Vlad

I joined a Discworld campaign that is a series of mini-arcs (3 sessions each). There was a Session 0 before the mini-arc began where Stephanie explained the rules of the game, went over players' expectations for the campaign, went through character creation, and went through safety measures for the game (e.g. x-card, lines and veils, etc). I appreciate how clearly she put everything and her explanations for the "why" behind anything. For our first mini-arc, Stephanie wrote an original adventure to match what the party's stated goal was. She builds a wonderful and engaging world using engaging descriptions of places and people, interesting NPCs, and fun plot hooks. She guides but does not push players through the story and has the world react to the characters' choices. She also makes sure each player gets their time in the spotlight. Highly recommend joining a game Stephanie runs if you are looking for rich worlds, a fun and engaging story, and an inclusive GM.

I played a 3-part mini-campaign of Dragonbane. Coach Key did a wonderful job at world-building and making a fun balance between investigation and combat. It was my first time playing Dragonbane and it was very fun.

I played a holiday one-shot of Brindlewood Bay. Dorreen did a phenomenal job of explaining the rules, setting up the story, describing the scenes, and guiding the story along. She kept a great balance of action and investigation during the game. The theorizing move and the resolution were a blast. It was my first game with Brindlewood Bay and it was very fun.

I signed up for an Alien 2e one-shot. Brent did a wonderful job setting up the scene, building tension, and making it feel very much like being in an Alien movie. Brent also did a great learn-as-we-go approach for those new to the system and explained how the mechanics worked well. Overall, I had a fun time.

Raul is a phenomenal GM and I cannot recommend him enough. On the player front, he is open to both experienced and new players. For new players, he eases them into the rules and does not expect them to know a set number of rules or lore before joining a game. I greatly appreciated that when I joined a couple game whose setting I enjoyed, but I had no game experience in. Raul is also friendly to LGBT+ and neurodivergent players. He has good rules set up to keep games open and safe for folks and is very approachable when there is an issue. For player's characters, Raul is open with working with players to build the characters they want to play and then finding them a place in the game setting. He is great to work with to keep a character plausible and is very approachable when it comes to discussing what goes into a character and why they do what they do. If he does veto something, he explains why and also offers other, plausible options for a character. For the game world, Raul does a fantastic job building the setting using maps, character pictures, and theater of the mind. He has some fantastic plot ideas and, if characters get side-tracked with side quests, he doesn't shoehorn them to a place and instead lets the story grow organically (and slowly nudges us back to the main quest haha). Raul knows the rules for the games he leads, but he also plays by the rule of cool to keep things fun for the group. Overall, I highly recommend joining a game Raul GMs. I joined one game because I loved the setting. He does such a great job GMing that, when he started another game for a different setting that isn't normally quite my cup of tea, I joined as I had confidence in how Raul handles things and was willing to give it a try because of that. The game has been an absolute blast and I do not regret giving it a try. As the icing on the cake, the prices he has for his games are very fair for the sheer amount of content and play hours you get. Give one of his games a go too. :)