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Introductions

JayRinSF

Member
Platinum WoA
Hey Everyone, My name is Jay. I'm from San Francisco where I live with my wife, two of three kids (oldest is in college), 2 cats and a dog. Despite all of that (or maybe because of it :) ) I still play rpgs on a regular basis.

I started playing D&D back in 80s with the first edition and have played every edition since. And while I used to DM almost exclusively, I have mostly just been a player over the last few years. Hoping to change that now.

I play a variety of games/systems (D&D, OSE, CoC, DungeonWorld, Alien, Traveller). I don't think I have a favorite die, but I'll just go ahead and say the d12 because it doesn't seem to get much love.
 

TekZombi

New member
Platinum WoA
Hello, I'm Jessica. I currently live in Alaska. I play D&D 5e. I am running 2 campaigns (although one is about to end) and play in 2 more. I have been DMing for about 4 years, playing for about 9. If I had to choose, I'd say the d20 brings me the most joy, probably because its the one I roll the most!
 

blulaktuko

New member
Gold WoA
Hi everyone!

I'm Abby, living in Berlin (Germany), although originally from the Canary Islands.

I've been playing since I got my hands on AD&D 2e a long time ago, and since have played many different things. Currently in a Shadow of the Demon Lord campaign, but organising also a couple of one-shots in Fate.

I can't say I have a favourite die, but if I have to choose is the d12 - I guess I like the pentagons (squares and triangles are boring!).
 

Ninjenir

Member
Platinum WoA
Evenin'

I'm Ty from the Midwest US, I've been playing for over 20 years. I live with my Wife and our three cats. My Game of choice right now is Pathfinder 2e and I'm running two synced games of Kingmaker 2e! Going with dice, I'd pick the D3. Not as useful as a coin, but not as pointy as a d4. Good for rock paper scissors!
 

Doormatis

Member
Platinum WoA
Hello, all. My name is Ray, and I'm typing at you from Guelph, Ontario. I've been playing TTRPGs for... yeesh.. like, 20 years now. I started with D&D Red book back in high school with my friend Mark. As a senior, he DM'd for the rest of us 9th graders. My frist character, Erikus Rith, died of embarrassment.

I have been GMing more or less bi-weekly for the last three years, but I'm always looking to learn more. I actually have never run a D&D session, but I have run long-running (16+ sessions) campaigns for Wyrd's Through the Breach and R.Talsorian's Cyberpunk Red.

My favourite die has got to be the d6, as it was my first introduction to games at all. The d10 is quickly becoming the runner up, because it sows so much chaos within my Cyberpunk campaign.
Hey Ray - I went to University of Guelph 87-91 and played AD&D while I was there... Used to work at The Bookshelf...
 

Doormatis

Member
Platinum WoA
Hey everyone - I'm Neil Fleming - I'm from Sault Ste. Marie Ontario but I've been in Calgary Alberta for 23 years ish. I started playing in grade 5 so late 70's...? Had about a 30 year hiatus... Started back with DnD 5e a few years ago and have been home-brewing ever since... When I'm not lost in a fantasy world, I'm a playwright, a video producer and a theatre designer, and play pick up hockey or golf (badly). My biggest block to GM-ing is ADHD - being paralysed by endless attractive possibilities. Johnn's simple tools so far seem to be a good hack around that. I'm working on starting a Patreon of character backgrounds and custom buiild for use as NPCs or PCs. It's called Doormatis Personae. Instead of the Dramatis Personae - the list of characters in a play - I chose Doormatis to represent the more truthful reality of the types of characters that show up at the gaming table...
 

TomNC

Member
Adamantium WoA
Wizard of Story
Hello! My name is Tom. I have been playing RPGs since I was very young, and the "forever DM" for nearly 35 years. The systems I played and ran the most during that time were D&D. With the dip into Pathfinder 1E in the mid-00s to mid-10s. I took a break from D20 games for a while to explore systems like Fate, Fiasco, and others. 5E brought me back, and in a big way, the last couple of years. I currently run an Adventurer's League table at the local game store, a home hexcrawl, Mutants & Masterminds campaign, and most recently started posting at StartPlaying to become a professional DM. I've also toyed with the idea for the last couple years of putting some of my ideas into a more legible format and offering them on Drivethru. I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you and sharing ideas and concepts.
 

