Taylor

he/him

5.0

(6)

Timezone

America/los Angeles

Language

English

About Taylor

Why did the owlbear cross the road?... HOO knows? Get it? Because it’s part owl... Hi, my name is Taylor! With 8 years of experience GMing D&D 5e under my belt and a degree in Film and TV, I’m great at creating engaging stories that keep my players coming back for more! Storytelling is my passion, and I believe that great characters are the key to creating memorable campaigns. Puns, zany (but not joke) characters, and shenanigans are all welcome at my table. I’m a big fan of the rules but know when to bend or break them to make the play experience more fun. I strive to create inclusive games that are safe and welcoming, and I’m always willing to listen and talk with my players if something isn’t working. Along with D&D, I am also a massive LEGO nerd. I have built custom D&D models that have been featured in magazines, and I even have another one in progress! Some of my most inspirational pieces of media: Star Wars (KotOR, Andor, and Rebels among my favorites), Star Trek, the MCU, Alien, God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn, Jurassic Park, Disney’s Atlantis, Treasure Planet, Arcane, Full Metal Alchemist, Demon Slayer, One Piece, and The Lord of the Rings.

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Highly rated for: Creativity, Teacher, Sets the Mood

Featured Prompts

I got started GMing...

When I was in college! I had been a player for about a year, and had run 2 one-shots, but college was when I started running my first long term campaign. It started with the Sunless Citadel adventure and spiraled into a 2 year homebrew campaign.

The three words my players would use to describe me are...

Zany, Creative, Knowledgeable

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

Building custom LEGO creations! I'm currently working on a D&D themed LEGO model centered around the Great Modron March.

How Taylor runs games

My GMing style is to prep scenarios and then improvise and adapt as the players veer off in unexpected directions. I prefer to run campaigns with “guide rails” where the characters have clear objectives and are highly encouraged to follow them, but with room to step off the tracks or to change their path. I love seeing players come up with clever solutions and make unexpected choices that push the story into new territory! I love helping my players build fun and mechanically balanced characters, and I encourage my players to make choices that reinforce their characters’ themes, backstories, and personalities. I love creating campaigns where character backgrounds and motives are deeply woven into the plot. I love campaigns with nautical voyages, ancient technology, a splash of sci fi, moral dilemmas, unknown realms, powerful entities, lost lore, and big stakes. Homebrew and house rules in my campaigns are typically minimal, though I enjoy tinkering with monster design, game mechanics, and custom items and features as rewards for my players. I strive for a balanced and fair game, and I try to err in favor of my players when a rule is unclear or a feature is unbalanced. I expect my players to play the game in good faith and to not try and exploit the rules.

Featured Prompts

I once ran a session...

Where the PCs were trapped in a simulation used by Mind Flayers to feed off their brainwaves. They had such a fun time unraveling the mystery of the simulation that by the end of a 4 hour session, the players requested to play an additional 4 hours!

Rules are...

Meant to facilitate fun and fairness! But they are also not unmalleable. A good GM knows where the rules can be flexed or broken and where they should remain rigid.

When it comes to voices

I'm terrible at accents! I can do a gravely sounding goblin or a booming giant though!

Taylor's ideal table

My table is relaxed. There is room to chat and make jokes, but I also try to keep people focused on the game so that we don't get too sidetracked. I like players who are interested in telling a great story, and who make the effort to create compelling and fleshed out characters. I also appreciate players who make the effort to have a basic understanding of the rules. I don't expect encyclopedic knowledge, I just want my players to know what their own characters can do! New players are welcome, and I'm always happy to help people learn how to play.

Featured Prompts

I love it when a player

Gives me plot hooks in their backstory! It doesn't have to be pages and pages of writing, but a few paragraphs that outline your motives and drive, while leaving some details unresolved or open ended is great for being able to build stories off of.

I think it's a red flag when players...

Don't read their character sheets. I go over every detail of each character while we build them and help my players write their sheets so that all of their abilities are clear. A player who forgets or ignores major features repeatedly is just not as invested in the game as I'd like them to be.

I think min/maxing...

Is fine! A character with good strengths and weaknesses is more fun than a character who is average at everything. As long as it doesn't get into exploitive territory, and they can justify their choices with story, I have no problem with a player building an optimizing character.