Post by shroudb on Oct 11, 2014 11:38:19 GMT -7
I came here mainly because I don't get to play as a player in my home games! Yeah I know that this is a contradiction with me applying for GM, hence the tentative in the title (as well as other reasons talked about below). The main reason I apply is because I love world building.
As for me, I've played pnp rpg's from when i was I think 12 (dnd boxed set yay!), so that would make it about 20 years or so. And from the 3rd year of playing I've mostly DMed (sword of the Dales!). In those years I've passed and tried several systems including dnd, adnd, 3rd ed dnd, pf, wod, nwod, alternity, and varius others. Particulary in dnd/pf rules, I like to create my own settings, my own towns, cities, lore, adventures, legends. And hence why I'm now drawn to help create one here too.
If I was to point my strength and weaknesses, then it would go down somehwat like that:
Strengths:
Experience: I've created at least 2 full settings in the past (when I was in college), as well several "mini"-settings (like p.e. in one of my homegames atm, npcs, geography, underground areas, heroes and villains, etc is mine. religions, world history and such are golarion)
Storytelling/writting: I've also written most of my stories the last years myself, even in established settings. I think I do a good job there, and my stories are usually big enough to take a lvl1 till ~lvl 15-16 without being repeative and keeping suspence and having enough turnabouts.
Rule knowledge: My pf group is pretty much a fest of powergaming rules-lawyers trying to break me(loves them though:D)! But I hold my ground. I have played pf for about 2y now, and toghether with them, we have found out more ways to break the game than we thought it was possible. Due to that, I'm pretty much expected to know the rules by heart (or with a quick seach in the net^^) by my group, and so far I've done a good job staying on top of this weird faq/errata/refaq/change/newbook system of PF which seems that it has it's fair share of holes due to backwards compatibility.
Sandbox: My favorite game type is purely sandboxy. I usually put a big plot down, and several small ones, all running simultaneously, and leave it up to PCs to create the stories they want based on those. I've learned to adapt quickly to players that do the complete opposite of what I'm expecting them to do. I can create hooks for adventures almost instantly if they wander too far off, give subtle warnings without enforcing metagaming if they put themselves in a tight spot, I usually create full backgrounds and stories for all of my NPCs, thus eliminating the chance of leaving holes in their dialogues created by tough questions coming from the PCs. Rewards are split based on completion of said sidequest, as well as given for creativity and proper usage of a character. P.e. while the main quest may be a simple dungeon crawl, there will be that hidden clue if players searched hard enough before venturing that would lead to greater riches, knowledge, power. But only if they went to the trouble to actually find that clue!
Complete character usage: I like to create stories that incorporate all aspects of a character. In my stories there will be social rolls, attack rolls, mental roles, investigation elements, background checks. Adversaries will take advantage of weaknesses. There will be equal opportunities for the raging barbarian and the the social bard to shine in their own spot.
Weaknesses:
Time: I'm working mon-sat usually 12+h a day. I've also have a shred of social life left! And I'm still running my home games. I also want to play at least one game as a player, it's what i signed up for! That leaves me pretty restricted in the free-time department for actually running stories as a DM. On the other hand, due to "holes" in my worktime schedule, that allows me to have some free time to create stories, wander and chat in web and etc.
R20: I've used this platform a grant total of like 6-7times. And always as a player. I wouldn't know where to start to actually run an actual game until someone sits down with me and shows me the ropes. That said, i'm pretty quick on catching up with technology, coding, and etc, so I think that i can rectify this flaw quite quickly given actual free time and a bit of mentorship.
Accent: That may sound funny, but it's actually a problem. Despite knowing pretty decent english, which is not my native language (i have a diploma to teach though, as well as having done all my college papers in english and etc) my accent is beyond horrible. That can be a deal breaker for immersion (Especially if all the npc's sound like broken gramophones^^).
PowerDm mentality: The last years, the groups that I'm playing with are creating monstrosities of a character. In order to keep stories challenging and not boring I'm used to put encounters that challenge optimizers, and not casual , normal players. That, if left unchecked, may result in a few accidental TPKs in less optimized groups. That being said, I personally see no problem with optimizing, as long as what remains is still a playable character. In my home games, if someone sits with a dip1/dip2/dip3/dip4/prestige1/prestige2 identity crisis thingimagingy I WILL break him
. Thankfully (for me), apart from one player, most of us skipped 3.5 which I believe was what introduced that mentality of several 1-2lvl class dips.
Goal of this post:
So, if you read through that. You will see that atm I'm kinda unavailable or not qualified to be running as a free standing DM for here. But, if it is story building, scenarios, campaigns, settings, notable NPCs, or simply rules-lawyering, then I believe I can help.