ginger_gamer

Member
Adamantium WoA
Hey everyone - I'm Neil Fleming - I'm from Sault Ste. Marie Ontario but I've been in Calgary Alberta for 23 years ish. I started playing in grade 5 so late 70's...? Had about a 30 year hiatus... Started back with DnD 5e a few years ago and have been home-brewing ever since... When I'm not lost in a fantasy world, I'm a playwright, a video producer and a theatre designer, and play pick up hockey or golf (badly). My biggest block to GM-ing is ADHD - being paralysed by endless attractive possibilities. Johnn's simple tools so far seem to be a good hack around that. I'm working on starting a Patreon of character backgrounds and custom buiild for use as NPCs or PCs. It's called Doormatis Personae. Instead of the Dramatis Personae - the list of characters in a play - I chose Doormatis to represent the more truthful reality of the types of characters that show up at the gaming table...
Ha, it seems we come from similar stock, Neil! I'm also originally from Sault Ste. Marie.
 

ExileInParadise

RPG Therapist
Staff member
Adamantium WoA
Wizard of Story
,,, We played 4e. We did Keep on the Shadowfel.

... Campaign 1 is the Descent Into Avernus module…heavily modified. Campaign 2 I've named "They Could Be Giants" and it is based on the Candlekeep Mysteries.

Greetings and welcome!
How did you find Keep on the Shadowfel? I've heard a lot of folks had problems with it and had to rework it a lot.
And ... well... I can only approve of the name of your Campaign 2 - especially if you are a fan of They Might Be Giants like I am.
 

CaptainCrouton89

New member
Platinum WoA
Gold WoA
Hi! My name is Silas. I'm still fairly fresh out of college, but I've been GMing games for the last 7 or so years. I started by playing 4e, quickly moved to 5e, and then began dabbling with a few other systems before realizing that I wanted to make my own TTRPG 3 years ago, which I've been GMing ever since. Although I used to prep a lot more, I've become much more of a prep-less GM, and run very improv-heavy games (and have built my rule system accordingly! I'd love to talk about writing story-instigating player abilities and mechanics, because they are a godsend to improvisers). I spend a lot of time thinking about the best way to run games during actual gameplay, which is why I'm excited to take this course focused more on the best way to prepare for those actual moments of gameplay. If you ever want to talk about crunchy game design, improv-heavy GMing, or software development (my actual job), I'd love to chat!
 

ExileInParadise

RPG Therapist
Staff member
Adamantium WoA
Wizard of Story
games for a while to explore systems like Fate, Fiasco, and others. 5E brought me back, and in a big way, the last couple of years. I currently run an Adventurer's League table at the local game store, a home hexcrawl, Mutants & Masterminds campaign, and most

Howdy! You said "Fate" so expect a visit from the Jochen-fairy at some point to talk ... Fate.

What brought you back into 5E in a such a big way?
 

ExileInParadise

RPG Therapist
Staff member
Adamantium WoA
Wizard of Story
Hi! My name is Silas. I'm still fairly fresh out of college, but I've been GMing games for the last 7 or so years. I started by playing 4e, quickly moved to 5e, and then began dabbling with a few other systems before realizing that I wanted to make my own TTRPG 3 years ago, which I've been GMing ever since. Although I used to prep a lot more, I've become much more of a prep-less GM, and run very improv-heavy games (and have built my rule system accordingly! I'd love to talk about writing story-instigating player abilities and mechanics, because they are a godsend to improvisers). I spend a lot of time thinking about the best way to run games during actual gameplay, which is why I'm excited to take this course focused more on the best way to prepare for those actual moments of gameplay. If you ever want to talk about crunchy game design, improv-heavy GMing, or software development (my actual job), I'd love to chat!

And hello! That's definitely the way to jump in... "Okay I see how this works... off to the drawing board to make my own!"
As you dig through the forums here or on the Discord - you will see that I have been grinding and drafting up my own TTRPG as well.
It seems every DM is ultimately a game designer anyway ... and some just can find their "perfect" game already done and so go their own way.

Just so you know, you're not on that road alone...
 

