MJ
she/her
5.0
(60)
Timezone
Language
Identity
About MJ
My name's MJ (she/her), and I'm everything your parents warned you about: a horror writer, a punk rock guitarist, a Philadelphia sports fan, and a Dungeon Master! My friends have described me as "a German Shepherd cursed to be human," "the universe's favorite chew toy," and "too interesting for my own good."
At a glance
3 years on StartPlaying
665 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Inclusive, Storytelling
Average response time: 24+ hours
Response rate: 33%
Featured Prompts
My favorite shows/movies are
Hell on Wheels, 30 Rock, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Green Room, Stalker, and Melancholia
People are always surprised when I tell them
I lived in a haunted house in college!
When I'm not running games I'm...
playing guitar, writing, or telling my hockey team to shoot the puck
How MJ runs games
I got into role playing through diceless, GMless play-by-post forums, an environment that taught me the ethos of "playing to find out." Instead of one person leading a group through a story, everyone worked together to build the world, the plot, and the relationships between our characters. Even when I'm sitting behind the screen, my goal is to be as much a player as everyone else at the table. I'm more a master of ceremonies than I am a director or a referee. I'm a strong believer in picking the right system for the story that you want to tell. I enjoy Pathfinder's crunchy tactical combat as much as MonsterHearts' teenage angst; Dungeons & Dragons' heroic power fantasy as much as Call of Cthulhu's slowly unraveling horror. Regardless of the story being told, I take pride in an immersive environment: ambient sound and background music, high-quality battlemaps and tokens, and animated effects that ccompany spells and attacks.
Featured Prompts
I prep by
taking long walks while listening to music. The ideas need time to percolate.
My games focus on...
rich lore, interpersonal dynamics, visceral monsters, trauma, and, usually, at least one werewolf.
Rules are...
cool as written! If you have an off-the-wall idea, my job is to find the mechanical framework for you to give it the old college try.
MJ's ideal table
More than anything, my goal at the table is to forge friendships. Every session starts with a few minutes of story time, and it's not unusual for players to make and share memes between their turn in combat. I expect my players to chirp at me when they finally defeat the big bad, and I'll feign exasperation when my dastardly plan fails. I reward creativity, and if you make me laugh hard enough, you might just get inspiration. This isn't to say that I run a beer and pretzels game. The stories I tell deal with themes like addiction, intergenerational trauma, and body horror. I live for the dramatic moments where everyone is hunched over and holding their breath. While character death is a threat at the table, sometimes it's more devastating to live with the consequences. As a queer, neurodivergent woman whose favorite hobbies are dominated by straight white men, safety and inclusivity are my top priorities. My table is a safe space for people of any race, color, creed, gender, sexuality, age, social class, or ability.
Featured Prompts
I love it when a player
asks questions about the world around them: the politics, the geography, and especially the ecology!
I think min/maxing...
is a skill in its own right, but remember that the stats on the page are only part of the character! Ask yourself, what's the person behind the build?
My table is not the place for...
racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, or any other forms of discrimination. Period.
MJ's Preferences
Game Mechanics