Mike, the GM of Shared Legends

he/him

5.0

(4)

Timezone

America/edmonton

Language

English

Identity

Neurodivergent

About Mike, the GM of Shared Legends

Hello there!! I’m Mike, the GM of Shared Legends. I’m a long-time gamer, a huge fan of RPGs, and a single digit handicap on the golf course. From Willow to Final Fantasy to Diablo to the Elder Scrolls, I love and cherish them all. And while my experience with TTRPGs came much later in life, I knew from my first session as a player that the GM-life is for me. I admit my first real experiences with D&D was with Baldur’s Gate 3 and then a table GM’ed by a co-worker that only lasted until level 4. Since then I’ve GM’ed half a dozen light-hearted, comedic one-shots and have a 6-player weekly campaign, based out of the Radiant Citadel, that has run every week for the last 8 months. When I commit to running a campaign, the commitment is sacred. The time, effort, & emotion my players commit to my games is precious to me, & is a sign of their confidence in the experience & story we create together. As a GM, my mission is to create a space where stories can be safely: - Shared, - Created, - Explored, & - Shared. I create spaces & experiences that give my players a place to find & express their voice. Spaces for them to tell their stories that need to be told. Creating epic journeys where stories intertwine & evolve into something greater than each individual arc. None of us go through our story alone, by creating spaces where we can share in the stories together. A space to explore the unknowns in the stories we build together. Stories of greatness, heroism, trial & triumph. When I'm not a GM, I'm a proud dad of a 6-year-old, a 3-year-old and a dog. I've recently rediscovered my love of storytelling and creating stories with others. If you want to hear about more about why I love being a GM take a few minutes to watch my Why I'm a GM video: https://youtu.be/FhAaHAGwswI If you're still reading and interested in finding out more about me, feel free to hop in my Discord: https://discord.gg/rxQjqWmeyr

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Highly rated for: Storytelling, Inclusive, Sets the Mood

Featured Prompts

I became a GM because

I love creating experiences with people. Creating emotional connection to places, people and stories brings me joy. Hearing the reactions of my players to that experience is one of the reasons I'm became a GM.

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

a parent of a 6- & a 3-year old. Both are wild and curious, and keep me on my toes. I work full-time in Municipal Government & am an avid golfer. I'm spending a significant amount of my free time developing my custom-setting Azural, which I'm excited to share with my players.

How Mike, the GM of Shared Legends runs games

I love creating experiences for my players that mixes in roleplay, combat, and problem-solving. My approach to GM-ing is a balance between the rules as written and the rule of cool. If a player can justify an action and it will provide an awesome moment for my players, I will usually roll with it. Combat-wise, I like to throw lots of encounters at my players between rests, there will not be short or long rests between individual encounters unless lore-wise it makes sense. Players will be given ample opportunity to both feel like heroes and stomp their way through encounters to showcase themselves and pushed to their limits in high-stakes encounters. Being a GM means you are constantly learning, and that means accepting that you're going to make the wrong call on occasion. I approach these situations as learning opportunities for how I can be a better GM. Week after week, session after session, I'm learning new amazing things about my players, TTRPGs, and myself as a GM. I use FoundryVTT as my platform of choice. I use it to create an engaging experience through my choice of maps, music, & sound effects. As with all technology today, automation can streamline just about every part of Foundry. I will work with my players to find the sweet spot between engagement and tedium.

Featured Prompts

My games focus on...

The players and the story we are creating together.

When it comes to voices

I do my best to give each character their own voice, but often fallback into my own authentic voice and use that to convey what needs to be said. It is something I am actively working on and embracing.

Mike, the GM of Shared Legends's ideal table

My ideal table is a group of strangers turned friends united in adventure. My current campaign started with 6 complete strangers as players and they all carve out Thursday nights for the campaign. Our discord server is lively and active throughout the week, I'm able to collaborate with them on potential story arcs for their characters and bounce ideas off them, obviously without revealing too much detail to not spoil the surprise. When D&D night comes around everyone is online 10-15 minutes early and we're ready to roll. Sessions include laughter and jokes above table which can flow into the action at the table level. Everyone is there for D&D and the story we are building together.

Featured Prompts

I am for a vibe that's...

Laughs, jokes and collaborates above table and then gets down to business when the action is on the table. It's my job to create a vibe where players can fully step into their characters, embracing their place in our epic tale, engaging with the world, and their fellow adventurers.

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

creating epic tales of good vs. evil

I love it when a player

Gets into their character and is ready when they're called on! As a GM, I'm my players biggest fan and advocate. I love it when players bring me meaningful things they want to engage with in our creation.