JochenL

CL Byte Sprite
Staff member
Adamantium WoA
Wizard of Story
Wizard of Combat
Gamer Lifestyle
Borderland Explorer
Hi! My name is Silas. I'm still fairly fresh out of college, but I've been GMing games for the last 7 or so years. I started by playing 4e, quickly moved to 5e, and then began dabbling with a few other systems before realizing that I wanted to make my own TTRPG 3 years ago, which I've been GMing ever since. Although I used to prep a lot more, I've become much more of a prep-less GM, and run very improv-heavy games (and have built my rule system accordingly! I'd love to talk about writing story-instigating player abilities and mechanics, because they are a godsend to improvisers). I spend a lot of time thinking about the best way to run games during actual gameplay, which is why I'm excited to take this course focused more on the best way to prepare for those actual moments of gameplay. If you ever want to talk about crunchy game design, improv-heavy GMing, or software development (my actual job), I'd love to chat!
Crunchy. Check
Improv- heavy. Check
Software dev. Check

Perfect Match!
 

TomNC

Member
Adamantium WoA
Wizard of Story
Howdy! You said "Fate" so expect a visit from the Jochen-fairy at some point to talk ... Fate.

What brought you back into 5E in a such a big way?
I don't know. Just one day, the switch flipped about 3 or 4 years ago. I started running online games for friends. Then we moved to an area with a very active D&D community, so I started getting to play face to face. I have, however, been heavily influenced by some old school stuff. Like random charts. I'm really digging into it now in my newest home game (An old-fashioned hex crawl). I am seriously considering publishing a gazetteer with the setting once I'm finished developing it. Of course, the real fun is when the players encounter stuff, and decide which directions they want to go.
 

TomNC

Member
Adamantium WoA
Wizard of Story
Fate? Did I hear Fate? 😀
Yes, yes, you did :) I love Fate for the ease of creating things for one-shots. Though my friends and I used it for a collaborative/shared world where we took turns running the story. That was a lot of fun and it had a ton of creative freedom built into that allowed us to do things that other systems might not. I also helped one of those friends start a semi-organized game of it (20+ players and with 4 or 5 "fate masters") based in a comedy space setting. I dropped from it after the first season, but it went on for like 5 years.

Still, I think I prefer it for zany rules light gaming or one-shots. Lately, though, I have looked at Cypher as something that could replace it in my personal tool box.

I take it you like it?
 

JochenL

CL Byte Sprite
Staff member
Adamantium WoA
Wizard of Story
Wizard of Combat
Gamer Lifestyle
Borderland Explorer
I take it you like it?
Yes, I do!

I used it for Sci-Fi mostly/lately. Traveller-esque using plain Fate Core/Condensed.
Before that, I got into Mindjammer, Eclipse Fate, and Dresden Files.
It all started with a Brothers Grimm/Krabat-ripoff medieval fairy tale fantasy game.

I like the versatility of the system. It's easy to improv, and it's story-driven.
The only thing I miss is crunch, as sometimes everything feels the same.
For that reason, I enjoyed Mindjammer and Strands of Fate.

I have yet to find a good fantasy implementation.
I like Malmsturm, but the setting is so densely woven into the rules that they are difficult to reuse.
I like Dungeons of Fate, too, and translated it into German.

If you have any pointers for Fate Fantasy, I am all ears!
 

GM Rob

Member
Gold WoA
Ha, it seems we come from similar stock, Neil! I'm also originally from Sault Ste. Marie.
You two are among the small and rarefied segment of humanity that might recognize where I spent my early years. Born in Port Arthur, and lived in Geraldton. Parents were radio operators for the Lands and Forests coordinating the Otters and Beavers as they fought fires.
 

Doormatis

Member
Platinum WoA
You two are among the small and rarefied segment of humanity that might recognize where I spent my early years. Born in Port Arthur, and lived in Geraldton. Parents were radio operators for the Lands and Forests coordinating the Otters and Beavers as they fought fires.
The names sound very familiar, but I'd have to look at a map. But I definitely remember all the Otters and Beavers parked on the river outside the Forestry building in the Soo growing up. (update - looked at a map) Holee cow Rob! That's some middle of nowhere territory! Geraldton Wow.
And now you're in Texas? I actually lived in Dallas from 1997-2000 - my wife taught at SMU...
 
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