Stickley

Sam is so good at constructing a compelling story that spotlights each PC and incorporates their backstory/motivations in a way that promotes RP and dramatic stakes. He makes really fun worlds and NPCs to interact with, with complex motivations and connections to the PCs. He's great at managing the pace of sessions and making sure everyone gets their moments and is included. I have a lot of fun pitching/discussing ideas in his games since he's a great listener and improviser. I felt inspired to make bigger choices because I knew he'd take it seriously and that character actions would have a satisfying story impact. I strongly recommend joining Sam's games, or if you can't check out Pest Control or any of the other actual plays that he's involved with!

For our group Cake is a chill and patient DM who explains things well and would be good for beginners! He is fun to RP with and his rulings are geared to make sure things are fun instead of punishing or tedious.

Gerik keeps the energy up and is very helpful in explaining the rules and how to use Foundry. The assistant DM Bren makes INCREDIBLE maps, in our case including a home base customized to our characters! Gerik is also willing to put extra effort into including your character backstory into the campaign. Overall he puts a lot of energy and effort into making sure the game is fun and runs smoothly.

Queen Mother's introductory one-shots would be really good for any beginner! She preemptively explained rules like making an Impression when they were relevant. The story was also really fun and allowed for multiple different endings based on character choices (really, I never would have expected our session to end like it did but it was amazing).

Damon ran a very fun story over 4 sessions. He is very engaging with RP and his NPCs have fun voices and personalities. The plot was a satisfying mystery that included some great twists. Damon also is very good at creating meaningful character moments for each character/player. All the visuals and the combat were run and handled smoothly in roll20. I'd love to play at his table again!