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Michael

Michael (he/him)

5.0

(5)

DMs Guild Writer
Teacher/Educator

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Highly rated for: Creativity, Knows the Rules, Sets the Mood

Average response time: 1 hour

Response rate: 100%

About me

Professional and upbeat Dungeon Master developing an array of supplements and tools aimed at empowering infinite replayability. You can expect sessions brimming with roleplay, exploration and combat, suited to fit the unique playstyle of the group. My goal is to provide consistent entertainment across the spectrum of D&D activities, your creativity facilitates my creativity! Each session I look to learn from my players and improve on my ability to build a cohesive narrative across lengthy periods. Nothing brings me greater pleasure than architecting a grand experience that hits on the full range of human emotions!

GM Style

I was born with a mouse in my hand and a thirst for storytelling. I grew up playing some of the best game with the most beautiful story-driven gameplay and I want to replicate the joy of virtually unending games of choice and friendship, adventure and heroism, as well as tragedy and loss. It has been my pleasure to see the adventuring parties working together to unravel the mysteries of the world presented before them and curating each session to bring their journey to life. I use detailed battle maps and ambient music. I like to let the party chat about life and previous sessions at the beginning of sessions so everyone can settle in and get ready, but start after 10-15 minutes (or if nobody has anything else to say). I do provide session recaps in the Discord, which is well-organized and contains a lot of supplementary content and opportunities for between-session RP. I design persistent NPCs, beautiful shops, and keep players on their toes without the need to be mean or feel threatened when they wipe the floor with my monsters or figure out a clever alternative to something I thought would stump them. I love to design encounters that challenge the PCs' positioning and judiciousness with spell slots and give the greatest reward when they suceed. Combat is meant to be impactful and challenging, I enjoy creating fun and harrowing experiences to work through together. I'm lucky to have RP come easily and the tension and togetherness is the heart of a robust world. I find that players expect a roughly even split between combat and RP, with spans of each sometimes running longer than the other. It's my job to weave a narrative of battles, roleplay and discovery that keeps each session fresh and fun. Nobody can sustain a full campaign of 'battle royale', we all need breaks from the heart-pounding action of deadly combat to keep the highs as high. Final Note: I stick to the rules to answer questions and like when things make sense. I like to Homebrew, but I won't say yes to adding a bunch of Homebrew to beef up your PC for no good reason. If you want to make a bargain and give up something in exchange for a feat or item, we can make that happen, but these aren't negotiations per se. Rather it's a conversation about what you want to be able to do and what I can allow that is within the shared rule set that empowers you to accomplish what you want to be able to do in a way that makes sense. I encourage open discussion about things that I can Homebrew for you, rather than Homebrew you know about and become very powerful with if it's allowed in the game.

Game Master Reviews (5)

Proficiencies

Players say this GM is great at:

Creativity

Knows the Rules

Sets the Mood

Paul Huebner avatar

Paul Huebner

Fabtastic DM. He puts in a lot of work to make the encounters and maps. He is constantly improving his story telling and tools that he uses.

Ajawal avatar

Ajawal

Michael knows his stuff. He is familiar with the rules and if something is obscure, he does the research behind it and responds in a timely manner. As a DM he is very patient and accepting of new, old, and returning players. His demeanor is that he wants to tell a story, expects you to know your character and help his world building. A great DM for someone looking to have a casual experience. In the last 8 months of being my DM, he has only had to cancel one session. He is also very flexible in allowing sessions to be missed if IRL comes into conflict and will bring you up to speed with what you missed with no issue.

Marcus Matthews avatar

Marcus Matthews

Michael has an exhaustive level of knowledge and a knack for applying it well. He balances RAW (rules as written) with common sense to apply the intent. In my experience, he is creative (he fully fleshes out original content to add to the world) and understands the pre-created world (we adventured in the Forgotten Realms) without resorting to being dogmatic. He also worked with me and the other players to bring our backstories into play. If you are looking for a reliable, prepared GM that does everything he can to make your game immersive and fun, look no further than Michael.

Charlie Paglini avatar

Charlie Paglini

He’s open for communication and is always fair.

russ richards avatar

russ richards

Michael is a great DM, he's punctual, reliable, and creative. He makes sure everyone gets a chance to RP, and that every player has agency with their character. He provides downtime activities in between sessions, through text base RP.

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