J.

Violet put together a very fun one-shot set in Drakkenheim incorporating new characters, locations and lore for a fresh interesting adventure in a world I'm very familiar with. She gave lots of space for the players to lean heavily into their character choices, even allowing a homebrew class that was presented to her with almost no advance notice. This is a GM that doesn't feel the need to be overly controlling or strict, which made the experience very enjoyable for me. Her ability to confidently run the session while keeping a light hand on the reins, rewarding outside the box thinking, honoring the rule of cool while still maintaining a challenging and rewarding session is a balance of skills that I found impressive. (which is saying a lot, as I'm a crusty old guy with 4 decades of ttrpg experience under my -ahem- expansive belt lol)

Belle is an amazing GM dedicated to helping you build a character with a strong backstory that she uses to create powerful hooks that draw you fully into the story. She is an expert in running roleplay heavy games that don't feel heavy or slow, instead sustaining intensity and mixing in interesting story related combat at just the right moment. She uses maps, music and voices that amplify the enjoyment and dramatic tension of every session. Her worlds are detailed and immersive, her npcs are interesting, fun and engaging. Belle is a fair GM, very much a believer of the Rule of Cool, but not someone that let's players abuse the system. She has strong people skills and doesn't delay to resolve any issues that arise around the table. I joined her Doom of Drakkenheim game and became immediately hooked. Recently I joined another of her games w/a very different tone and it's also been amazing!

TLDR: poor communication, hostile to feedback. I waited a week+ for a response from this gm. Joined their discord: no pinned msgs explaining why they weren't responding to msgs. There was a single comment from them from April saying work had gotten busy. Currently it is late July. People would drop in every couple days with no acknowledgment from the GM, which was also my experience. I commented I found the lack of response & the atmosphere of the discord disconcerting. They responded with: "...please don't feel the need to stick around if you're disconcerted." This felt hostile and pretty much a "eff you, leave if you don't like it" statement. Maybe they're pressed,having a bad day? I don't know. What I do know is I've had lots of great experiences on startplaying with a few bad ones. In the bad I stayed in games for weeks trying to give the GM the benefit of the doubt when ppl left, when issues & criticism were handled poorly, etc. Not doing that anymore. Now I warn ppl.

Played a very fun holiday themed d&d one shot. Got to do fun heroic *and* villainous things. Joe is very chill, fun, and adds many satisfying details to his world and combat. I've already signed up for another game and very much looking forward to playing with him again.