Chickenedge

Enjoyed two one-shots with this DM. Very patient and beginner-friendly while running fun scenarios.

Really good at accommodating the players to help the game run more smoothly and allowed for plenty of roleplay. The dungeon for the one session I had was decently simple and not too drawn out for the allotted time. I like the look of the tokens he got for the tabletop: more on the cute and simple side and tells you enough visually what they represent. And he definitely aims for fun like all DMs should. Overall, a great first impression. It was another free game intro, but I can assure readers this has no favoritism bearing on my review as some of my best SPG experiences have explicitly come from free games.

After having a oneshot with this DM get cancelled for falling short a necessary player count and gaining experience since then, I decided to take a leap and join the Adventures in Astron campaign a few sessions in. He was able to ease me into joining the campaign just fine and even contribute to the hook explaining how I meet the party. He knows how to apply the written rules while blending his own homebrew and rule of cool into a fun and reasonable experience. He usually throws challenging, but manageable encounters of appropriate narrative scale but may start up with a warm-up round or two before the brutality comes. What I really like is that the major threats aren't typically sudden surprises, but baddies built up properly before they join the fray. You are given a grace period, but you know everything to go the hell once the threat is in your face. He also delivers plenty of lore and distinct, standout characters. Plenty of fun to go around.

Can definitely feel the DM's enthusiasm when he gets going, and definitely leans more on the challenging side with some fair warning, though he really revels in the "Gotcha!" moments one might expect from a more classic style DM. I just felt he doesn't give enough breathing room for players new to the table to get used to the flow of the party, as your best hope is that you can quickly gel well with the other players or simply deal with the initial atmosphere until the group is more engaged with play.

This DM makes it immediate that she wants to respect her players while making the adventure fun. And whether they be good are bad, she makes it clear her NPCs are people. The RPing and interactions are fun experiences to keep you engaged while anticipating the (possibly) inevitable combat encounter, and even those have proven to be creative moments. The first encounter I got play out allowed flexibility for both violence and other skills and action to be equally effective options. I've yet to go through a more epic scale adventure, but so far she's provided fun and entertaining stories worth looking at. The enthusiasm from my fellow party members only reassured this impression. In fact, they even requested a direct sequel to my first session with her.