mal
he/him
4.9
(18)
Timezone
Language
Identity
About Mal
I'm Cris Malcom, I go by Mal. I've been running TTRPGs for some time now, principally Werewolf: the Apocalypse. I fell into it like a lot of people, awkwardly sitting down at someone else's table, had a blast, and then couldn't stop thinking about new game ideas, then ran out of games to play so moved into the Storyteller seat. These days I run my own Werewolf chronicles, mostly set in one shared San Diego County. Every pack has its own story, but they all live in the same world, so what your pack does can ripple into someone else's game, and theirs into yours. I wanted the world to feel alive between sessions, not frozen until we log back on, so I built two in-world channels on our Discord. Channel 4 News covers what the humans saw: the fire, the bodies, the cover story. SeptNet is the Garou network, where packs trade warnings, rumors and gossip, sometimes about you. Every story on both comes directly from something a player did, so you get to see your choices land in the world. I also built a chronicle wiki so nobody has to dig through months of Discord messages to remember who an NPC is or what a faction wants. It covers the territory maps, NPCs, factions, locations, artifacts and custom house rules your pack runs into, and it's there whenever you want to look something up between sessions. I've accumulated an extensive battle-map and location art collection, so players get something to actually look at instead of just my description of it, and all the chronicle art is done in a consistent graphic novel style so the world has one look. I brought on a production assistant to handle prep, which lets me put my time into the story and means every session shows up ready. New to Werewolf? Built, Not Born is my one-shot raid made for first-time players, with pregens and an established pack so you can jump straight in. I speak English and Spanish, so if Spanish is easier for you, I can help! I've even done several corporate GM gigs too! I'm also an active player here on StartPlaying, currently in multiple WtA, STA, and DnD campaigns, so I know what this looks like from the other side of the screen, what makes you want to come back next week, and what makes you quietly stop showing up. Outside of games I work in tech and manage a team, which mostly just means I treat this like a job. I show up on time, I answer messages, and I don't cancel on people.
At a glance
Less than a year on StartPlaying
10 games hosted
Highly rated for: Sets the Mood, Visual Aid, Rule of Cool
$30 per session
Average response time: 3 hours
Response rate: 100%
Featured Prompts
People are always surprised when I tell them
You can absolutely try it (in game). Nothing's off the table, but everything has consequences, and sometimes real rewards. When players get creative or attempt something wild, I run it straight instead of shutting it down. That's usually where the best stories come from.
The three words my players would use to describe me are...
Atmospheric. Fair. Consequential.
When I'm not running games I'm...
When I'm not GMing, I'm usually on a dirtbike, exploring dusty county trails, or at the boxing gym a few times a week. Different world, same habit, show up, pay attention, don't overthink it.
How Mal runs games
My games are intentionally roleplay-heavy. I care more about what your character does when things fall apart than how well you optimize a build, and I'll always give a scene room to breathe if the table's invested in it. Combat still happens and it still hurts. I have a mixed style of theater of the mind with a VTT to set a scene or show rough positioning, but I'm not the type to be measuring distances or running tactical grid combat. The imagination does most of the work, the map is just there to help you picture it, but that also means it goes both ways. If you can voice a good enough reason for why something should work, that carries weight. Make the case in character and it's more likely to be plausible and to happen, rather than me just checking a box. For Werewolf specifically, I run it grim and visceral. The Wyrm doesn't play fair, Rage costs you something every time you spend it, and the world you're protecting is genuinely losing. That's the point. It should feel like it matters. Stakes are real, which means character death is on the table. I'm not out to kill you for the sake of it, but I won't fudge a roll to save you from a choice you made. Good decisions get rewarded, bad ones have consequences, and that's what makes the wins actually feel like wins. I prefer cameras on, I like seeing reactions, it makes the table feel like a table, but it's not a requirement. If you're more comfortable off, cool, just LMK.
Featured Prompts
If my games were Movies they'd be directed by...
Ridley Scott's Alien, if the corporation partnered with Ari Aster's Midsommar. Cold corporate indifference colliding with small-town dread, beautiful right up until it isn't, and by then it's too late to look away.
My games focus on...
Atmosphere and consequence over crunch. Layered sound design, real stakes, and choices with no clean answer. Horror where the ground under you might not hold, and where trying the wild thing can work, or cost you. Story first, dice in service of it.
Rules are...
a framework, not a cage. I run Rule of Cool with real consequences behind it, try the wild thing and I'll adjudicate it fairly, weighing story and dice together. Consistency matters more to me than rigid RAW.
Mal's ideal table
My table runs on atmosphere and dread that builds slowly rather than jump-scare spectacle, sound design and pacing carry a lot of the weight, and the choices your character makes are the ones that actually shape the story. You'll get the most out of it if you like being part of something bigger than your own pack, keep up with what's happening on SeptNet and Channel 4 News between sessions, and want to see how your choices show up in other packs' stories. New to the system? That's completely fine. I created a Player Onboarding Guide because Session 0 used to eat a whole night with rules questions and setup. Now we go through it together and check things off as we go, so expectations, house rules and character connections are settled quickly and we get to the actual game sooner. Your backstory is yours to write. I'll fill in the gaps and tie your character into the world so you're part of it from the start. What matters more than experience is showing up present, communicating if something's not working for you, and being willing to sit with a story that doesn't always resolve cleanly. This isn't a table for a light, low-stakes romp or a pure combat sim. If you want dread that builds, decisions that cost something, and a Storyteller who's reliable session to session, this is your table.
Featured Prompts
I love it when a player
...makes a call that's clearly worse for their character but truer to who they are, and commits to it anyway. Or asks a question I hadn't thought to answer yet and makes me build the world further, live, at the table.
I think it's a red flag when players...
...ghost the group without a word, show up unprepared session after session despite weeks of notice, or treat another player's spotlight moment as an interruption instead of part of the story. Communication is the actual bar. Miss it repeatedly, and it's a problem.
My table is not the place for...
...player-vs-player drama for its own sake, rules-lawyering that stalls a scene, or checking out because it isn't centered on you. It's also not the place if you need every session to stay easy and low-intensity, this story gets heavy, and that's the point.