About me

Welcome Adventurers! Veterans and New Comers alike! My name is Jake, but I also go by Zaix. I have been playing and GMing TTRPGs for the past 20 years, receiving my D&D 3.5 Players Handbook at 12 years old. Since that time I have been obsessed with the magical worlds within various books or systems and using that information to build stories with friends and strangers alike. I've played and run D&D 3.5, 4th, and 5th edition. Zweihander, Shadowrun 5e, Only War, Lancer, The Starwars games published by Fantasy Flight Games and the fan made Pokemon Table Top United. However, my favorite has been Pathfinder and most recently Pathfinder 2e. Pathfinder 2e is my desired game to run here, but I use a few optional rules which I either have at the time of reading this or will have shortly on youtube explaining how they work and why I chose them. A quick list is below: 1) Proficiency Without Level. - Reason: I have come to find that Pathfinder 2e is an incredibly deadly system that can end an adventurers career despite their thoughtful tactics and planning. To me that wild variety of chance feels as if the game punishes indiscriminately. I do believe that tension in combat is important but I dont feel the base rules provides as much tension as they do frustration. 2) Automatic Bonus Progression - Reason: By having characters gain the presumed mathematical requirements of Basic Magic Items this removes the immersion breaking coincidence of each player character finding a +1 Weapon that is the better version of whatever they are already using at the same time. This also opens the game to more interesting magic items that assist in either creative solutions to problems or drive the narrative. 3) Stamina - Reason: This rule has the largest variety of reasons. - The game assumes that each character is at maximum HP when building encounters. Stamina takes some pressure off of the party which otherwise would all but require that at least one person heavily specializes into the Medicine Skill or that at least one person is a dedicated healer. Ultimately opening up options for the player characters. - Without Stamina the consistent need of the Medicine Skill and Treat Wounds after every combat slows down the game with repetitive, uninteresting RP or becomes so hand waived that it may as well not exist. - This also changes Hero Points to Resolve Points. 3 Resolve Points are gained after each long rest instead of 1 Hero Point being provided at the beginning of a session. I've come to find that most players rarely engage in dangerous or "Heroic" activities often enough to be awarded Hero Points although the game assumes many are awarded during the session. There are other Variant Rules that I would not be opposed to using if others are interest and a group consensus is formed. The most often suggested are Free Archetype & Ancestral Paragon. A link to a list of all Pf2e Variant Rules: https://2e.aonprd.com/Rules.aspx?ID=1297 About The Campaign: The Campaign Setting is mostly based off Golarion Lore (the official Pathfinder2e Game Setting). I run a mix of Pre-Written Adventures, or Modules, along with improv and homemade adjustments based off the party's decisions. There are no rails once the players become aligned with their characters. I encourage my players to be creative and thoughtful, bending heavily toward the "Rule of Cool" and rarely make firm statements when compared to opportunity for open communication and compromise. Structure: The first game session will be an extensive session 0 where we discuss what individuals are looking for in a campaign, such as which Pillar of Play they find most important. What topics they do and do not want touched on. Individual experience. The second session will be more akin to a 0.5 session. Pathfinder 2e is a very tactical game. It is imperative that each player has the opportunity to play the character that they want but also to work as a team. In this session we will discuss character options, plans, goals, builds, and the like. Unlike other d20 systems some of us may be more familiar with, Pathfinder 2e is just as much about the role of the party as it is of the individual characters. The Third session will be the first full session of play. Where I have been able to write and begin a game based off information received from the prior two session. The game will continue as long as there are individuals who want it to. The sessions will last between 3 and 4 hours. I use Foundry VTT and an extensive list of Mods. Maps are either created by myself using Dungeon Alchemist or from my backlog of PFS Modules. Looking to include Syrinscape & AI Art Generation in the future. If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to DM me and I will be happy to respond as soon as possible.

GM Style

My style is highly determined by my player base. I personally enjoy deadly worlds where the environment is as dangerous as the monsters and the PC / NPC interactions matter.

Games played

Game platforms used