What's your favorite RPG system and why?

Sure, start with the nightmare question. I think recent tabletop games (including non-RPG games) have really pushed the boundaries in great ways. You’ll always have your classics. Dungeons and Dragons found a great rhythm with fifth edition. Fantasy Flight has an amazingly innovative dice system with narrative consequences. Then you have your real passion projects like Shadow of the Demon Lord, which is a fantastic system that found a home (and funding) on Kickstarter. I think I’d have to say that my favorite is Fantasy Flight’s Star Wars system, Edge of the Empire. They’re currently working on a new edition of Warhammer Fantasy, and I’m really excited to see what they do with it. If they implement a lot of the mechanics from Edge of the Empire, Warhammer will most likely become my favorite system by far. I think the narrative dice system is way more interesting than the flat number restrictions we mostly accept as the standard.

What made you want to become a DM/GM?

I have a steady group of friends who play together. While I wasn’t our first DM, I did become our most consistent DM early on. I originally offered to run games because it just seemed fair to trade off the responsibility. Plus, my friends were mostly running high fantasy settings like Forgotten Realms. Running my own campaign was my opportunity to bring in elements of horror, which is something I love about dark fantasy. I became a more consistent DM in our group because people really enjoyed those darker elements. In recent history, I only DM when I think I have some great ideas for a campaign. I have a lot of old Ravenloft setting books that provide plenty of inspiration. 
How much prep time do you conduct before a gaming session?
That’s a perfect follow-up question. Ultimately,  when I’ve taken a break from being the DM, it always had to do with time constraints. I enjoy spending a lot of time preparing different characters and scenarios for the players. However, I’ve also learned to keep things flexible. Nobody has fun when a campaign feels rigid. Lately, I’ve favored systems like Shadow of the Demon Lord that have a shorter prep time. For Shadow of the Demon Lord, I spent a lot of time upfront learning about the setting. After that initial time investment, I ran pre-made story arcs where you could prep a session maybe twenty minutes ahead of time. The sessions were really great. If you’re like dark fantasy and want to DM without investing a ton of time, look into Shadow of the Demon Lord. From setting to mechanics, the system really shines.
What is one of your most memorable moments running a game?
Journey of Legends! This was less of a moment and more of an entire weekend. So, my friends and I were playing the fourth edition of Dungeons and Dragons at the time. We were separated most of the year because of college, and that presented challenges with running anything on a regular basis. Looking to reconnect, we all decided to meet up at a friend’s house for a long weekend of Dungeons and Dragons. I offered to run sort of mini series of sessions called Journey of Legends. The premise was that everyone would use one of their favorite characters from the past. Our group rarely made it past level ten before a campaign fizzled out, so this was a chance to make your hero a legend. We started around level twelve or thirteen, and everyone received a flat stat boost of six to everything. This was the player’s chance to be that kind of Drizzt or Aragorn figure. Even the skills you’re not very good at are exceptional by normal standards. To balance the experience a little, they faced brutal enemies and incredible challenges. They were like superheroes of fantasy, so they faced that level of challenge. We had an incredible weekend with that. I ran a few more sessions like that afterward, but I think the first time will always be my favorite. The idea and execution were both new, so it was very exciting because the players had no idea what was coming.
Do you do anything to set the mood or atmosphere?
It depends on the environment we’re playing in. Sometimes we have a friend’s house to ourselves, while other times we’re around family and friends. Occasionally, particularly more recently, we use Skype to play from afar. I like using music when it’s possible. My friend Jeff would always throw on The Witcher’s soundtrack during fights. That always made things feel grandiose in a cool way. Our group would also throw in a dvd called Radiant Fireplace to get the sound of a crackling fire in the room. On Skype, and even in person, I favor descriptions when trying to set the mood. When you don’t have access to outside music or fake fireplaces, it’s up to the DM to establish a mood and a tone. I always find that a character can do this very well. Having the players interact with someone unhinged, or sending them into a room where something horrific happened, are both ways to quickly pull players into a darker tone. If you’re looking to do this in your own game, it’s all about trial and error. Eventually, you’ll find something that works for your and your players. No two groups are the same, so you need to approach each campaign with fresh strategies.
What's one tip you would give to other DM/GM's out there?
Be adaptable. Don’t spend too much time planning every little detail of your session. Even the most predictable player can have a wild, fantastic idea that’s worth pursuing immediately. The more you’ve planned, the more rigid your session will be. If you can work from an outline, you’ll be receptive to new and better directions. This is true in writing as well. The more planning you do, the more things feel like they’re set in stone. You don’t want to waste all the time you put into preparing, right? So you shoehorn in the prepared idea whether or not it’s the most interesting idea. Instead, plan a little less and call for a break when something new and interesting pops up. Use the break to plan your next step. I’ve found that familiarizing yourself with the setting and unique elements of the world to be worth a lot more than memorizing any stats or enemies or anything like that. You and your players have ultimately gathered for a shared storytelling experience, and you never want to lose sight of that.
Any last thoughts for our readers?
​Sure. Well, first, thank you for having me on the site. This has been a cool experience. I love talking about tabletop games. I guess games in general, actually. If you’re reading this and you’re thinking about becoming a DM/GM for your gaming group, then I strongly encourage you to go for it. Look at different systems, settings and characters within those systems, and really find something you’re excited about. If you’re excited, you’re more likely to prepare for sessions without it feeling like work. Plus, excitement from a DM is potent. The players get excited and they make richer characters because they feel like the campaign will go somewhere. Enthusiasm is contagious, so go ahead and pass it around the table.

