Malkavian_Grin

she/her

5.0

(4)

Timezone

America/vancouver

Language

English

Identity

Streamer

LGBTQ+

Queer

Neurodivergent

Voice Actor

Women/Femme Identifying

Game Designer

About Malkavian_Grin

...is this thing on... Hello and welcome to my profile! I've been gaming and GMing since 2003 using D&D 3.5e. Since then I've become much more interested in stranger systems like Mörk Borg, Powered by the Apocalypse, Maze Rats, and anything within the Old School Renaissance. But wait, there's more! I also have an emphasis on role-playing and love to see what sort of character drama or interesting scenes can be had between us. The story is about everyone at the table and what they can use to bring life into it. That means equal say and equal attention. In turn this means I tend to favor a sword and sorcery style of fantasy, focusing more on the individual stories each character has and how those intertwine with each other. Dark, gritty, real stories are so much more impactful. I want to tell stories that players remember later and tell other people about what happened. I'm a trans woman using she/her pronouns and am a very open person. I do not judge and in turn do not tolerate those that do. My space is a safe place, welcome for ALL that are respectful. I respect any and all lines and veils players may bring to my attention. My favorite system is probably Star Worlds, a hack of a hack of a hack of the Powered by the Apocalypse rules which turns Star Wars into a high action drama that doesn't get bogged down in too many rules. The end results are what matter but the narrative can be driven so many ways.

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Highly rated for: Teacher, Storytelling, Creativity

Featured Prompts

I got started GMing...

Because I wanted to build wonderous scenes and see player reactions and how they would interact with the world.

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

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

Streaming on Twitch or watching episodes of Blood in the Clocktower lol

How Malkavian_Grin runs games

I love to roleplay but enjoy having a good 50/50 mix of it with combat. I am highly descriptive, engaging multiple senses when revealing details to the players. I try to craft interesting locations with wondrous events and memorable NPCs. As a matter of taste I prefer to keep things low fantasy or dark and gritty. I like real stakes rather than grandiose adventures with the Party of Theseus where Frodo's second cousin Frank is the one tossing the One Ring into lava lol. The Rule of Cool is always in effect. If the table goes along with someone and everyone is into a story beat going a certain way, I'll likely go with it because it makes things more personal for the players. I enjoy having players make changes to the game world, because it's their story. That doesn't mean I'm a pushover; sometimes being Cool will still get you eaten by a dragon. Everyone gets a chance to shine. That's one of my tenets for running a game and one of my paths to success. When you feed into what the player wants, it makes them more invested. Furthermore, I like the pit the story into a more personalized angle. Those aren't just strange wizards, they're cultists bearing an image from your nightmares! But not *everything* is about them, or things would get stale. Red herrings need to exist to keep a sense of risk. I tend to give my NPCs a quirk, an adjective about their personality, and some kind of fun voice as I'm an amateur voice actor.

Featured Prompts

I deal with rules issues by...

Stating how the rules are, but then listening to an explanation of why we might go with a different ruling.

Rules are...

Guidelines. I prefer "rulings over rules" though understand that once a decision is made, we stick with it. While most of the rules don't need changing, the game itself isn't perfect and sometimes a compromise should be made.

When it comes to voices

I try my best but not everyone can be 100% unique. I am an amateur voice actor and love to give NPCs a quirk of some kind so they are memorable along with the voice.

Malkavian_Grin's ideal table

My table is a combination of humor, roleplay, combat that doesn't last hours, and most importantly a safe space. The best players for me are ones that want to be invested in the game, enjoy roleplay, and like to make sure everyone has a chance to shine.

Featured Prompts

I love it when a player

Internalizes a piece of game lore and runs with it creatively. Maybe they expand on the religion of a deity or drum up a new holiday or try to make their character obsessed with some obscure part of it. It shows they are invested in the game :)

My table is not the place for...

Rules lawyering. I'll gladly accept help with the rules but ultimately I don't want told how to run my own game. Also not the time/place for religion, politics, or world news talk. The table is for escaping the real world woes.