Maria

she/her

5.0

(35)

Timezone

America/new York

Language

English

Identity

Neurodivergent

Published Writer

Artist

Teacher/Educator

Women/Femme Identifying

About Maria

As a DM I strive to make atmospheric and evocative adventures that reward players who think outside of the box. I work as a freelance illustrator, and as a highly visual person imagery and tone play a big part in my games. I create my own art, maps, and custom player character art for my campaigns. Eight years of acting experience combined with a lifelong passion for fantasy writing makes me quick with improv and eager to dive into absurd, creative directions I didn't expect players to go in. I make it my mission as a DM to reward the player's choices and tailor the game to actions they take instead of pushing them along a preordained path. There are set plot points and long-term objectives to my campaigns, but they are always subject to change based on the players goals and decisions. My worlds are heavily homebrewed, and I love tailoring the adventure to the characters' backstories. I am the perfect choice for a player who loves RP! I run an inclusive LGBTQ+ friendly table. Please only apply to play in one of my games if you are willing to respect the pronouns and identities of others.

At a glance

4 years on StartPlaying

327 games hosted

Highly rated for: World Builder, Storytelling, Teacher

Featured Prompts

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

Drawing, Writing, Reading, or playing with my latest batch of foster kittens from the rescue I work with. I never pass up a chance to visit a new escape room, and I spend a lot of time on various crafts, lately knitting and embroidery.

The three words my players would use to describe me are...

Creative, artistic, and prepared. I spend a lot of time prepping potential encounters, populating shops, and creating hooks for side quests, though I put a lot of emphasis on them being optional. I want my players to feel that they have a rich world that is ready to explore if they so choose.

My favorite books are

Anything by Holly Black, but especially her folk of the air series. love me a good dangerous faerie story. I love the magic systems Brandon Sanderson has in his works, and the quirky humor of books like A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking. I'm also a good sucker for a good graphic novel.

How Maria runs games

I'm a lore nerd who loves world building, but I love riffing with my players to make things up and add onto the story as things happen in game - I'm great at filling in specific details on the fly, and my campaigns are full of mood. I LOVE rewarding roleplaying. I tend to lean towards a 70-30 role-play and story to combat interaction, with a lot of the RP involving exploration and puzzles/ encounters that aren't necessarily combat-based, and always the option to avoid combat with creative thinking. I do not run murderhobo or evil campaigns. My tables are always LGBTQ+ friendly and should feel like a safe space. Please only apply to play in one of my games if you are willing to respect the pronouns and identities of others. I love building things into the story that come up during role play, and reward heartfelt role play and out-of-the-box thinking with inspiration. The rule of cool doesn't always hold trump in my games as I do adhere to RAW (Rules as Written) to ground my campaigns, but if the mood is right and it makes sense with the characters' arc, I'm happy to let it prevail. Because of the heavy role-play emphasis on my games, audio and video are both important for my sessions. Please make sure you have a working microphone and camera - I find that leaving your camera off makes PC interaction much more difficult, and I want to make sure that everyone feels they can get a read on their fellow players. I run games exclusively on Roll20 for visuals and combat maps, and use Discord for audio and video. I'm happy to work with both brand new and experienced players alike. I work as a freelance illustrator and have a degree in illustration, and for my longer campaigns I usually do custom character art for my PCs.

Featured Prompts

My games focus on...

Engaged collaborative storytelling and running with what makes the most sense character-wise for different players. I try to build arcs around multiple character's backstory hooks, and love players who really take their PCs on an arc and do all I can to enable that in my games.

When it comes to voices

I love doing different character voices, and try to work on a specific tone or accent for any significant NPC, with a few default voices for random side characters. I think voices are so helpful in communicating mood, character, and specifying when something is said in character or above table.

Rules are...

Great for structure, but sometimes a speech is just so great or a description or important storytelling moment so fun that rule of cool presides over them. For the most part I do RAW, though at the start of all my campaigns we have a group discussion about custom house rules people would like to use

Maria's ideal table

I love players who are excited to be there, and given that I run very story and RP-heavy games, I LOVE me some lore keeper players. Give me someone with a 10 page backstory who catches all my deep cut references in their notes and has long conversations getting to know the other PCs. I love players that interact with not just the world, but each other as well. Give me a best friends forever save the world group mentality with engagement in story and backstory, and I'm the happiest DM ever. My games are LGBTQ+ and BIPOC friendly. We respect each others pronouns and identities, and I expect all players at my table to treat each other with respect.

Featured Prompts

I am for a vibe that's...

Chatty best friends go on an adventure together. A little cottage core, a little macabre, and a little bit TV sitcom dramedy with a few puzzle and philosophy books thrown in somewhere. My plots usually leave big choices up to players instead of having one "right" path.

I love it when a player

Catches a reference. They're always optional, but the player that realizes that two opposing captains share a last name and digs into their family backstory and then uses it to manipulate the situation to their advantage is some of the most rewarding RP as a DM

I think it's a red flag when players...

Speak harshly to other PCs or dismiss their ideas, or refuse to interact with the other players. We're all here to be equal stars, and as such we should all treat each other with respect. Group storytelling is about getting to know your group and work with them, not against them.