Andrew

he/him

5.0

(5)

Timezone

America/denver

Language

English

Identity

Neurodivergent

About Andrew

Hello Adventurers! I'm a Paladin without a Cause, but you can also call me Andrew. I've been into TTRPGs for most of my adult life, starting with Pathfinder and D&D 3.5 and now D&D 5.5e. What I love most about TTRPGs is how unpredictable it can be. The critical moments hanging on the outcome of a die roll, the out-of-the-box solutions (and the contrasting spending 30 minutes to open a door), and the spontaneous roleplaying that arises when you throw a handful of passionate players into fantastical stories. I love world-building and get inspiration from all sorts of sources, whether from existing settings and their lore, or homebrewed magic items, or compelling player backstories. When running homebrewed campaigns, I will always try to work player backstories into the overall story we're telling at the table. I usually only have a fuzzy idea of the story and have no problem (and typically am delighted to) reworking what I have planned to incorporate the players' effect on the world.

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

1 games hosted

Highly rated for: Creativity, Teacher, Rule of Cool

Featured Prompts

I became a GM because

I like world-building, but suck at writing dialog. But more seriously, I love building a setting and laying the groundwork, and guiding the players into telling an epic story.

How Andrew runs games

My tables welcome new and experienced players alike. Along with helping new players learn the mechanics, I aim to create an atmosphere where every player feels like they are more than just participating, they are contributing. I try to balance RAW (Rules As Written) with the RoC (Rule of Cool). I encourage creative solutions and even more creative roleplaying. Before every campaign starts I have a Session Zero to get input from each and every player at my table. We'll cover safety tools, topics and concepts that players want to see in the story and what they don't want to see, and any house rules we'll be using. My campaigns always have combat, but not necessarily every session. Boss battles will often throw a new twist on combat, keeping players on their toes, but you won't be facing off against massive HP sponges or need to min-max the perfect build to survive. Roleplaying is a vital part of my campaigns as well, but it doesn't have to mean a funny voice or a 10-page backstory. I want players at my tables to feel like they are their characters, not just their character sheet. Just as important is getting along with other players at the table, and their characters. Some inter-party conflict can make for tasty roleplaying, but shouldn't ever get in the way of the enjoyment of the actual players.

Featured Prompts

Rules are...

meant to give you the tools to accomplish what you want to do, but shouldn't get in the way of doing something awesome.

When it comes to voices

I try to give my characters unique voices, but... they are rarely consistent.

Andrew's ideal table

My tables are typically light-hearted. I often have new or newish players, so there isn't often a lot of min-maxing or rules-lawyering. The stories I run are intended for adults, but don't get too graphic or dark. Real-world or fantasy discrimination, slurs, animosity, or bigotry are not allowed at my tables, even if "that's what your character would do". There may be some fantasy discrimination by NPCs or villains but it is always clear that such discrimination is wrong.

Featured Prompts

I love it when a player

finds a solution to a problem (combat, puzzle, whatever), that is more clever than what I had in mind.

I think metagaming...

can subtract from the enjoyment of other players at the table.

I think min/maxing...

I can see the enjoyment in making a brokenly powerful character build, but find that less optimal builds (and even the "bad" builds) can be just as, if not more, fun to roleplay.