musebegotten

I have been one of Zohar's players and close friends for a decade and counting now, both one-shots and long-form campaigns. He is a treasure of a GM who I feel truly understands that games are a collaborative storytelling experience. I cannot count the hours that I have spent talking to him about the characters I play: where they are at mentally, the directions in which their story arcs can progress, fleshing out their backstories. He has really honed what I feel is one of the core crafts of a GM, which is to "yes, and" players. Maybe my favorite part of being at his table is when he takes whatever insane bit his players come up with and just cranks it to the next level. He is also a great GM for players who love to make their characters "fuck around and find out" - whatever consequences he makes arise are narratively juicy, but he always gives ample warning beforehand. He is one of the most passionate people I have ever met when it comes to telling stories and creating worlds. In his original settings, I've seen how much care he puts into fleshing out every corner of land and history, and how he embeds possible narrative hooks at every turn. But even with a pre-designed campaign or world, he is unafraid to go off the rails if he thinks it would make for something more interesting, which it always ends up being because I swear everything this man touches turns to gold. His table is very diverse, and that is both because he makes an active effort to integrate various perspectives and identities into his stories and worlds, but also to provide a welcoming space at his table and with his friendship. Speaking as a nonbinary person, I can't remember him ever using the wrong pronouns for me after I came out to him, and no matter what identity of a character I play, I never feel out of place in one of his worlds. The majority of games I have played with him have been in Pathfinder 1e, which for the unfamiliar is definitely on the crunchier side of things, and he tends to play with third-party supplements like Path of War, Spheres of Power, etc. which make the game even crunchier. When it comes to games like those which are on the crunchier side, I would recommend that any potential players be prepared to stay engaged for battles on the longer side. However, for players who aren't interested in such an experience, I've played more rules-light systems with him and had a blast too.