The Sinister Storyteller (Charles Ulveling)

he/him

5.0

(38)

Timezone

America/new York

Language

English

Identity

Podcaster

Military Veteran

About The Sinister Storyteller (Charles Ulveling)

Charles began role-playing at the age of 15, starting with Earthdawn and Shadowrun before moving on to more mainstream titles such as Dungeons & Dragons 3.x. After high school, he began to run games of his own, and discovered that to be more fulfilling than playing in them. Since then, he has found a passion for running games of all types, from fantasy to horror and most things in between. While he prefers horror-centric themes, he is often fond of over-the-top fantasy, with 13th Age being his go-to for just that. Charles' niche is in telling highly 'cinematic' games, utilizing a 'virtual camera' to help establish more consistent shared images for the group. He has found this not only helps immerse people more in the drama, but enables longer lasting and clearer memories of an event, since everyone is "seeing" the same thing. If you are looking for someone to run a one-shot, a long-form campaign, fantasy, sci-fi, or horror (please let it be horror!), Charles might just be the right fit for you. And with an emphasis on high player agency in cooperative storytelling, that will most likely be the case! Furthermore, if you're new to role-playing, Charles has had great success at being an ambassador to such an amazing hobby. He has started dozens and dozens of people on their TTRPG journeys, and loves to see people fall in love with TTRPGs as he did. While he has a strong bent for telling horror stories, he is also very adept at telling stories of almost any tone and genre: serious fantasy, silly sci-fi... You name it, he can probably run it!

At a glance

6 years on StartPlaying

347 games hosted

Highly rated for: Creativity, Storytelling, Sets the Mood

$30 per session

Featured Prompts

I started running games because...

I love to tell stories. In a different life I would be a movie director, but this is a close second!

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

flexible, dramatic-focused, and player-empowering.

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

watching movies or reading books to find new inspiration for storytelling.

How The Sinister Storyteller (Charles Ulveling) runs games

Charles runs highly cinematic games, often describing the scene through a "Virtual Camera." This helps to create a consistent visual image for all players, and heightens the after-the-fact talk. Everyone experiences a much more even game, and has a better shared experience. Charles also enables players to engage in world-building, allowing for the creation (on-the-fly or beforehand) of: NPCs, locations, events, organizations, and more. Are you new to TTRPGs? Then you're in luck, because Charles also has experience in guiding new players into the wonderful world of role-playing!

Featured Prompts

I deal with rules issues by...

following the Rule of Cool. Whatever makes a more memorable scene is what happens.

My games focus on...

improvisation and player agency. A group of five players is far more creative than one person, and I embrace that concept.

Rules are...

a starting point, and only as good as the fun they allow.

The Sinister Storyteller (Charles Ulveling)'s ideal table

My ideal table includes players who enjoy improvisation, taking a hand at the reins, and don't always take things too seriously. That is of course system dependent. Delta Green is a serious game, but Pathfinder doesn't have to be.