What's your favorite RPG system and why?
 
My go-to has always been the Call of Cthulhu system. It’s elegant in its simplicity, it’s surprisingly adaptable, and it has a great balance between character advancement versus threat escalation.
 
To explain the last bit, I think that the problem with most conventional systems is that threats and challenges become more abstract the farther your character advances. There comes a point with a D&D campaign where mundane threats cannot begin to touch players. In the Chaosium/CoC system, you can become very skilled and dangerous, but you still have to worry about how to take out the sentry standing watch. Skilled doesn’t equate to invincibility, and I require some sense of danger to remain in the game without simply sending them out against Tiamat or whoever.
 
What made you want to become a DM/GM?
 
Unlike many players and GMs I’ve spoken to, there was never a transition point for me. I didn’t start off on one side of the shield and cross over to the GM spot. Instead, a friend bought me a book with the expectation that I would be running the game and I took to it very naturally. I’ve always had that storyteller gene, plus I’m adaptive and skilled at performing, so it was a natural fit for me.
 
GMing feels like an underappreciated art for me. I think running a quality event really helps create something magical and a good GM makes or breaks a game. The burden of narrative is on the players, as they have the agency and the incentive to engage in your story, but a GM holds the entire thing together with as light a touch as possible.
 
How much prep time do you conduct before a gaming session?
 
The prep time varies per game. D&D, for example, requires more stat-juggling to make sure the challenges balance out fairly and I spend the bulk of my prep time crunching numbers. In terms of narrative, I generally sketch the bare bones of the story as well as a timeline of what would happen WITHOUT player intervention and then I just turn them loose.
 
What is one of your most memorable moments running a game?
 
I think for me, it’s less about “oh shit, we killed a Tarrasque on a freak natural 20 roll” and more about introducing beginners to gaming.
 
I specialize in running games for players who have never done an RPG before or who have had bad experiences with them in the past. A lot of people come in and don’t quite “get” how they work or they have misconceptions, but once they realize that they can essentially do what they want, there’s a little spark that lights up in their eyes when it all clicks. I like that feeling. Good RPG sessions are special and it’s nice to share the joy.
 
Do you do anything to set the mood or atmosphere?
 
99% of what I do to set mood is through performance. A large part of gaming is drawing people into the world you’re trying to create and the more you can actualize it, the better your players will respond to it. So I find visual aids, I prepare maps, I think about the NPCs they will interact with and try to present them in a distinctive way. When people get emotionally invested in the world to the point where they care about something other than leveling up, then you’ve done your job.

There is one unique type of gaming that requires more work on atmosphere and that’s horror gaming. Horror is probably the hardest type of game to run (excluding Toon, because I’ve NEVER understood how to successfully run that game) because it’s both easy for a group of players to dispel an atmosphere of dread that you’re trying to build and most people in gaming think “horror” is just “action with scarier opponents.”
 
