Mark Walters

he/him

5.0

(2)

Timezone

America/los Angeles

Language

English

About Mark Walters

Looking for a Great Game? Let Me Be Your DM! I've been running D&D since 1981. Yes, I've been behind the screen for a long time! I've played through countless adventures, made plenty of mistakes, learned a few things, and most importantly, I've never stopped loving the game. I'm an IT professional who has done a lot of teaching. I'm accustomed to showing students how to manage complex rules, and presenting content in a meaningful and interesting way. My games are player-focused and story-focused. Your characters are the heroes, and your choices matter. I like collaborative storytelling, memorable NPCs, exciting encounters, and giving players plenty of opportunities to surprise me. What you can expect: Player-driven stories and meaningful choices Beginner-friendly games A relaxed, fun atmosphere Plenty of roleplaying and adventure Custom maps, artwork, NPCs, and VTT effects A GM who genuinely loves playing the game Games are played online using Discord and Owlbear.Rodeo VTT, so you can join from anywhere. I even made my own dice bot to make things easy. If you're looking for a game where the DM is just as excited to see what happens as you are, come roll some dice with me!

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Highly rated for: Inclusive, Creativity, Rule of Cool

$35 per session

Featured Prompts

I started running games because...

I love telling stories with other people. There’s something magical about putting a bunch of interesting characters into a world, and discovering together what happens next.

My favorite system of all Time is

D&D is my first (but not only) love. I've been playing since Red Box days, and have played pretty much all of the versions, including variants like Pathfinder. I play a lot of RPG's, but always come back to D&D.

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

Creative, Welcoming, Unpredictable

How Mark Walters runs games

I'm not a despotic GM. The games I run belong to the players as much as they belong to me. I'm the director, and the players are the actors, and they get a say in the script. The rules exist to help make the game fun, but when they get in the way, they can be bent as needed. I don't house rule without getting player agreement first, so everyone knows what to expect. I love a good combat, but I also love good roleplay. Sometimes, the most fun to be had is with interacting with important NPC's and the players. Sometimes you have to fight the monster. It all depends on where the story takes us. Generally speaking, I try to balance sessions so there's a mix. I strive to make my NPC's memorable and consequential to the story. I plan a LOT. Much of my planning has already happened. For my D&D games, I have a toolbox of encounters, tokens, artwork, sounds, and stories that I have collected over the years that I can bring to bear in any situation, but I also do a lot of prep work for upcoming games as well. I love a good planning session. This means I'm typically prepared for just about anything.

Featured Prompts

I deal with rules issues by...

I deal with rules issues by talking about them. Rules and rule adjudication should be collectively agreed upon. If there's a disagreement, we talk it out and come to a consensus.

If my games were Movies they'd be directed by...

The Coen Brothers

Rules are...

A framework to help with play, but meant to be bent when they get in the way of the story. I follow the Rule of Cool.

Mark Walters's ideal table

The ideal table is one where the players are all interested in the story and willing and able to be active participants in helping to create the fiction, and supportive of each other. A table where everyone runs in the direction of fun. The campaigns that last a good long time are ones where the GM and the players support and encourage each other. We're all a team.

Featured Prompts

I love it when a player

does something crazy, over the top, fun. Especially if they do something that isn't perfectly supported by the rules.

I think metagaming...

replaces the common sense and general knowledge that a fictional character walking around in a fictional world would have. A player might not know much about the world, and so, table talk, or metagaming, can act as a stand-in for that knowledge. I never discourage metagaming.

My perfect party mix is

the party that wants to have fun. Sounds corny, but it's true. I don't actually care all that much about party balance. If everyone is a rogue, then that's the game we're playing. If every character is designed to fill a specific niche, then that's fine too. I adjust the game to mach the party.