Mike Z
he/him
5.0
(9)
Timezone
Language
About Mike Z
Hello! My name is Mike Z and I have been playing D&D for 8 years. I fell in love with DMing as it brought together my two favorite things in the world: running small groups for my church and playing tabletop & video games. I love bringing strangers together around challenging content, encouraging them to share their ideas and questions with confidence, and watching them grow together through collaborative exchange. I have been a community manager in gaming for 9 years, first running Fireside Gatherings for the Hearthstone community and speaking at Blizzard's 2018 Global Innkeeper Summit. I have also run introductory family-oriented D&D and Magic: The Gathering events at my local library. Here's a brief snapshot into my D&D career as player and DM: Among many other misadventures, as a player, I have been in (okay, *caused*) a level 2 TPK in Wave Echo Cave; as a DM, I have homebrewed a 5-year, 100+ session campaign spanning Storm King's Thunder, Ghosts of Saltmarsh, Spelljammer, and Mythic Odysseys of Theros. I have dealt the killing blow to an adult blue dragon, and DM'd a session when a player killed another player's character (who had commissioned art!) and it was one of the most positively memorable (if bittersweet) moments in the entire campaign. When I asked my players what the "banner feature" of my DMing style is, they all agreed: "Character-focused campaigns". I love seamlessly weaving backstories and motivations into module plots in a way that keeps your character's story from feeling like a "side quest" diversion. In my campaigns, they are one and the same. If you are looking for a DM that leans into player agency and creativity, and runs games with an emphasis on character development and engaging combat, please send me a message!
At a glance
3 years on StartPlaying
Highly rated for: Teacher, Storytelling, Creativity
Featured Prompts
I became a GM because
"someone's gotta do it"! Then I embraced the Forever GM role because I love getting to scheme up scenarios and problems for my players with absolutely no idea how they are going to solve them. It is a great joy seeing better stories play out this way than anything I could have written on my own.
The three words my players would use to describe me are...
THOUGHTFUL with personalized story beats and choices to challenge players. KNOWLEDGEABLE and able to quickly and simply explain rules and mechanics. GENEROUS, per the long-running joke "thank you, Generous DM", offering clarifying info and takebacks based on misunderstandings. (And sick, sick loot).
When I'm not running games I'm...
brewing Commander decks for Magic: The Gathering, playing World of Warcraft, blowing bubbles in the bath with one of my kids, or cooking something up from the NYT Cooking app, or cleaning the kitchen following said cooking. (I also got a smoker, which by law has become part of my personality).
How Mike Z runs games
I believe the core of great DMing is to be YOUR character's #1 fan. Rather than trying to entertain players with a narrative homebrew masterwork of intrigue and complex politics (with pre-written and rehearsed "grand reveals" to boot), I have learned collaborative role playing is at its best when I ask compelling questions to the players and allow the emergent narrative to unfold. These questions spark creative decisions for players to shape who their character is - and who their character isn't. Sometimes, these questions are humble RP moments that give small insights and texture to a character. Other times, these questions are plot-defining dilemmas at the climax of a multi-session quests, testing characters to commit to their convictions. By actively listening to what drives my players and their characters, I am able to ask compelling questions that craft memorable stories by challenging my players to develop their characters - sometimes in unexpected ways. I prefer to run balanced games with an even emphasis on RP and combat, with a bit less emphasis on exploration. I am a teacher at heart, and while I enjoy explicitly teaching rules and mechanics, I prefer a "pedagogy of play", such as designing encounters that encourage creative uses of abilities and the environment to allow players to learn through discovery rather than explicit instruction. I love throwing every part of the D&D combat kit at players from the get-go, with a goal combat difficulty of 3/5 (that feels like 4/5).
Featured Prompts
I prep by
setting the mood first! I love finding and listening to the music & ambience for the setpiece I'm prepping. Then, I identify key scenes and outline encounters. I keep NPC motivations front and center in my outlines to give me the most freedom to adjust depending on what my players decide to do.
My games focus on...
My games focus on player agency, initiative, and character development. I want players to take bold action with clear, consistent purpose and shape the world around them for good (or ill!), decisively shaping and discovering who their characters are.
Rules are...
in service of the players. "Limitation breeds creativity." Anyone can write and imagine, "my super-cool fighter cuts the villain's head off," but nothing is rewarding about that. Rules-as-written games create constraints that, when overcome, provide a much more meaningful sense of accomplishment.
Mike Z's ideal table
My games lean into what TTRPGs are built to do well. The kind of player that fits my games is someone who loves to create a character through in-game decision-making, in the moment, and at the game table. I believe TTRPGs work best when backstories and motivations are 1-2 sentences at most, because it gives the player enough direction to take action, while allowing them the most freedom to improvise and discover their character through action at the game table with the other players. I have repeatedly found that players who do extensive creative writing outside the shared table experience hamper their improvisational freedom, and they get bogged down trying to execute a pre-conceived character (often with secrets and "reveals" to boot) vs. "discovering" their character alongside the other party members. I also look for players who are there to actively co-create. This player *makes plans* and will invite other players to share in their scheming (and the spotlight). Not all players are equally ambitious, but players expecting the DM to entertain them with a story for their passive consumption should look elsewhere. With players like these, the vibe is pretty relaxed. D&D generally does comedy better than drama, so plenty of above-board laughing is to be expected. I do try to create moments of sincere drama and emotional stakes when earned, and I would expect my table to buy into that mood as well.
Featured Prompts
I love it when a player
puts the story as a whole over the flourishing of their character. Gigachad D&D players elevate and invite the players around them into big moments, setting them up for the spotlight when they see an opportunity that would better serve the story, rather than claiming it for themselves.
I think it's a red flag when players...
put too much of themselves into their characters. It's not a red flag that signifies a toxic player - it's a red flag that we need to further distinguish the character from the player to protect everyone from too much "bleed" between the two identities.
My perfect party mix is
embracing diversity of classes & roles, both in and out of combat. D&D 5e has an incredible variety of monsters, spells, and environments, and I love to use them all. A well-rounded, diversified party gives everyone times to shine and times to scrap when their kit is a bad fit for the moment.