About Me

Hello, I’m an experienced but friendly to all experience levels and very collaborative DM／GM＆PLAYER (about 40%／60% split historically but I’ve mostly only ever run games in person yet have been too busy to do so in recent years) across multiple decades (I’m a middle-aged xennial who straddled the analog／digital divide in my youth). Anyway, while I have played in or ran at least one campaign in nearly all major editions of D﹠D at some point over the years (and I am fascinated by the history of the game), I’ve played almost exclusively 5ₜₕ Edition in recent years (which I personally find to offer what I consider a good balance of mechanical complexity versus simplicity＆speed of play). That said, I have also played quite a bit of Savage Worlds, one Starfinder campaign, a few sessions of Pathfinder, and a few sessions using various “rules light” ттRPGs over the years (which I think have some cool ideas but aren’t mechanically＆tactically robust enough to be my personal ideal preference). That said, perhaps because I have run games, I’m definitely NOT a “rules lawyer” (nor do I believe that all available rules in a system need always be used to overly “gamify” every roleplaying interaction which dice could potentially resolve: when description, imagination, or even a moderate degree of occasional “rule of cool” leeway or just a best guess improv ruling in the moment to keep play flowing could often be more fun). Suffice it to say that I consider myself a progressively minded as well as amiable person who is happy to play in demographically diverse parties of players／PCs and will always strive to be a fun＆easy to collaborate with team player. I greatly enjoy collaborative problemsolving teamwork＆heroic risks, including at least occasionally potentially lethal encounters letting dice fall wherever they may with no pulled punches, tactically interesting combats in challenging environments, serious ethical dilemmas／stakes in interesting stories which go well beyond mercenary murderhobos killing every last “monster” they can, fighting retreats or sometimes overwhelming＆unbalanced odds, “yes and” clever improv roleplaying in character, seriously conceived PCs with reasonable backstories＆motivations toward cooperative party goals tied to some overarching plot, and for me at least often some fun mechanical power optimization around some interesting conceptual character themes (which are not cheesy overpowered rules loophole exploits) but always combined with story focused roleplaying and usually including a decent attempt at a distinct “in character” voice or accent. I also personally find the “Exploration Pillar” of the game too often omitted, reduced to a few rolls for a travel montage, or made unnecessarily boring in 5ₜₕ Edition, when journeys could ideally be almost as interesting as climactic destinations IF they contain some good worldbuilding connections, hooks, or impacts tied to overall plot events or setting historical lore as well as fun roleplaying moments or “side quests” along the way rather than merely irrelevant random encounters. I am cool with varying degrees of humor as feels “natural” in most games depending on setting＆context, plus I enjoy hilariously fun “out of the box” thinking and I definitely don’t at all mind playing with more “casual” or less rules conscious players, but I don’t personally enjoy games including complete “joke characters” which seem “anachronistic” or inappropriate to the setting and I do tend to prefer campaigns＆settings with significant overall seriousness in tone／content as well as NOT too sanitized of various real world historical sorts of “grimdark” traumatic systemic injustices (for example, I personally have no issues playing in settings featuring far less than “cosmopolitan pluralist” humanoid cultures wherein legalized chattel slavery or widespread bigoted attitudes such as racism or xenophobia such as elves versus dwarves or similar conflicts are commonplace obstacles or antagonists for PCs to subvert or overcome), while ideally nonetheless avoiding completely monolithic racial or cultural essentialism, respecting even “mature adult” players’ preferences by hopefully avoiding any overly fetishized gruesomely detailed dwelling on needlessly explicit horrors which cross anyone’s personal “red lines” or “veils” of discomfort, and also hopefully eschewing oversimplification (in preference for more morally “shades of grey” factions＆NPCs with often more complex, nuanced, or interestingly conflicted motivations). Basically, as a quite nerdy former history teacher and lifelong learner, I tend to greatly enjoy as well as enthusiastically＆attentively engage with pretty much any complex worldbuilding elements or most interesting in game mysteries or story hooks or lore on offer… and while seeking these I generally would prefer a good balance between “plot on rails” epic set-piece destinations (with at least somewhat open-ended outcomes) versus “sandbox” freedom to explore while villain plots advance onward even or especially while ignored by the PCs (though I can enjoy playing at a wide variety of points on that spectrum). In conclusion, I currently happen to be looking to enjoy getting more experience with VTTs as a player (less time commitment to prep) before perhaps feeling more comfortable potentially running a virtual ттRPG campaign for some friends myself at some point or trying to get some in person play going again now that the pandemic is lessened if I can ever find the time to dedicate to that and get some folks’ schedules synced up.