About me

Hello all! My name is Nim (aka Sara), and I wear many hats. I'm currently the lead writer for Illuminacrum Studio Arts LLC, the poetry editor of Blueline Magazine, moonlighting as an adjunct instructor, an avid poet, a fiction author, and a TTRPG DM. I have an MA in English and Communication, an MFA in poetry and fiction, and a neverending desire to share stories. Storytelling is a huge part of who I am, and I am forever grateful I get to take part in the TTRPG community! While I have been DMing for longer, I started my practice in earnest in 2020 when, well, you know. Since then, I've been running TTRPG sessions every week. At present, I run 3-4 hour sessions five nights a week on my Discord server, WEPLAY, where I have cultivated a group of fantastic RPers. They have, in turn, helped me perfect my DMing. It's this wonderful little community that encouraged me to build my own worlds, narratives, and game systems. My most recent publication, co-written with my friend, Jon Dufore, is the fruit of this support. It's an indy TTRPG, How To Survive... Zombies If You're A Zero, where you can try and fail repeatedly to survive the end times by your WITs alone. I have a wide range of tastes in genre and game systems, and I am always willing to get creative if you want to mix things up. In general, I offer emergent gameplay where your choices will inform the world I build and the plot points you will encounter. Hence, open communication and session zeros are vital to my practice as I believe in creating a custom experience. I am happy to run prewritten modules or create games in cannon worlds, but I am equally as happy to create something unique for your party.

GM Style

While I am not opposed to crunch, I land on the roleplay side. I love creating characters for players to explore who have their own voices and feel embedded in the story world. While I enjoy setting the mood with music and background scenes, I also believe theater of the mind is the best storytelling tool. Nothing is so rewarding as the shared experience of worldbuilding with players as a team. I am a big fan of VTTs because they can help convey so much about the story world that would be difficult to include in the narrative. I use them to help keep my game assets organized, deploy quick references for players, and allow access to game-related information even when I'm not available outside of the game. VTTs can also help keep combat assets contained until it is time for deployment. There is nothing like dropping in a surprise or two ;) I've had to remind players occasionally that the NPCs are not me. I, as the DM, do not speak to players through NPCs. NPCs are a world unto themselves. I do this because I want the story world to feel authentic, dynamic, and open, even if the plot has a linear component. And I revel in players exploring and engaging with things I didn't expect. As a general rule of thumb, if the players poke the world, I want it to poke them right back in fun and surprising ways I may have never anticipated. The teacher part of me loves bringing new players into the fold at their own pace, and I try to make the game space as accommodating and accessible as possible. I use a series of safety tools to communicate boundaries and expectations clearly. I also develop backchannel communication with each player so they have a private space to discuss issues or character development as needed. No player should ever feel unheard or disregarded. As a creative, I also like to challenge players when they are ready. Many of my favorite in-game moments come from asking players a hard question that leads to a harder choice. While these scenarios are not the Kobayashi Maru (yes, I am that nerd), they prompt players to consider their character's wants and needs. I often leverage a character's decision or indecision to progress the story by weaving it into events down the road. This is one of many tools I enjoy using to give players a sense of ownership of the story. For me, this is what it's all about: a game built between a team of storytellers about fate, luck, and challenge, where the journey is the point.

Games played

Game platforms used

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