Transvaaler (Ed)

he/him

5.0

(11)

Timezone

Europe/london

Language

English

Identity

Streamer

Podcaster

About Transvaaler (Ed)

Hi, I'm Ed and I've been running TTRPGs for over 40 years. I got my start in South Africa with the red-boxed D&D set, guided by my dad—my first GM—and never looked back. From fantasy adventures to sci-fi cops and mech pilots, I’ve always been drawn to immersive storytelling and worldbuilding. Shadowrun became my lifelong RPG love: elves, dragons, cyberware, and magic in a gritty near-future Earth. That discovery led me to conventions, community, and decades of GMing for friends, family, and strangers. I’ve always leaned toward sandbox-style play, where rules serve the story—not the other way around. During Covid, I ran Kult 4th Edition for the Mud & Blood podcast (now Toa Tabletop) and streamed for 3 Skulls Publishing. I later helped demo Free League's Twilight 2000 4th Edition’s work-in-progress rules—the first GM to do so publicly. I now co-host the Stories with Dice podcast, where you can hear my GM style in action. I run most genres, with a preference for gritty, grounded narratives. Whether it’s superheroes, horror, or old-school classics, I aim to make every game immersive, inclusive, and fun. If you’ve got a story to tell, I’d love to help bring it to life.

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

2 games hosted

Highly rated for: Creativity, Rule of Cool, Storytelling

Featured Prompts

My favorite system of all Time is

Shadowrun 20th Anniversary Edition....I know its flawed but if you have read my blurb its the game after D&D that opened up the possibility of new settings and i just love the idea of Bladerunner with Metahumans and magic!

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

I asked them and here are the responses I got, I'm surprised they were not as rude as I thought haha. Detailed, Collaborative, Fun! Creative, Calm, Welcoming. Easy going, welcoming, fun. CREATIVE, COLLABORATIVE, INCLUSIVE (he is a bit shouty)

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

Usually either hanging around with my wife and pet rabbits or out in the wilderness practicing my bushcraft skills and generally taking it easy next to a camp fire.

How Transvaaler (Ed) runs games

Firstly the most important part of the game is the players, the whole reason behind this is to have a good time and to tell a good story. Without the players, there would be no story, no interactions and mostly no fun. Secondly I very much love telling a good story and this takes precedence over the rules, which are more of a guideline to tell these stories. If you are a rules lawyer I'm afraid my game is not for you, but your input in my games is always welcome as long as its not disruptive to the other players or the story. I prefer gritty swords in the mud games, less high fantasy. More grim streets and less shiny spaceship corridors. That's not to say though I love a good challenge and I've run a few spandex clad superhero games or kids on bikes games in my time. I love open sandbox games, creating a place to let the player live and explore that world. This challenges me on the fly and its where I get the most enjoyment. I love to see what players do and what decisions they make. I'm enthusiastic, which makes up for my lack of voice acting (it always ends up sounding wrong) and love riffing off of players decisions and backgrounds on the fly. I want my games to be immersive, inclusive and above all fun. I never take for granted the power of stepping out of our world into another to escape bills, family, work and other real life commitments. if its not fun for everyone then I've not done my job as a GM. Come give my game a try....

Featured Prompts

I deal with rules issues by...

...having a very brief discussion with the players (this is a collaborative game after all) then make a decision and move on...either the issue becomes a new house rule or the issue gets sorted outside of the game so there is more time for role-playing and less rule-playing.

My favorite trope is...

a (insert person here) walks up to you and offers you all a nod..."Hey you here about (the Job / Quest / Issue / Mission)". "I hear you are the folks that can get this done?" (GM remembers the players previous encounters and rolling his eyes as he is about to lose all the prep as they kill the NPC)

Rules are...

"more of a guideline really"...It helps tell the story and contains the characters and NPC's abilities to what can and cant be done but when the rules take over and there are lots of look ups and arguments then its no longer fun for most of us.

Transvaaler (Ed)'s ideal table

My ideal table would be a group of players who want to tell a good story, want to inhabit a world and are collaborative. A table of players who are easy going, laid back and are not so fixated on rules and want to have a good time. Some of my best moments in gaming has come from a player mentioning someone from their backstory, who happens to be in a town or city and asked questions about why they could be there. We then riffed off each other and before you know it 3 sessions later we are going somewhere we were not expecting. The other players going along with it to see what they can add to the story. Players who have fun and allow their other players time to shine and knowing when to take a step back to do so.

Featured Prompts

If you're into ___, you're going to love my table

...exploring, Sandbox and off the cuff...

I love it when a player

Riffs off the plot, other players backgrounds, scenes, NPC's, locations to enhance the story (it also makes for some interesting storytelling).

My table is not the place for...

Players out to ruin other players fun, inconsiderate players and those folks who disrupt the game for the sake of it. I shall not tolerate this, period. I have a simple rule that I have used most of my life, don't be a dick and we will get on just fine.