Dan

he/him

5.0

(34)

TOP GM

Timezone

America/new York

Language

English

Identity

Podcaster

Published Writer

Artist

About Dan

I am a passionate storyteller and knew I wanted to be a writer when I was fourteen. My day job is a Technical Writer, building documentation and knowledge bases for hardware and software companies, but storytelling has always spilled into everything else I do. I write, direct, produce, and edit a long-form documentary series for YouTube; have written both original and commissioned screenplays; have published a memoir; and have had essays and short fiction published in various outlets. GMing scratches every storytelling itch I have. It’s writing, directing, editing, improvisation, performance, and collaboration happening in real time with the players. After running games across a wide range of systems and tones, I’ve learned to adapt to what a group is looking for and build sessions around the rhythm that develops at the table, whether that means investigation, horror, character drama, tension, absurdity, or all of the above. My goal is always to make the world feel responsive and alive while giving players enough freedom to surprise themselves, their fellow players, and me.

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

51 games hosted

Highly rated for: Beginner Friendly, Inclusive, Sets the Mood

$25 per session

Top Game Master

One of StartPlaying's top-rated GMs, a player favorite and highly recommended.

Featured Prompts

My favorite books are

A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES by John Kennedy Toole AGAINST THE DAY by Thomas Pynchon BLOOD MERIDIAN by Cormac McCarthy COVER-UP by Seymour Hersh FROM HELL by Alan Moore LIBRA by Don DeLillo MOTHER NIGHT by Kurt Vonnegut SOLARIS by Stanisław Lem THE ROOM by Hubert Selby Jr. THE STAND by Stephen King

People are always surprised when I tell them

I make candles.

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

A professional technical writer, memoirist, filmmaker, and documentarian.

How Dan runs games

When running a game, I am much more drawn to dark, gritty, human stories than fantasy hero settings. While I enjoy a D&D-style fantasy hero experience, I reserve that for my experience as a player. My goal is to breathe life into the world surrounding the player, hoping they become invested and consumed during the several hours spent there. I want them to be able to see, smell, and taste the world, and I endeavor to have them, with minimal effort and some guidance, quickly step over that daunting gap between themselves and their characters. I do my best to blend and incorporate the mechanics into the play. A dice roll is never just a dice roll. I want to work with each player to explore what the outcomes and resolutions mean. It's not just a number on the die. It means something happened.

Featured Prompts

I deal with rules issues by...

Looking up and reviewing the rule being questioned. If the rule as written is not being followed I update the situation to follow the rule. If the rule is open to interpretation and I determine as the GM that my interpretation is not unfair to the player, we move on.

If my games were Movies they'd be directed by...

Paul Thomas Anderson Sidney Lumet David Fincher Werner Herzog François Truffaut

I once ran a session...

of Alien: The Roleplaying Game, where a player had the misfortune of being killed three times in a single session by a Xenomorph attack, where if the attack caused any damage, it was an automatic kill. They ran through two PCs and an NPC I had to scramble to create for them to finish the session.

Dan's ideal table

My ideal table is evenly split between storytellers and story lovers. Not everyone is a fantastic improviser. Not everyone is an excellent listener. If my table consists of an even mix of those who bring their strengths and are willing to grow in areas where they may be lacking, that is ideal. My table is at its most ideal when everyone sits down, sheds the baggage of the "now" and allows themselves to sink into the warm embrace of the "here." My love of RPGs stems from an equal mix of storytelling, escapism, gameplay, fun, and a light dusting of gambling. This hobby should let us all, for a few hours at a time, recall what it's like to be a child. If we imagine it, it can be real while everyone's at the table.

Featured Prompts

I love it when a player

Takes the game in a direction I could not have predicted and leaves me scrambling.

My table is not the place for...

Those who don't believe that this hobby should open its arms to everyone who wants to participate. Veterans should listen to new players and new players should listen to veterans. You're never too experienced to learn something.