Northern Dungeons invited me to his game after reading my advertisement on another site for: 'D&D 5E 2024, RAW, realism, solid rules knowledge, combat 50%'. To me, this means the official 5E 2024 rules, applied with textual precision, without modifications (from third party content, house rules, DM discretion, or whatever). It also means, not the 5E 2014 rules. So I was surprised that Northern Dungeons used 5E 2014 rules, introduced an entire rulebook of third party content, and uses nonstandard applications of the rules, like which skill check to make when a jump lands in difficult terrain, among other things. It wasn't what I signed up for, but he seems like a good guy, so I figured I'd give the game a shot anyway. My first game was a 3-hour session which featured about 20 minutes of battle, during which I got two combat turns; well short of the 90 minutes of "heavy combat" action I had expected. On my first turn, he made a ruling which effectively nixed my use of a skill (Acrobatics) which I had emphasized in building my character. Puzzled, I let it go during the game and raised it privately afterward on Discord. I expressed confusion and disappointment, citing the 5E 2024 rules which he seemed to be disregarding. He said his ruling would stand, citing a personal preference to emphasize Strength over Dexterity in his game, and quoting the 2014 rules. So I wouldn't be playing the PC in the fun and interesting way that I had envisioned it. Here, I realized the extent of our differences on the meaning of 5E 2024 RAW. I responded that I'm not a good fit for his approach to the game, so I'd be bowing out and seeking 5E 2024 RAW elsewhere. I thanked him and wished him well. I hadn't meant this to upset him, but I think it did. He informed me that I don't know what RAW means. Then he accused me of cheating, saying something about my ability scores not being rolled in the open. I asked him to explain, but he didn't respond. Later, he blocked me. (Worth noting: the statistical probability of my rolled stat array total is 34%, akin to a d20 result of 14, with an average ability score of 12.8, compared to the 12.48 average that the 4d6 method produces. Suspicious? I don't think so, but I would have rolled it all again, in front of him, anytime he asked me to.) I'm the one who decided to stick around for his game, against my own intuitions that it may not be right for me, so that's on me. He didn't do anything wrong in that regard, so I have no gripes. I do, however, find the cheating comment unjust, and probably intended as an insult, which doesn't look good on a paid professional DM. On that, I'm taking off one star. My overall take: Northern Dungeons strengths are imagination, creativity, descriptive ability, and the technical aspects of Foundry VTT and DnDBeyond. I found the spooky lighting, sounds, and atmosphere of his game map fantastic. Things he might work on: more combat action and better communication. I'm sure Northern Dungeons is a great DM for most gamers. He's probably not the best DM for a player whose understanding of the meaning of '5E 2024 RAW' resembles mine more than his. Four stars.