Russell
he/him
5.0
(54)
Timezone
About Russell
Hello, My name is Russell, aka DM Snugglybeast. I have always had a facination for a good story full of adventure. I have always loved the adventure, magic, exploration and discovery, and all things the imagination can create. I grew up reading the books of the Forgotten Realms, finding exhilaration in battle and survival from the hero drow Drizzt, and experiencing all the awe that was the Dragonlance Chronicles and everyone's favorite anti-hero mage Raistlin Majere. I read of the adventures of Han and Luke in what is now Legends lore in the aftermath of Episode 6, the trials and struggles of Luke trying to start a new Jedi Academy and Han still running from his previous life of crime, and the many other adventures the crew had. These were the things I grew to love and the adventures I seek to provide my players. A brand new adventure, separate from the world around us, but all too real in our imaginations with characters that are brought to life by our own creativity and humor, and the pieces of ourselves that we give to them. Adventures full of danger, humor and the chaos that frequently ensues in these adventures. I have always found collaborative games much more fun than the competitive counterparts, and I have loved RPG's for a long as I can remember. I remember in 6th grade running a 1st gen Pokémon D&D style game for my friends at recess. Which is why when I decided to start a game night with my friends I chose D&D. I have been playing RPG's for over 20 years in various forms, and DMing D&D specifically for the past 6 years. I started with 1, which quickly became 3, and now run games full time as my primary job. I run both online and in person games for both sci-fi and Fantasy genera's. I have a Bachelor's of Arts in Music and have been in multiple local plays. I love Roleplaying and tend to favor it more in my campaigns. I have my own homebrew world I run my homebrew campaigns in, and have run many published campaigns from both WotC and Indie publishers. May the dice roll ever in your favor, and I look forward to seeing you at the game table!
At a glance
4 years on StartPlaying
1085 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Storytelling, Voices
Average response time: 2 hours
Response rate: 100%
Featured Prompts
I became a GM because
I wanted to play and didn't have any friends at the time that did, and isn't that the story of how so many of us start. But as i started i found that i found joy in the story telling and adventure, and everything dnd brings with it.
My favorite books are
Battlefield Earth, The Dark Elf Trilogy, and The Dresden Files books
People are always surprised when I tell them
I was both a Jock and a thespian in school. I participated in Football, Wrestling, Choir, Band and Theatre in High School, lettering in each at least once with also receiving the award for Most Outstanding Student Athlete at my high school my senior year.
How Russell runs games
I love to roleplay and tend to include more of that in my campaigns. I like to do character voices, although some are better than others, but I don't mind making a fool of myself trying to do a voice. I do love running combat, and have multiple sources for monsters, including the MM, Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, Volo's Guide to monster's and the Tome of Beasts from Kobold Press, that I use to draw inspiration from for my battles, and will homebrew frequently to fit my needs. I have my own Fantasy World that I run my homebrew campaign's in, in which I am constantly adding on more Lore, depth and content to. That being said, I do try to adjust my DM style to accommodate the desires of my players, granting more combat or roleplay where desired. I love writing lore and backstories and will help my players to generate one to fit into the world around them that is interesting and exciting to them, giving depth and a life to their character. One of my biggest things is having a passion to play your character, and I will work with you to develop that character. I love it when my players find creative ways to fight a monster or avoid an encounter, and I am always supportive of alternative methods to solve a problem. I am an all inclusive DM, and invite all to join my table including minorities and the LGBTQ+ community, and I do my best to provide a safe and fun environment for everyone. I also encourage new players to join, as I have started several games exclusively with new players that have learned along the way.
Russell's ideal table
I prefer a heavy roleplay campaign, especially for my homebrew. If you're looking for a game with combat every session, you're not going to get that from my homebrew games. I also don't run games that are friendly to what is commonly referred to as Murder Hobo's, so if that is you're default solution to problems i'm likely not going to be a good choice. But if you like intrigue, drama, visual storytelling ,meaningful and fun NPC's and combats with more meaning than just "kill the bad guy", then i'm probably a DM you'll enjoy.
Featured Prompts
I love it when a player
gives me a long backstory with several important npc's. I also Love collaborative world building and working with players to create factions, places or npc's that fit with a vision they have for their character.
I think metagaming...
is not really a problem. I frequently adjust stat blocks to be different that what is in the book, and published modules i use as more of a guideline (points at the pirate code for reference) rather than strict instructions that i need to follow, so metagame with me at your own risk.
I think min/maxing...
in most cases, is not a problem. If you start steamrolling through all my enemies, I'll just make tougher enemies, hehehe...