Brad the RPG Sage
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About Brad the RPG Sage
You want adventure! You want excitement! You want a GM who is reactive to your outside-the-box thinking! You'd really like to play with an X-treme Dungeon Master! Good news! I'm an old hand at this (XDM level 75!), the ForeverDM of my local circle. I've turned it into a passion: I'm interested in worlds, systems, characters, and storytelling techniques. I love most genres of gaming, from fantasy to cyberpunk, sci-fi in all it's flavours, and even the weird experimental stuff. My true gaming love is for richly detailed, robust, lore-heavy worlds where the characters feel like they could be real, and the world feels like it's something just out of sight but no less real than the mundane world. Worlds and adventures where players are incentivized to make decisions that naturally fit the story, rather than having to compromise (story > rules, or rules > story). I'm a big believer in AGENCY; games are made most fun when the players know that their choices and decisions have meaningful consequences. When player heroism, sacrifice, growth, and triumph become meaningful because they were real events that occurred among a group of people. Bob really did save Alice that time, and Dave really did give his life for Chelsea. Even if the events were simulated in the game world, those experiences and memories can transcend the table.
At a glance
Less than a year on StartPlaying
20 games hosted
Highly rated for: Creativity, Knows the Rules, Sets the Mood
Featured Prompts
I got started GMing...
when I moved for college. Suddenly, it was easy to find players who wanted to play, but hard to find GMs who wanted to run. I decided to build a DMing style that would let me be "a player" too!
My favorite books are
Lord of the Rings, Wheel of Time, Redwall, Lord Darcy, Conan, Galaxy's Edge, Harry Potter, Barsoom, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, The Witcher, and probably a dozen more that I'd go "Oh YEAH!!" if you mentioned them but can't bring to mind right now!
When I'm not running games I'm...
prepping for game, as thought it were my holy duty. I make maps, design adventures, read setting books, and test out character builds as a hobby - going all the way back to the AD&D 2e Character Designer included on their CD-ROM of digital books.
How Brad the RPG Sage runs games
I've been gaming for a long time; I can run just about any kind of game, for any groups of people, in any kind of system. My preference is for evolving mysteries, high-stakes challenges that demand heroes who rise to the occasion, and rich, lore-heavy worlds that feel as though they're a real place just out of sight. I support and encourage roleplay, but I know it can be hard for some people to "act out" their character. That's why I enable people to play the way they want! If you want to get into costume, put on a voice, and embody your character - Go for it! If you'd more comfortable narrating what your character does, like the disembodied voice of your character's conscience - Go for it! Some games lend themselves to fast cinematic action where you never have to reload. Other games tend to work best as models for reality, where the player has to care about in-world details. I like match my GM style to the game being played, but I prefer games where the rules help us understand "how the world actually works", so that our scenarios and actions are plausible, believable, and consistent with the lore of the world.
Featured Prompts
I deal with rules issues by...
trying to understand why the game world is the way it is. The rules describe the natural laws of the world our characters inhabit, and I prefer for rule decisions to reflect that imagined reality.
Rules are...
not the enemy! Rules give the game structure, which helps everybody have clear expectations of what is and is not possible, and how their characters interact with the living world they inhabit.
When it comes to voices
I'll always try to make characters distinct, but I'm really bad at them! I love hearing my players get into roleplay, though. Whether it's a quiet table of shy players, or a bombastic troupe of star performers, I always try to match the same energy!
Brad the RPG Sage's ideal table
The ideal player is one who takes the game world seriously, but not themselves. Aiming to strike the right balance between seriousness and comedy is hard, so we all have to be willing to adjust as we play. The best games are those where players have agency, and their choices matter. Because of that, I often present scenarios with many possible paths and endings, and it may be up to the players to decide how to proceed. I'm very generous with information when asked. The usual table vibe is "friendly, but here to win". You win at D&D by setting goals for yourselves, and then achieving them regardless of what that might be. Get revenge on that last guy? Run the most successful tavern in the city? Push back the frontiers and crown yourself a king? The options are endless, and I have supported play of every style and power level. Come for the laughably bad voice acting, and stay for worlds of imagination that feel like they're real places just out of sight.
Featured Prompts
If you're into ___, you're going to love my table
- worlds that feel absolutely real - campaigns where every choice matters and nothing is pre-ordained - character power growth with no externally-imposed limits - Open sandboxes where adventure and excitement lurk around every corner, and you'll never be railroaded again
I think metagaming...
is great! The player acts as the conscience and "guardian spirit" of their character, so I'm very tolerant of metagaming in all but the most sensitive cases.
I think min/maxing...
is fine! Play to win, as long as your character concept doesn't negatively impact the play experience of other players.
Brad the RPG Sage's Preferences
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