The way I make horror games memorable is 1) pre-screen players. I make it clear that we’re trying to be scary, so people who like more light hearted games should probably look elsewhere. One comedian can tank things for everyone. 2) I run the game like telling a ghost story. We play in the dark, people use oversized flash cards rather than character sheets (easier to see in low light) and I use every dirty trick in the book to freak people out. If done right, this type of gaming can be the most rewarding.
 
What's one tip you would give to other DM/GM's out there?
 
I want to give so many more than just one tip, but the one I think is the most important is to find the sweet spot between too much and not enough. How much is too much open world farting around versus plot railroading, how much is drowning your player in florid description versus too little so everything boils down to “10x10 room, treasure chest, orc.” Gaming is a social thing and a good GM has to learn to read the room, read the group dynamics, and play them like a fiddle. 
 
Any last thoughts for our readers?
 
Gaming has given me a lot over the years. It built my social skills and my confidence, it taught me the basic structure of narrative, it taught me how to intuit the needs of a group, and it taught me how to build amazing things out of the imagination. I don’t get a chance to do much of it these days because it’s hard to get a bunch of mid-30s people to agree on a consistent schedule, but it’s a wonderful activity and well worth taking seriously while still keeping a sense of joy and discovery.
 
(please include any links, pics, or other things you'd like me to include in the post)
 
Joe Borrelli used to write under the pseudonym of Justin Bailey, both because it’s a Metroid joke and because he wanted to be anonymous for deeply pretentious grad school reasons. Now he’s a member of the Horror Writers Association, he’s hosted a paranormal skeptic’s show for Littlethings.com, he has a podcast, and he’s one of the organized of Brooklyn’s legendary Bushwick Writers Group. He’s been published in Nightmare Magazine, Corporate Cthulhu, and has written some truly smutty vampire erotic for Blood in the Rain 2. Find him at creaturecast.net or search “Littlethings.com The Beyond” for his show on YouTube. 

For the next round of gamer interviews, we meet Josh Sorensen.

​
What's your favorite RPG system and why?
 
The HERO (Champions) system. It is the only truly universal gaming system that I have found. While there are other universal gaming systems out there, they usually have some limitation to them. This often shows itself in the ability of either keeping things small or allowing things to go epic. The HERO system is designed so that the entire campaign can be normal people in a detective story, all the way to epic superheroes. It is able to do this because the game is an effects based rules system.

For example, the system doesn't have a "Fireball" spell per se. Rather, it says what does a Fireball do? A fireball creates a Area of Effect Blast of Energy, that is Shot from Range and is made of Fire. In fact, in the HERO system, the fact that it is Fire is almost secondary and only needed if someone have a vulnerability or resistance to Fire. This set-up lends itself to so many possible character options. But this also means that this system is not for beginning GMs. It can take considerable prep work and requires the GM to be not just familiar with the rules, but also have a knowledge of game mechanics. They do have a number of additional source books to simplify this for those new to game system. These are not required. I purchase them because I enjoy seeing how other GMs have set things up mechanically for their own use.
 
 
What made you want to become a DM/GM?
 
My family has a long tradition (going back generations) of interactive storytelling. When Dungeons and Dragons came out in the 1970's, it was quickly adopted into many of my family's social gatherings. I enjoy spinning a tale and so was naturally attracted to the role of DM/GM. 
I absolutely love seeing the interaction that the players have with my tale. So much so that I generally only set up a base idea of what I want to see in the campaign, story arc, and session. That way my tale becomes largely Player Driven. After all, each of us has a tale to tell.
 
 
How much prep time do you conduct before a gaming session?
 
So this one is complicated. On average probably 4-5 hours, but that is because I do big projects.
For a normal session, I spend one or two hours. This is mostly just taking care of administrative data, deciding major plot points that I hope to get to in the session, and getting the correct miniatures and terrain prepared. As I mentioned above, I like my campaigns to be heavily Player Driven, so I play fast and loose with the session. It at times forces me to think on the fly, but I've had a great deal of practice. I rarely, if ever, utilize modules or prepared adventures.
For a major story point / plot completion, I have spent dozens of hours. I love epic fight scenes with epic bad guys on epic terrain. I love to create something new for major points in the story. Sometimes this is a cool new bad guy or place to fight.

