The Monkish Monkfish (David)

he/him

5.0

(6)

Timezone

America/toronto

Language

English

Identity

Disabled

Game Designer

About The Monkish Monkfish (David)

Hi, I'm the Monkish Monkfish, but I've also been known to answer to David. I fell in love with Roleplaying Games back in the late 90s when a friend's older brother introduced us to Rifts and other Palladium games. After a few years of solid gaming our group eventually drifted apart, which led to a long and unfortunate hiatus from the hobby. In 2020, though, a friend casually remarked, "we should play d&d" and I've been making up for lost time ever since, starting with DMing a campaign that is still going strong. Since then I've added as many systems into the mix as I could find time and players for with ongoing campaigns of Call of Cthulhu and Vampire the Masquerade, more one shots than I can count, a few conventions, and even a west marches style game that maxed out at over twenty players.

At a glance

3 years on StartPlaying

Highly rated for: Beginner Friendly, Inclusive, Creativity

$20 per session

Featured Prompts

I became a GM because

I first became a GM because, like so many of us, I wanted to play games that I couldn't find anyone else to run. But then I fell in love with it. I get to play more characters than I can count, and I get to be involved in every aspect of the game. It's a lot more work, but also a lot more play.

My 3 systems I'd bring to a desert island would be

Please don't make me choose... there are soooooo many great ones to pick from.

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

Let's be real. I'm usually running games. Aside from gaming my big lasting passions are probably dancing (I'm especially into Latin and Swing) and food (love to eat, love to cook). But I'm also a bit of a diletante who bounces between hobbies like guitar, fencing, painting, photography, and karate.

How The Monkish Monkfish (David) runs games

I love collaborative storytelling with engaged and proactive players. If I can pull those players into the worldbuilding as well, so much the better. My convention program incorporates three different game systems in three sessions where we start by worldbuilding with Microscope, then gradually zoom in, culminating in a one-shot in the world we've just finished building. Even in a more traditionally run game I will almost certainly ask about your backstory and work hard to incorporate it into our shared world. This player centric approach leads me to lean heavily towards sandbox style play and away from railroading. But that isn't to say my work is reactive. I run what I like to think of as a dynamic sandbox where the environment is changing around you, time is passing, and the world will absolutely pass you by if you let it. I think this helps to keep things interesting and believable as well as helping to give direction to players that static sandbox games can often lack. I rarely run modules and when I do I tend to customize them, often heavily, to the group at hand. I believe every game should provide a unique bespoke experience aimed specifically at the players involved. Mechanically speaking I lean towards the rules as written rather than the rule of cool. A basic degree of predictability is important to both fairness and to player agency. When I do implement house rules it's important to me that they are clearly defined and understood by everyone before hand.

Featured Prompts

I deal with rules issues by...

Communication. Rules are about common understanding and making sure everyone is on the same page. Making a clear ruling that everyone understands is more important than making the "right" call. If players understand why you made a ruling that equips players to accept or question it in a helpful way.

Rules are...

I think a well designed TTRPG ruleset provides two really important things. Rules define the game for us so that all players (including GMs) have a shared understanding of just what game we're playing. Good rules also set up creative constraints for us that bring out more than a blank page would.

The Monkish Monkfish (David)'s ideal table

I absolutely love invested and motivated players. Players whose characters have wants and needs and living histories (which are not the same thing as elaborate backstories) that I can use to draw them deeper into the world.

Featured Prompts

My table is not the place for...

My table is not the place for winners and losers. GMs spend a lot of our time controlling your adversaries. But this is not a competitive hobby and we are not your opponents. We're working together to build the tension we need to make a compelling story. It's not a fight, it's a dance.