Amari

Wyrd is a fine DM. I have nothing particularly negative or positive to say, and nothing about his DM style stuck out to me in either direction. Perfectly serviceable DM that runs perfectly serviceable sessions.

Originalname, who I will refer to as "Ori" moving forward, brings a lot of energy, hype, and fun to his table. I played in one game of his, Star Wars: Dawn of Defiance, and I had a blast during my time. While I am a DnD veteran, there were a few things that I had trouble translating to SW5e. Ori was able to clearly and expertly answer all of my questions, which ranged from setting up the character sheets to how certain power combos worked. He was a wealth of knowledge that anyone, novice or veteran, can benefit from. I played as a Sith Guardian, a frontline DPS that I played as haughty and self-serving. Ori played into this when I would RP with NPCs, playing out their reactions and responses in a way that perfectly matched and made for extremely fun RP. We had another player who was knew to the system, and decided that they did not like their character after a few sessions. Ori was very gracious and allowed them to basically fully revamp their character sheet. Ori himself would often handcraft enemies for our party, showing a level of care and dedication that is rare in DMs. Our group had amazing luck and rolled Nat 20s like crazy, which Ori took in stride. He never became frustrated when our good luck took down a boss that he had spent so much time handcrafting. He would joke and banter about it, but he was never malicious. I built my character to be a combat powerhouse, and was doing 1.5-2x the amount of damage per turn as most of the other characters. As a level 4 character, I did 82 damage on a nova crit to a boss. Ori didn't rage, or throw a tantrum, or any of those horror stories that we have all heard. He laughed about it and congratulated me, talking about how cool it was. Overall, Originalname is a great DM. One of the best I've ever personally played with. He banters with the table, joins in on the group jokes, and is a wonderful presence. He takes time to handcraft maps, enemies, and encounters. He takes 4 crits in a row in stride, and keeps a smile on his face when we nuke a boss in 2 rounds. I highly recommend joining any one of his games. You will not regret it.

Pherus is not a DM that everyone will vibe with. He has a particular manner of speaking, a particular sense of humor, and an perceived aura of aloofness that can be off-putting if one is not familiar with interacting with people like him. I'd say that, for many people, he isn't going to be a particularly engaging DM. However, for the right person with the right understanding, Pherus opens up a canvas for you to paint your character upon. I have played in 2 games with him, one Kingmaker and one Blood Lords. In both games, I appreciated Pherus's deep understanding of the world, and the effort he puts in to creating a game that accurately reflects the Adventure Paths. He is not one who is satisfied with "well the book says X, so that's what it is', he will work with you to achieve the vision that you have set out for. During our character creation sessions, he was a wealth of knowledge on interactions, character options, and rulings. This was invaluable to me, a novice to the Pathfinder system. During sessions, he always explicitly offered time for the group to RP together, and even allowed some unconventional decision making that deviated from the scripting of the Adventure Paths. He took these deviations in stride, and played them out exceedingly well. His speaking voice is a tad monotone, and his character voices do leave something to be desired, so you may be disappointed if immaculate vocal performances are a key thing for you as a player. He does have "DM PCs" if we don't have enough players for a recommended party size. In the Kingmaker game, we had 3-4 players and the Adventure Path is balanced around a party of 6. Rather than have us wait potentially weeks for 2 more players, Pherus just ran an couple of NPCs who only did anything during combat encounters. While I view this favorably in that it allowed our group to actually have sessions, it was a point of concern for others. It has not been a problem as the NPCs have been the same level as the players and have not overshadowed us. We've all heard the horror stories. This is not one of them. Overall, Pherus will not be everyone's cup of tea as a DM, but he is quite good at it. His understanding of the game and knowledge of the Pathfinder setting is extensive. He is an excellent DM for both new and veteran players alike. I quite like his manner of speaking, and his sense of humor. If you're on the fence about any of his games, I'd say give him a shot. You may find, like me, that he's become of the best DMs you've ever had.