Here are a few examples:
The Skeleton is part of a collection of three that I scratch built for a buddy's D&D campaign. The first is single skeleton. The second is a ogre sized skeleton made up of 5 regular skeletons. And then this one is constructed from 14 other skeletons, plus bits. The monster grew as the fight progressed.

The Pirate Docks were constructed by that same buddy and me for the same campaign. (and yes, all the cranes are functional)

I built the Dragon Temple for another friend's D&D campaign. He wanted something special for the conclusion of "The Horde of the Dragon King". So instead of a Castle in the Sky, we did a Hanging Gardens theme.

These all took a number of hours to construct.

What is one of your most memorable moments running a game?
 
So there are so many good memories, it gets hard to pick any out of the mix.
But the current D&D campaign that I am running was set up by some friends because they wanted to expose their kids (now teenagers) to the hobby.

Background: In days of yore, a tyrannical Giant empire ruled the lands around the inner sea. They enforced their will with a cadre of 7 Krakens. Through use of a demonic codex, the Krakens were imprisoned a thousand years ago. Now, various factions are attempting to wake the Krakens.

Enter the PC's. They have come into possession of the codex. They stand before the first of the seven imprisoned Krakens, the pages open to the ritual to destroy this weapon of incredible power. 

"So this codex was able to control the minds of the Krakens?" YES
"So this codex is what imprisoned the Krakens?" YES
"So this codex has the power to destroy the Krakens?" YES, up close and in their imprisoned state.

Then from across the table: "Can this codex FREE the Krakens and put them under our power?"
And thus a complete plot change for the intended campaign. Instead of fighting baddies and destroying the Krakens to keep such powerful weapons out of the hands of those who would misuse them... They have decided to just put those Krakens into their own hands. They like to believe they are doing it out of good and the best for everyone. They have freed three of them so far and left a path of destruction and death in their wake.
 
 
Do you do anything to set the mood or atmosphere?

I recap. Like an old fashion serial. Last week on Dunderheads & Danger, the brave Sir Brown Shorts infiltrated the Goblin Stronghold in order to save the Princess. Captured by the guards, he awaits rescue by his compatriots.... etc...
 
What's one tip you would give to other DM/GM's out there?

The "Unbeatable Foe" / The "Unwinnable Fight"
DON'T, just DON'T.
If it is absolutely critical to the plot: still DON'T.
Sure, I get it, every Kung Fu movie-Hero wins fight to show he is tough, Epic bad guy enters and beats the Hero, Training montage, Hero comes back to beat the Epic bad guy.
So unless your campaign is a Kung Fu movie... DON'T. And even then, probably DON'T.
Players don't like to be pigeon holed or given NO OPTIONS. So your unwinnable fight can also include the "you've been captured and lost everything"... You will just piss your players off with using this trope over and over and over. So many prepared adventures use this as well. 
Also, two other dangers crop up:
1- You always have some powerful NPC that comes in to save the day. It is probably your favorite NPC. He is probably even based on a former PC of yours... You are there to facilitate the world and the play, you are NOT a PC. They are the Protagonists, NOT you. If you want to play that badly, have someone else GM.
2- Or the players will beat your Unbeatable Foe and leave you trying to jump through hoops to save your plot line. My buddy, that I built the Dragon Temple for, likes to run prepared modules. Across multiple systems, every one of these modules has had at least one "Unwinnable Fight". I have NEVER lost this "Unwinnable Fight". Even ones deemed "Unwinnable" for the entire group, over several decades of playing in his games, I have ALWAYS soloed these fights and I have ALWAYS won. A 2nd Level Barbarian in D&D is not supposed to be able to beat a 9th level Fighter... But I did. The dice came up that way. They always do. I slaughtered the villain that was supposed to be the reoccurring villain for multiple sessions on our first meeting. Leaving my buddy to once again scramble to fix a problem I just interjected by slaughtering the primary villain for the campaign.
If you set up this "Unwinnable Fight", your players will either WIN or be so pissed at you that they quit.
So DON'T.
 
