Enigmaze

I played in Jake's "Briarholt Academy" one-shot for Daggerheart and I had an absolute blast! Jake does a phenomenal job teaching new players the game, breaking up the mechanics into bite-sized chunks to avoid new player fright or intimidation, and, overall, just being patient with all the players not only while they learned the game but even when they made mistakes. (I, for example, had forgotten a core feature of my Blood Hunter class during my first turn of combat. That's what I get for playing a brand new class, I suppose haha. Anyway, Jake was kind enough to allow me to utilize that core feature, even though my turn had technically ended moments before.) I don't know if Jake has ran a campaign in his Briarholt setting before, but the presentation of the academy, the background lore we were provided, and the speed with which Jake was able to manage various faculty members on campus, the descriptions of the campus, and respond to player actions was seamless. Truly a seasoned GM!

Neves dreams up compelling premises for the games he runs. I have only played Call of Cthulhu with him, a one-shot called "The Broadcast at the End of the World," but if his ideas for the other games he runs are even half as creative as the ones he comes up with for Call of Cthulhu, then future players are in for a real treat at Neves' table. His creativity doesn't stop with just scenarios, though. The pre-generated characters he had us play in his "Broadcast" one-shot were all really interesting (at least to me). Each character had distinct strengths and flaws, which can sometimes be glossed over with official pre-gens, as it seems like official designers for Call of Cthulhu like to keep pre-gens at around the 50-60 mark for skills. But my character, Artie, for example, had a 75 (if I remember correctly) in Mechanical Repair, which is fairly high for a starter character! What surprised me the most, perhaps, is that I don't typically enjoy any house rules for games like Call of Cthulhu. Yet Neves introduced what I thought was a flavorful and dramatically appropriate house rule regarding the expenditure of Luck in his Call of Cthulhu games. (I don't know if he will keep this rule in the future so I won't explain it here; suffice it to say that I actually enjoyed Neves' house rule). If you want to play with a creative and chill GM/DM/Keeper who rewards player ingenuity and creativity, then Neves should be a great GM/DM/Keeper for you to hire! He's also very understanding and welcoming to players, both beginners and experienced alike and both neurotypical and neurodivergent alike. Oh, one last thing. Neves told me to write the following in my review: "The Keeper looks like Mr. Clean before Weight Watchers." (Neves, if you read this, I'm totally joking and mean nothing by it. I'm only repeating your joke here because I think it does a good job of showcasing your sense of humor to prospective players.)

I discovered Domi from a LFG post in the World of Darkness Discord server. They had posted a homebrewed Werewolf: The Apocalypse V5 game there for a post-apocalyptic setting. I've been playing in this game of Domi's for about 6 months as of the time of posting this review. In that time, their Werewolf game has felt very player driven and responsive to players thus far. For example, Domi has also allowed time for characters to pursue personal projects and ambitions during this Chronicle, which, in my opinion, makes it especially easy to get invested in Domi's settings and worlds. What's even more impressive is that Domi's W5 campaign had already been underway for some time prior to me joining it, and, yet, my character immediately felt relevant and important to the main narrative. I had no issues jumping right into the story and the play group and, most importantly, NOT feeling like "that new guy on the block." To put the initial experience of joining the first few games into perspective, the story was immediately personal enough to my character that I asked Domi if I could make Harano and Hauglosk rolls at the arc's conclusion. Haha. Moreover, Domi's W5 game was my first exposure to Werewolf. They did a fantastic job presenting the Werewolf setting and its themes and mysteries in an approachable and engaging way. So much so that I now feel comfortable potentially running my own W5 games in the future without fear of doing the game too much injustice due to my general lack of experience with the storied Werewolf line of games. If you're looking for a player-driven game, good vibes, and a generally fun time, you should join one of Domi's games today!