Barney

he/him

5.0

(10)

Timezone

Etc/gmt

About Barney

I'm a flexible DM that is always open to player requests, input or just general feedback! I work in Games Design, and I bring that experience to my DMing.Since starting to play DnD over 10 years ago I have run several campaigns, and introduced countless new players to the game so I am more than happy to teach new players and bring them on their first DnD adventure.

At a glance

3 years on StartPlaying

31 games hosted

Highly rated for: Storytelling, Creativity, Sets the Mood

Featured Prompts

I became a GM because

It combines two of my greatest passions; storytelling and games design. Whether its writing/improvising dialogue for my NPC's big confession, balancing the the next boss' phase 2 stat block, or picking the right music and art for those scenes, I love everything about DMing!

My favorite shows/movies are

So hard to pick just 1 so here's some top 3s in various mediums. Movies: The Lord of the Rings, 12 Angry Men, The Thing Shows: Breaking Bad, Fargo, Band of Brothers Anime: Freiren, Code Geass, Legend of the Galactic Heroes

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

Often working as a games designer on the upcoming Path to Menzoberranzan campaign mod for Baldur's Gate 3, with an awesome mod team. Outside of that, I enjoy cooking, reading, playing baseball, and playing video games (Expedition 33 is my GOTY for sure)

How Barney runs games

Roleplay: I will bring a varied cast of NPCs to every adventure, bringing them to life with different voices and mannerisms, and they will continue to act even while they’re not ‘on-screen’. That said, the players are the heroes of the story and some of the most rewarding moments as a DM come when you are just watching your players roleplay out a scene without a single NPC present. Combat: I will play your enemies with their motivations, experience, and intelligence in mind. My philosophy regarding DnD Combat is that without character death being an actual possibility combat would lack tension and become boring. So while I'm rooting for my players to succeed, I'm not a DM that's afraid to kill a player character if that's how the dice fall! Platform: I host all of my games on FoundryVTT which is entirely free for players, and in my opinion it is easily the best way to play online TTRPGs. Other: I'm always available in-between sessions to help with the upkeep of character sheets or answer my players questions

Featured Prompts

I deal with rules issues by...

In the moment if there's no easy answer I always default to whichever possible answer favours my players. After the session I'll investigate further and by next time I'll have either found the answer, or more deeply though through the question and settled on an answer.

I prep by

Outlining the likely scenes my players will encounter next session, picking out the right music and art to accompany those scenes, creating dialogue/description prompts where necessary. Then designing and balancing any combats, including creating many of the monsters from scratch.

Rules are...

the difference between a TTRPG and Improv Theater. Both are fun, but it's the rules that make what we do a game rather than a fun acting session. I allow the rules to bend on occasion, sometimes even change the rules if I think the original isn't working, but I rarely ever allow rules to break.

Barney's ideal table

My ideal table has: Players who love getting immersed in their characters and the world. Players that aim to be as invested in the stories of their party mates, and many of the NPCs they meet, as they are their own character's. Players who aim to lift each other up, and gladly give each other moments to shine, rather than trying to fight for the spotlight. Players who want a challenge from their combats. I'm not out to get you; my encounters are finely balanced to be challenging but beatable. Character death is a possibility at my table though, without it I think combat loses its teeth.

Featured Prompts

If you're into ___, you're going to love my table

Deep roleplay and challenging combats with varied, dynamic enemies. I bring atmosphere to my worlds, emotion and personality to my NPCs, and energy and tension to my combats. I don't see DnD as a DM vs Player game, but I think that without the threat of PC death, combat loses lots of tension.

I love it when a player

does something in character that helps another player out. Whether that's an easy layup for some juicy backstory exposition, a softball question to get the quieter player into a scene, or pulling off a fun combo in combat, I love seeing my players look out for each other.

I think min/maxing...

is fine, as long as you don't put it ahead of the table's enjoyment. It's my job to make sure that there's not a large difference in power between the strongest and weakest PC, so sometimes I might need to say no to an extremely powerful build during session 0. As always, communication is key.