Any last thoughts for our readers?
​
Have fun. Role Playing games can expand your horizons. They can give you problem solving skills. They can make you annoyed at your buddy that always wants to have over elaborate schemes.
But in the end: PLAY FOR FUN. HAVE FUN. 
As a GM, it is your job to facilitate that FUN for your players. If you are not having fun doing that, have someone else GM.
But as always: Have Fun.
 

Moving on to our first gamer interview, let's take a look at Mr. Tim Moore and how he likes to run things.

What's your favorite RPG system and why?
 
My favorite rpg system is one of the many d20 based games. I'm a fan of Star Wars, Pathfinder and DnD 3.5. I currently run a game that's a mixture of 3.5 and pathfinder. I try to make the game as in depth as possible, so we tend to have more skills and more home brewed rules and magic items. These are most likely my favorites because I grew up on them and have the most experience playing d20 based games.
 
What made you want to become a DM/GM?
 
What made me want to be a DM/GM? lol, well, to be honest I prefer to play, sadly, it rarely happens. Nobody wants to run the game. I have years of experience so it's easy for me to just rattle off numbers and rules off the top of my head and I have a pretty good imagination and idea of battlefield tactics which helps me play monsters and npc in their respective mindsets. I first got exposed around the age of 9 with AD&D with older siblings. I loved it and wanted to expose my friends to this newfound world. I spent hours copying stats, rules and items by hand onto notebook paper. I still have that old folder of aged papers! 
 
How much prep time do you conduct before a gaming session?
 
How much prep time do I spend before a session? Quite a bit. I keep notes on my phone when a thought randomly comes to me. I have various colored composition notebooks designated to various quest or topics. I've currently started making terrain pieces which is very time consuming haha. For low level games I can spend less prep time by just making up simple encounters on the spot. Yet I'm running a higher level campaign that's very time consuming. I go in depth with knowledge of spells cast in anticipation, fortifications, hit points and hardness of walls, doors and locks. At high levels there's countless variables to try to anticipate for. How will the characters react? I try to cover the most likely choices so that when it's game time there's little pause due to looking up rules and such.
 
What is one of your most memorable moments running a game?
 
Some of my most memorable moment....hmmmm so many. The best ones are when characters have critical fails or critical successes. If you roll a natural 1 or 20 I have you reroll again to determine how bad or how great you did. Multiple rolls of 1 or 20 can be epic game changers. A couple recent ones that come to mind would be my girlfriend's first character, a druid/ranger. I had a velociraptor charge her. She said I'm going to hug it. A roll for wild empathy was a nat 20. Charisma check; nat 20. I rolled a will save...nat 1. It became her new animal companion named Jasper.  At level 18 it's large size and she rides it into battle. Another character in my new low level game was attacked by stirges, big mosquito-like creature. He got bit. Rolled for random chance of disease, yes. Type: blinding sickness. Fortitude save: failed. He lived but the last 3 sessions or so he has been permanently blind. This new world has low money and magic so he hasn't found anyone to cure him yet, maybe next session. Until then it's just plain amusing as his character stumbles around. Balance checks, reflex saves and such. Plus we have a mischievous bard that keeps using ghost sound to fool him into stumbling into other people and causing scenes.
 
Do you do anything to set the mood or atmosphere?
 
Setting the mood for the game! I try to cook up a hearty meal. We mostly play in the winter time when our work loads have slowed down so lots of chili or stews and such. We outfitted my buddy's basement into our game room. So we have Halloween decoration skulls and we light scented candles. It makes it feel like we are in a tavern or dungeon at times.
 
What's one tip you would give to other DM/GM's out there?
 
One tip for fellow GM/DMs. Organization! I've learned to have a notebook for each thing so I spend less time rummaging around. Also research your skills, feats, spells, combat and rules. The faster you can come up with the answers the smoother the story and game will flow. Nothing kills a session like a long drawn out round of combat that takes an hour researching in multiple books.
 
Any last thoughts for our readers?
 
The biggest thing I'd like to address is that it's a game,  have fun. Enjoy the time socializing and have some laughs. Also, let loose. Get into character and just have fun with it. Speak like a pirate or in some silly accent or create a personality that is atypical of your nature. It can be an escape from reality, just remember have fun!