Mark

This was a nice one-shot. Matt did a really good job keeping things moving and bringing his NPCs to life.

This was an excellent first session of LotR for 5e. Robin took everyone through the mechanics of character creation, then started us on the adventure itself. She was encouraging and patient, but she also kept things moving right along through our first interactions and first encounter. As someone with years of experience running a kinds of games, including some I've never seen anyone else run (Conan! Witch World!), she not only has facility with the rules and with Foundry but also clearly understands the unique character and tone of The Lord of the Rings and how it plays out in a game.

Tom is a talented, knowledgeable, and enthusiastic GM. He ran an excellent session 0 that got us into the lore of the campaign, established our characters, and threw us into a difficult but rewarding combat. He's also very well organized without quashing any of the fun. It was a great first game, and I'm looking forward to many more.

He writes good stories, makes good maps, and portrays action and NPCs well. He is less good at balancing the game, and his approach to players' characters borders on being antagonistic. After he complained following a 3+ hour combat that PCs weren't hurt enough, he told all of the players to remove all 2024 spells and abilities that he had approved for their characters sessions before. Attempting to balance things through a large-scale overreaction is a sign of inexperience, and while that's alright for a casual game, it's not cool when you're presenting yourself as a professional and being paid.

The two one-shots I have played with Ryley are among the best I've played with any DM. They are quick on their feet, and they have a firm grasp of how rules and story support each other. Ryley voices each NPC distinctly and clearly, and they move back and forth seamlessly between the VTT (Owlbear Rodeo) and theater of the mind. Finally, you can tell how good a DM is by the quality of the players they attract, and Ryley has drawn together a fun, friendly, creative, and skilled group of collaborative players.