And given time, and experience with R20, I could potentially start running my own stories too.
As for me, I've played pnp rpg's from when i was I think 12 (dnd boxed set yay!), so that would make it about 20 years or so. And from the 3rd year of playing I've mostly DMed (sword of the Dales!). In those years I've passed and tried several systems including dnd, adnd, 3rd ed dnd, pf, wod, nwod, alternity, and varius others. Particulary in dnd/pf rules, I like to create my own settings, my own towns, cities, lore, adventures, legends. And hence why I'm now drawn to help create one here too.
If I was to point my strength and weaknesses, then it would go down somehwat like that:
Strengths:
Experience: I've created at least 2 full settings in the past (when I was in college), as well several "mini"-settings (like p.e. in one of my homegames atm, npcs, geography, underground areas, heroes and villains, etc is mine. religions, world history and such are golarion)
Storytelling/writting: I've also written most of my stories the last years myself, even in established settings. I think I do a good job there, and my stories are usually big enough to take a lvl1 till ~lvl 15-16 without being repeative and keeping suspence and having enough turnabouts.
Rule knowledge: My pf group is pretty much a fest of powergaming rules-lawyers trying to break me(loves them though:D)! But I hold my ground. I have played pf for about 2y now, and toghether with them, we have found out more ways to break the game than we thought it was possible. Due to that, I'm pretty much expected to know the rules by heart (or with a quick seach in the net^^) by my group, and so far I've done a good job staying on top of this weird faq/errata/refaq/change/newbook system of PF which seems that it has it's fair share of holes due to backwards compatibility.
Sandbox: My favorite game type is purely sandboxy. I usually put a big plot down, and several small ones, all running simultaneously, and leave it up to PCs to create the stories they want based on those. I've learned to adapt quickly to players that do the complete opposite of what I'm expecting them to do. I can create hooks for adventures almost instantly if they wander too far off, give subtle warnings without enforcing metagaming if they put themselves in a tight spot, I usually create full backgrounds and stories for all of my NPCs, thus eliminating the chance of leaving holes in their dialogues created by tough questions coming from the PCs. Rewards are split based on completion of said sidequest, as well as given for creativity and proper usage of a character. P.e. while the main quest may be a simple dungeon crawl, there will be that hidden clue if players searched hard enough before venturing that would lead to greater riches, knowledge, power. But only if they went to the trouble to actually find that clue!
Complete character usage: I like to create stories that incorporate all aspects of a character. In my stories there will be social rolls, attack rolls, mental roles, investigation elements, background checks. Adversaries will take advantage of weaknesses. There will be equal opportunities for the raging barbarian and the the social bard to shine in their own spot.
Weaknesses:
Time: I'm working mon-sat usually 12+h a day. I've also have a shred of social life left! And I'm still running my home games. I also want to play at least one game as a player, it's what i signed up for! That leaves me pretty restricted in the free-time department for actually running stories as a DM. On the other hand, due to "holes" in my worktime schedule, that allows me to have some free time to create stories, wander and chat in web and etc.
R20: I've used this platform a grant total of like 6-7times. And always as a player. I wouldn't know where to start to actually run an actual game until someone sits down with me and shows me the ropes. That said, i'm pretty quick on catching up with technology, coding, and etc, so I think that i can rectify this flaw quite quickly given actual free time and a bit of mentorship.
Accent: That may sound funny, but it's actually a problem. Despite knowing pretty decent english, which is not my native language (i have a diploma to teach though, as well as having done all my college papers in english and etc) my accent is beyond horrible. That can be a deal breaker for immersion (Especially if all the npc's sound like broken gramophones^^).
PowerDm mentality: The last years, the groups that I'm playing with are creating monstrosities of a character. In order to keep stories challenging and not boring I'm used to put encounters that challenge optimizers, and not casual , normal players. That, if left unchecked, may result in a few accidental TPKs in less optimized groups. That being said, I personally see no problem with optimizing, as long as what remains is still a playable character. In my home games, if someone sits with a dip1/dip2/dip3/dip4/prestige1/prestige2 identity crisis thingimagingy I WILL break him
. Thankfully (for me), apart from one player, most of us skipped 3.5 which I believe was what introduced that mentality of several 1-2lvl class dips.Goal of this post:
So, if you read through that. You will see that atm I'm kinda unavailable or not qualified to be running as a free standing DM for here. But, if it is story building, scenarios, campaigns, settings, notable NPCs, or simply rules-lawyering, then I believe I can help.
And given time, and experience with R20, I could potentially start running my own stories too.
