Deirdre Ceridwen

she/her

4.9

(11)

Timezone

America/los Angeles

Language

English

Identity

LGBTQ+

Published Writer

Women/Femme Identifying

About Deirdre Ceridwen

Greetings and well met! I'm Deirdre, long-time nerd and proud of it! I've been playing RPGs since Moldvay D&D circa 1981, and almost exclusively a GM since 1988! D&D was always my go-to, but I cut my teeth as well on "Star Frontiers," "Top Secret," "Villains and Vigilantes," and anything I could get my poor and grubby hands on. But always, I seemed to be the friend in the group that had to be the one running the games -- correction: the one facilitating the story we're all creating! RPGs in my estimation, are shared stories to be crafted by all participants! Even when it's a game like "Paranoia" when the GM IS *actually* out to get you, the game is a cooperative effort in seeing where a story goes. Throughout the early 2000s, I was a "Bounty Hunter" for AEG and went from local hobby stores to GenCon running games for AEG, like "Spycraft" and "Stargate," promoting those products with true love in my heart! But truth be told, I started not caring much for d20 and what it was becoming.... I've always preferred TTRPGs that had more free-form, role-play, storytelling, world-building elements to it! I eventually glommed onto "Fading Suns," "Call of Cthulhu," "Eclipse Phase," and "Savage Worlds." The pandemic opened up my love for indie and solo-heavy RPGs like "Ironsworn" and "Broken Shores" and "Cairn." As well as the world of VTTs and online gaming! And now, I lean more toward OSR-style systems like "MoRK BORG," "Pirate Borg," and Shadowdark." I'm something of a writer with several short stories (published by _other_ people, if that matters *grin*) and self-published stories and a SF novel. Otherwise, I'm a big ol' goof finding her way in her new forever-home of the Pacific Northwest, picking up crabbing, collecting prepper shtuff and things, Squishmallows (don't judge me), and finding a newfound obsession with Minecraft! (BTW: My reviews do refer to "Liam" and "he" because I'm recently out trans woman -- normally not important, but just to explain the reviews.)

At a glance

4 years on StartPlaying

3 games hosted

Highly rated for: Creativity, Storytelling, Inclusive

Featured Prompts

I got started GMing...

Because I discovered games like "Star Frontiers" and "Top Secret" and "Gangbusters," and my 1st ed AD&D group's DM never wanted to run anything else... so I did! And from then on I became a forever GM!

My favorite system of all Time is

Eclipse Phase! (Or, maybe Fading Suns. Possibly now Pirate Borg....)

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

drowning in stress and anxiety, and trying to find ways to escape reality! I mean... I'm reading, or writing, or binging cool TV shows. :)

How Deirdre Ceridwen runs games

Roleplay is the best! I do really bad character voices and support players that do as well. (But no pressure! Never ever required!) I believe in cooperative storytelling -- players and GM discovering the world. Though, a nice bit o' deadly combat and dangerous peril is sweet BWA-HAHAHA! Crunch can be good! (Such as Twilight 2000), but I tend toward avoiding the whole 1" grid, exacting mini placement tactical rules-heavy type play. You want to do something interesting and exciting, let's go for it! Rule of cool over rules as written, in my book!

Featured Prompts

I deal with rules issues by...

making a judgement in the moment that is fair and usually player-favoring unless logic and circumstance simply doesn't allow me to. And then afterward, checking on the rule for next time. Will likely only retcon what happened if my ruling had significant negative results for the character or party.

My games focus on...

story, character development, interesting environments and discovering the world as you go.

When it comes to voices

I used to LOVE doing them, and still try! But it's a lot harder to now, and am working on getting that skill back up again. ^_^

Deirdre Ceridwen's ideal table

I like to have a table of cooperation amongst the PCs, of a spirit of collective storytelling between GM and players, of creative adventure and risk-taking! I try to foster a sense of fun where players feel safe to be creative and try different things, have ownership of their character and create a rich background that contributes to the shared world. Where the players can trust the GM to have the game's success at heart, and is not out to "get" the PCs.

Featured Prompts

I love it when a player

comes up with something completely new and unexpected! But makes in-world sense!

I think it's a red flag when players...

say, "Well, in my other group...."

I think min/maxing...

well, not "cheating," but is certainly cheese. Some systems that rely on crunchiness and is more of a strategic minis combat game, foster the need to "powergame" and min/max -- I'm not a fan of those systems. I think fun and exciting drama and character can come from flawed characters and odd builds