Ryan

he/him

5.0

(8)

Timezone

America/new York

Language

English

About Ryan

I've got a kind of "Catatouille" situation going on. That is, a cat controls me from under a hat and another types out nonsense on my keyboard while they plot to take over the world. They only keep me around because I can speak Common. Cat control notwithstanding, my first experience with D&D was when I was in college at the ripe old age of 18. We were playing 4E, so I'm sure you can understand how I didn't play another tabletop game for a while... More recently, however, discovering the joys of being able to play RPGs online, with people from all over, got me back into it. Eventually I decided that I wanted to run my own games, learned about all the cool things that Foundry lets me do, and that's kind of where we're at now! I started running games with D&D 5E, but have found myself getting a little bored with the system, and am branching out to as many other systems as I can handle!

At a glance

2 years on StartPlaying

76 games hosted

Highly rated for: Creativity, Teacher, Rule of Cool

Average response time: 1 hour

Response rate: 100%

Featured Prompts

I became a GM because

While being a player is fine and dandy, I find it much more exciting to facilitate games for other people. Constantly having to adjust things and think on the fly as players ALWAYS do the last thing you expect them to do is my favorite part!

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

Working on an endless amount of prep, playing some deck-builder roguelite (Slay the Spire & Balatro, my beloveds), or painting that sweet, sweet plastic crack.

How Ryan runs games

Once upon a time my favorite thing was combat, but you know? The passage of time encourages us to evolve our opinions. Grid-based combat can certainly be a good time, but when you find a group that wants to roleplay, that's what I like to see more of. Whether it's during a conversation in town, crawling through a dungeon, or hacking and slashing at some monsters, I want to GM for players who actively play characters! I don't expect anyone to be a professional voice actor (because I certainly am not!), but I love to play in a game where we have flawed characters making flawed decisions using potentially flawed information! Powergaming our way to the finish line IS a way to play, but isn't very interesting at the end of the day.

Featured Prompts

Rules are...

There to guide us, but at the end of the day, are meant to be bent, twisted, and broken to suit the needs of our game! Good systems lay out a framework, but shouldn't be restrictive.

When it comes to voices

I try my best, but I'll be the first to admit that I'm no pro. At the very least, you'll be able to tell the difference between two characters! Or... maybe just awkwardly chuckle when a truly horrid attempt at a French accent assaults your eardrums.

Ryan's ideal table

We may be here to tell a serious story, but that doesn't mean that the story can't be fun! Bring your tragic backstory AND a sense of humor, because we'll deal with both! All are welcome at my table, as long as you are open and welcoming to others in turn. While I think that much of the rest of my profile here shows that I want to foster roleplay in gameplay, if that's not your cup of tea, tell me what is! The game is collaborative and players should have input on how the game is played! If you want some brutally difficult combat, that's something I can work with. If you think a murder mystery quest could be fun, we'll figure out a way to incorporate it

Featured Prompts

I am for a vibe that's...

Primarily relaxed and fun, but here for a serious story. We love to joke around during the session, but everyone knows when to switch it off in order to keep things moving and get some compelling story beats in.

I love it when a player

Surprises me by figuring out an unorthodox use for something. Thinking outside of the box but inside the possibilities offered. Alternatively, plays a character that's really bad at things. Nobody is good at everything, and characters shouldn't be, either! Play up your character's flaws!

I think min/maxing...

Is fine if that's the way you like to play, but can suck some of the fun out of how the dice fall at random. We've seen the squishy but smart wizard and the strong but stupid paladin... but think of the advantages being a buff wizard or shrimpy, but genius paladin could come with!