Wanderer

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How Wanderer runs games

My style as a GM is being a Reactive GM. What this means is that while in-game and out of game, I have an incentive to notice and act upon the PC's reactions and impacts onto the world made through their choices and ideas. My main mission is to ensure that you as a player will feel awesome, respected, and proud of the character you cherish within the world I take joy seeing them flourish in. My wish is that my players can also carry out that same mission as well for one another, to build a collaborative story that is fun and memorable. I seek to incorporate player-driven ideas into my world to the best of my abilities while also introducing compelling story hooks for your character to shine. A mantra I follow is this: "I wish to give my players the opportunities that I always wanted as a player myself." I love to see and reward players for their investment, not solely defined by a Player's genuine interaction with the world or NPCs I have built, but primarily through their expressed core interest that keeps them playing in the first place. From time to time, I will occasionally check in with my Players if whether or not there are things important to your character. Better yet, come to me if inspiration strikes! We'll work it out. That said, I won’t pull punches when the moment calls for it. When the story reaches a dramatic peak, I’ll throw challenging combats at you that can result in character retirement or death, or present hard dilemmas (especially in games like Stonetop or Triangle Agency) that you’ll still be thinking about after the session ends. I run games on Foundry VTT and try to use it to its fullest: • Curated music from a wide range of media that hits at just the right moments • Backgrounds for Theater of the Mind so you can feel the environment • Full-body NPC art (when available) during roleplay scenes so you always know who you’re talking to I strongly encourage players to create backstories. I weave them into the campaign as naturally as possible so your characters feel like they truly belong in the world.

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Wanderer's ideal table

My table is first and foremost an environment focused on safety, comfort, and communication. I want everyone to feel comfortable being honest with me about their experience, whether that's feedback, concerns, or simply an opinion about where the game should go. I, in return, will be transparent and communicate with my players, and if something is getting in the way of your enjoyment or investment in the game, I'd rather talk about it and work it out than let it fester. I want my players to feel engaged with the stories being created between the PCs, rather than simply following a story I have written for them. I don't expect players to take detailed notes on every little detail. Remember the important beats of the plot, but don't feel like you need to maintain a conspiracy board to keep up with my campaign. Novels and television have the luxury of asking an audience to scrutinize every detail. My games don't. If solving a problem or understanding a plot twist requires you to read my mind, then I've failed you tremendously as a GM. Likewise, I don't expect players to follow an exact plan I've prepared. I may have ideas for where a session could go, but the best stories often come from players doing something I never anticipated. Your choices are allowed to derail my plans. In fact, I usually hope they do. My table also makes extensive use of open roleplay. It will be very, very rare for me or another player to take someone into a private voice channel or whisper about in-game information. I trust my players to distinguish between what their character knows and what they personally know, and I'd rather let everyone experience the unfolding story together. • Proactive characters. You don't need to be the loudest person at the table. Quiet and shy players are completely welcome (I am like that myself when I am a Player!). I do expect your character to have motivations, relationships, goals, and things they care about. A character who simply waits for the plot to happen to them is going to struggle at my table. • Collaboration. Your fellow PCs aren't just supporting characters in your story. I want players to actively engage with one another's hopes, dreams, struggles, and fears. Sharing those things gives everyone more material to work with and can create story hooks that I never would have thought of myself. • Cordial behavior. Treat the other players and the GM with respect. Arguments and disagreements happen; hostility and disrespect aren't acceptable. Serious or repeated behavior problems can result in removal from the campaign. • Comfort with failure. Especially in PbtA systems like Stonetop, failure is part of the game. A failed roll doesn't mean the story has stopped, and it often means the story gets more interesting. I expect players to be able to roll with failure without letting repeated bad rolls turn into frustration directed at the table. Despite all of that, my table isn't some solemn council chamber where everyone sits in silence waiting for the GM to deliver the next paragraph of lore. I'm completely fine with memes, jokes, comments, and out-of-character banter during a scene as long as everyone knows when to rein it back in. I'll usually be right there with you. I take the responsibilities of running a good table seriously, but I don't take myself particularly seriously. Ultimately, I'm looking for players who want to participate, communicate, collaborate, and see where the story takes us. If that sounds like your kind of table, we'll probably get along just fine.

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