About me

Hail and Well Met! I am Overlord Jim (It's an old internet handle I happen to like, just go with it) and I have been running and playing TTRPGs for over 20 years now. I have always wanted to try my hand at Professional Game Mastery, and the age of Covid-19 is as good a time as any to get into it. My nerd credentials start with climbing every castle tower within driving distance of our home in Great Britain when I lived there as a child. My love of that era has lead me to become a serious medievalist scholar with a particular emphasis on the Early Medieval Era (better known as the Viking Age), and I have more than a passing familiarity with the Crusading Era and the Hundred Years War as well. My bookshelves are packed with all the classics of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Genres, and most of them are well loved with many creases in the spines. I got into theater as a teenager and minored in it in college, but my B.A. is in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations, and I have most of a Master's in International Studies that I just couldn't afford to complete. Someday I will go back for a M.A. in Medieval History, but for now, I content myself with reading it constantly to write better roleplaying books in historical settings. I am a Veteran of the Sub/Dub Wars (Dub Forever!), I believe one can like both Star Wars and Star Trek (though the latter is clearly superior), and my definition of a good night out always involves character sheets, dice, and stacks of roleplaying books. I have been a Storyteller as long as I can remember in my real life, I've been an aspiring novelist since my teens, and when I discovered these games, I was instantly hooked. I'm forever enamored of the freedom this medium offers. You have complete freedom of direction - you could go anywhere you can imagine and do anything the system can support (and often, quite a bit it was never meant to do but the GM makes it work!), which is something no other medium of entertainment can deliver, and you join in this endeavor with your friends as collaborators, and the story you tell together is always bigger than the sum of its parts. Every table and every troupe offers a unique experience, and I want nothing more than to come craft an epic story together with you. And I do mean EPIC. I love putting my PCs in the middle of the most exciting chapters in the history of their world, and handing them the power to change events for the better - or worse, if they so choose - just to see what they do with it. My favorite system - Exalted - is perfectly suited to this style of play, where I cast players in the roles of reborn Demigods out to save the world - or destroy it. What legends will they tell of your deeds? Come join my table and find out. A few entries from my Roleplaying Resume: - 20+ Years Experience behind the Screen - Specialized in Non-D&D Options [Exalted, Scion, Classic World of Darkness, Star Wars RPG (FFG Version), and more!] - Always willing to try a new system or setting - 10+ Years Experience as a Presenter on the Art of Game Mastery (https://www.facebook.com/ArtofGameMastery) - Coming to a Convention near you! (When conventions come back, that is . . .) - 5+ Years experience running Convention Games - Published Freelance Writer (High Level Games' Snowhaven Setting, Storyteller's Vault, Storypath Nexus) I have decided that all future scenarios I write will be with an eye towards their eventual publication, so you won't just be participating in an awesome online experience - you'll be playtesting new gaming materials too! About my Pricing Structure: I am a Plotter GM, not a Pantser GM, to borrow an analogy from writing - while every GM gets good at Improvisational GMing by necessity, it isn't my first choice and I prefer to come to the table with most of the prep work done long in advance. Therefore, my pricing reflects not only the time at the table, but also the time building the scenario, statting out the NPCs, planning the combat encounters - if you have ever run a TTRPG, you know it is at the very least a demanding Part Time Job if not a Full Time Occupation in and of itself! So while I do understand everyone in our hobby is perpetually broke (Roleplaying Books are an expensive addiction and Kickstarter is a hell of a drug), I also need to price in my prep time too. Besides, I plan to use any revenue I make from my endeavors here to pay for the art to decorate the books I'm writing - so you aren't just paying for an incredible STing experience - you're also helping to develop new RPG material and funding its development costs. You are contributing to the future of your hobby, which now more than ever is driven by the independent creatives like me who are invested in expanding it. So know that my time factors into the cost of the seat, and that your ticket to the game is going to support the hobby we both love. I look forward to seeing you at my next event!

GM style

I am not a big D&D Person, but the three pillars of D&D's latest edition could quite accurately describe my GMing Style, as I am big on all three. I've a confession to make: I'm a ruthless action junkie who loves nothing more than putting your beloved PCs in harm's way. I love running deadly combats where the enemy comes in numberless hordes, all howling for your blood for daring to trespass in their territory. My monsters are ready to rend your flesh from your bones if you charge in unprepared, but if you work as a team, fight smart, and mind your health levels, you might just live to tell the tale of your Epic Victories well earned. [Important Note: While I do love my crunchy mechanics and discrete systems, it must be said that I'm more of a theater of mind person than a tactical grid person, just FYI.] Exploration is probably my favorite thing to run. I enjoy Man v. Nature stories, and I will happily send you into the deep wilds (or Wyld, if you catch my meaning) and throw everything from harsh weather to natural disasters between you and your goals, because the journey, in my opinion, should be as Epic as the destination. And when you get there, I will make the journey worth the while. I'm always chasing what I call the Macchu Picchu Moment - that moment when you crest that hill and see the Lost City sprawling out before your eyes. I will show you things no mortal has seen for hundreds of years, and give you every detail of the long - lost ruin for you to explore. I am a huge nerd for World Building, and I love nothing more than diving deep into the 'fluff' of the scenery and the stories it can tell if you look in the right places. So pack all your survival gear, as we're going on an adventure. I love Roleplaying most of all. I have a theater background, I will usually have a unique manner of speaking in mind for each NPC I create, and they will always have their own goals, wants, needs, and motivations that you can work with or against as you see fit. The worlds in which your characters move are living, breathing places with their own character and personality, just waiting for you to discover it. While I love nothing more than throwing dice and counting successes, I count my greatest triumphs as the sessions where the PCs achieved their social goals without ever making a single check at all. Great roleplaying is always rewarded at my table, as it makes the story richer for everyone. And while I have held my Rules Lawyer Bar License since 2002, I also come from the school of thought that Story trumps System, and I have been deploying the Rule of Cool since long before it got its name. I come to throw dice and tell stories, not get in arguments over what the RAW are or aren't, so if you're willing to accept that the GMing Golden Rule is the one unbreakable rule, we're going to have a great time telling a story together.

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