Constance

I've been playing in Noralf's Drakkenheim Play-by-Post game, and he's been my favorite PbP DM on StartPlaying. He is attentive to the players and how comfortable they are, he takes initiative to engage in the directions that characters want to go, and (probably the most important for a paid PbP game) he stays on schedule with his updates. You aren't ever left wondering for 2 or 3 days about when he's going to update the game while you watch your bank account run down (an experience I've had with most other PbP paid games). It's very hard to price PbP games since they are not run in sessions of a specific length, but for what we pay for one, I think that Noralf delivers a better value with consistency and quality of engagement over the week. If he ever can't update for a day or two, he always lets us know. He is also a very good writer and is very descriptive and evocative with his scenes and his NPCs. He helps us brainstorm if we get stuck. He is encouraging of our roleplay and where it takes the story, and helps us troubleshoot if something isn't working for the party. He really seems to bring himself and his own thoughts, interests, and creativity to the game which really enhances the experience. The VTT we use is Owlbear and it is nicely set up with the maps, monsters, and our tokens. Avrae and the Discord is also all very streamlined and well managed to make playing even a PbP game a smooth experience. I really like how he sets up the game channels in the Discord with different threads, it makes it very easy to follow what's going on when and where and to reference things without only cluttering up a single adventure channel as many PbP games on Discord do. I took inspiration from Noralf's setting above anything else for how I'm setting up my own PbP games on Discord now. It matters!

DM Alex has been very engaged and enthusiastic in our LotRRP PbP game. His NPCs have shine and character and his storytelling is engaging. He is transparent about how he is running the game and the lore and he always communicates with us. He keeps maps and combat and all the crunchy details organized and quickly addresses any inconsistencies or mistakes. He is also very accommodating to player needs and checks up on us if he thinks something is off. His game has been very enjoyable! Thank you DM Alex!