Dr. Michael "Alex" Retallick

any/all

5.0

(2)

Timezone

America/los Angeles

Language

English

Portuguese

About Dr. Michael "Alex" Retallick

I have been running games since about 2017 after being introduced to TTRPGs in college. Since then I have run therapeutic games for special needs children, become a certified therapeutic game master, completed my doctoral dissertation on TTRPG as a tool for empathic development, and managed to start a group and keep it together together threw 4 years of grad school. I have run groups in premade and homebrew games using primarily D&D 5e with some one shots in Pathfinder, Blades in the Dark, and Kids on Bikes. I use DnDbeyond, Foundry VTT, Talespire, Zoom, Discord, and premade and homemade maps. I have books for Daggerheart and many other systems that I may be able to run in the future. I like to have session 0 where we discuss and vote on any homebrew rules and review safety and consent preferences. I strive to balance roleplay, exploration, and combat and support player agency.

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Highly rated for: Inclusive, Knows the Rules, Teacher

Featured Prompts

I became a GM because

I had played once in college and wanted to play again. After being unable to locate a GM, I watched live games until I felt I could run it for my friends instead. Since then I have always worked to be the GM that I would want to run a game for me.

How Dr. Michael "Alex" Retallick runs games

I like to have a balance of exploration, roleplay, and combat. I tend to be more theater of the mind except when there is going to be a big fight. Then I either grab one of the maps I have acquired over the years or I make my own with Dungeon Draft or Foundry VTT.

Featured Prompts

I deal with rules issues by...

discussion and vote. In session 0, I go over house rules and take votes from the players to decide what rule changes we have. Then I have a living document with those rules for each group and as disputes arise, we discuss and vote on rulings. Those results are added to the living doc for next time.

I prep by

reviewing my notes from last session, reviewing ideas for player arcs, and reviewing the story arcs. Then I try and plan several story hooks, settings that the party might go into in the next session, and potential puzzle, social, and combat encounters that could fit in those possible settings.

When it comes to voices

I am not a voice actor, so don't expect critical role level voices. If I use accents, I apologies beforehand for how bad they will be. I have no preferences on players using voices if they want to and feel comfortable.

Dr. Michael "Alex" Retallick's ideal table

I try and cultivate a culture of friends hanging out and having fun. The vibes at my tables tend to flow between serious and silly multiple times in a session. At my tables everyone is here to collaborate and help each other if someone forgets something or has questions. I don't mind people drawing or having something to keep ADHD at bay as long as they still participate, are muting to not making excess noise when others are talking, and are ready when their turn comes up. Usually there is a short check-in when people are arriving and a check out as the session ends.

Featured Prompts

I love it when a player

makes a character with weaknesses and roleplays them or leans into them. When a player is ok with failure and finding a new way to try and complete their task. I also love it when players come up with wild ideas and are willing to negotiate with the GM about it and accept whatever is the outcome.

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

Refusing to be a team player, continuing to push a topic or course of action after others have flagged it as distressing, seeking conflict with other players who have said that they don't want the conflict.

I think metagaming...

only a problem if used excessively. Little metagaming like noticing the AC and resistance discovered during combat giving other players advice. Excessive would be arguing with the GM over what you know of a monsters stat block and what the GM is doing. Don't try and metagame the fun out of the game.