Saratonin (Sara)
she/her
5.0
(3)
Timezone
Language
Identity
About Saratonin (Sara)
Hello adventurers, scoundrels, heroes, ne’er-do-wells, and characters of all kinds! I’m Sara and I’d love to take you on a journey. I’ve been playing games of imagination and shared storytelling since I was a child, spending time with friends building elaborate fantasy worlds to play in. I picked up the TTRPG hobby in 2012 with D&D 3.5 and was delighted to discover a whole new way to play and engage with others. I began running my own games in 2015 with D&D 5e and fell even more in love with TTRPGs. It can be fun to design a world and craft a storyline alone, but I’ve found that it’s sharing those ideas with others that brings it all to life and makes the story richer and more engaging than anything I could have come up with alone. I love when players bring their own perspectives and twists and flavor to the table. As a GM, I strive to incorporate player agency and ideas into not just the gameplay but the worldbuilding and storytelling. I’ve played with TTRPG veterans and newbies alike, and find everyone’s unique perspective brings something valuable to the table. My games are meant to be an inclusive and safe space where anyone can bring their full selves to the experience if they so wish. I use safety tools like lines and veils in all my games, even one shots, to ensure everyone can feel welcome and able to immerse themselves in the game comfortably. I run D&D 5e, 3.5, Blades in the Dark, Legend in the Mist and am open to learning more.
At a glance
Less than a year on StartPlaying
Highly rated for: Creativity, Inclusive, Storytelling
Featured Prompts
I got started GMing...
The GM of the Pathfinder game I was in up and quit on us! The group decided whoever pitched the most interesting idea for a campaign would be the new DM. I didn't expect to win! But the group loved my homebrew world, and I've run three long term D&D 5e campaigns in it since.
My favorite system of all Time is
Subject to change! But I've really enjoyed Blades in the Dark lately. I cut my teeth on D&D 5e, but lately I've been exploring more "narrative focused" games. I especially like some of the ideas in Blades that can be ported into other systems like Clocks.
When I'm not running games I'm...
Playing board games, reading, making art, watching Youtube, Nebula, or Dropout.
How Saratonin (Sara) runs games
As a GM I strive for unique worldbuilding and storytelling in collaboration with my players. If the rules are the skeleton providing a structure, I can flesh out that structure with the meat of a storyline. But it's the collaboration with players and details of play at table that gives our creation the spark of life. I believe player agency is what makes TTRPGs different and more engaging than other, passive forms of storytelling. I want to enable my players to make their own bold decisions and take what I bring to the table in unique and interesting directions. I hope to provide engaging and meaningful interactions and choices for the players to sink their teeth into. My greatest joy as a GM is being continually surprised by my players.
Featured Prompts
I prep by
Don't laugh... a YouTuber named Dael Kingsmill introduced me to the SPERM method of creating socieities and that takes care of a great deal of prepwork for societies of all scales. For wilderness I make my own encounter tables so that encounters are neither fully scripted nor fully random.
My games focus on...
The intersection of a living world that doesn't revolve around the PCs, and player agency and empowerment to make a real impact on that world, and the consequences of those impacts.
Rules are...
Have you ever seen a playground game of pretend devolve into an argument? "You can't hit me I have Magic armor" "No you don't" "Yes I do!" and so on. Rules give us useful structure, limitations, and a rough direction, so we can hopefully all get on the same page and keep playing!
Saratonin (Sara)'s ideal table
I try to create a table environment where everyone can be each other's fan and cheerleader. Where we all share in the highs and lows of the story we build together. With real camaraderie and companionship. Where we can all forget the real world for a few hours and be part of something great together.
Featured Prompts
I love it when a player
Really gets into their character's head and finds a facet of the character to explore that no one was expecting.
I think min/maxing...
Is a perfectly fine and fun way to engage with a system of rules, as long as you still have a fun character to roleplay, not just a handful of high stats. And vice versa, a character that is all about the roleplaying needs to be at least somewhat mechanically viable to be fun to play.
My table is not the place for...
One-upping, stealing the spotlight, or otherwise stepping on other player's moments to make yourself the main character. I try to give everyone their chance to shine, you don't need to take someone else's away from them.
Saratonin (Sara)'s Preferences
Platforms