Introduction
The Hero is a GM Archetype recognized by Extraversion, Intuition, Feeling, and Judging traits. Powerful ideas and values fill you with enough energy to see your vision brought to action. You know that any single person lives a life worthy of a story, and you are willing to document that story one way or another. Worlds are ever-changing, but you know that humans can face any challenge, destined to overcome it at some point.
you know that every single person lives a life worthy of story
Through written prose, spoken with potent oratory dexterity, or even the colorful expression of a piece of art, you know there is more to be done and much more to achieve. With unbeatable passion and unending charisma to carry you forth, it ignites a fire of intensity with every moment for those around you. It is an honor for those around you to see the fire you operate with up close and the ones you directly reach feel a spark of passion shared between you.
Game Mastering Styles
When you have a specific goal in mind, you know what you want, and you ignore anything that falls short of the mark. Some people may think you’re a snob about some systems or settings, but you don’t control how your interests work. It is not a system’s mechanics, art, or lore that matters most; it’s the inherent value to people beyond yourself. Some games have simple rules that can be explained in a single page, while others have extensive rules and lore. In either case, it’s essential to look beyond the rules and see the actual value of a game.
you know what you want
When you find a connection, you will be proud to be a part of it. You pick up an enjoyable system and learn the mechanics rapidly, discovering an expansive world and becoming its historian.
You are not one to engage in trivial games, so much to say, games that do not have the power to last the test of time in your eyes. There is a desire for actual depth to the experiences, and once you have that, there is little to pull you away. The idea of small adventures, short campaigns, or limited accessibility will quickly deter you away. The suitable game is a stone to sharpen your mind and heart to endure life’s trials.
Storytelling Style
Facing life’s challenges is something anyone can sympathize with, and your storytelling emphasizes that simple idea. As a result, characters may find themselves grounded in understanding that obstacles can be hard to overcome. The reward is the tools to overcome these obstacles. Companions, weapons, items, or even lore that would provide a clear point to follow onto the end. The goal is to place characters in a state of loss and offer evidence that they are chosen for more.
You reward your players' characters with tools to overcome their obstacles
It is a powerful message provided and reinforced throughout the narrative. Every enemy they face is possibly the end of the road, but you have a way to remind and reassure them that they’ve made it this far and the next step is just as possible. You find a way to shine light and encourage protagonists through the pains of tragedy in your larger-than-life way of storytelling.
Facing a single wolf in the forest, dealing with giants in a mountain, contending with vampires in the city, or just dealing with an obnoxious neighbor are all points of tension. There is a rare skill to remind people that we all face things that may seem more intense to someone than it is to us. You discover a way to give people an understanding of others’ perspectives and leave a sense of profound growth with each moment.
Table Management
Armed with compassion, resolve, and incomparable leadership skills, you emphasize providing your players with the same tools. There is no point in telling someone that they can’t do someone without reason other than the status quo. Encourage players to speak their opinion openly but authentically so that you can understand where each other stands. Any conflict is just a step away from a decisive resolution where everyone comes out better. Your willingness to hear players out can seem like going easy on someone, but the truth is that you have already prepared the next challenge to fit their limits.
If someone speaks authentically, you believe their input is worth consideration and implementation
In truth, you tend to feel a sense of discomfort if your players have not provided at least a semblance of criticism. As hard as it may be to hear someone comment on your ability, knowing that they are willing to inquire in opposition means that you have established a space that is safe to do so. However, this is not a sign of weakness as a player acting in a way that may devalue another player’s experience is unacceptable, and the behavior stops quickly.
You are aware that people come from an immeasurable amount of backgrounds, developing various perspectives, and pride yourself on recognizing that each brings something beautiful to the experience. With all the guidelines established, you are always keen on adapting a personal ruling or idea from a player to enhance the table. So long as someone speaks with authenticity, you believe their input is not just worth consideration but implementation to some degree.
Session Resources
The burden of being the GM screen is hard to manage, but you are drawn to leading the table as a player. That is the secret to your approach because you remind yourself that you are a player like everyone else with a little more authority to ensure everyone feels part of the experience. As such, you bring a diverse collection of resources that appease everyone at least a little.
While leaving the rest open to theater-of-the-mind, a few keymaps for emphasis, selecting NPC prepared with personality and voices to deepen the experience, and including music to bring attention to critical moments. You do not use table tools often, but when it comes time to use them, the moments are impactful in an unmeasurable way. The adaptable nature of a leader reminds you to consider people that are different than you, so all tools are focused on accessibility and comfort in mind at all times.
You are drawn to leading the table as a player
Regardless of the tools used, you make sure you don’t depend on them. Despite the tools, there is more value in understanding the players to serve them better. Having check-ins before or after a session and occasionally putting up a chance to submit suggestions ensures you control your enthusiasm and refocus where necessary. Adaptability is critical to reaching a greater audience, and you likely tie such a principle to your core values.
The Game Master's Toolbox
- World Anvil: A worldbuilding program that helps you create, organize and store your setting with detailed wiki-like organization and interactive maps to store your notes.
- DnD Beyond: An excellent place for digital character creation and creating a campaign group for easy roll shares and sheet management.
- Notion (TTRPG University Notion Templates)
- Evernote
- DnD Beyond’s Encounter Builder: I’ve heard it’s helpful. You can build an encounter and determine its difficulty level based on math.
Role Generator: You can randomly generate everything from cities, to magic items, to herbs, to NPCs. https://www.rolegenerator.com/
- Inkarnate: For fantasy world and city maps. Yearly subscription.
- Wonderdraft: For fantasy world and city maps. One-time purchase.
- Dungeon Scrawl: For creating flat and isometric dungeon maps. Completely free.
- Dungeondraft: Building and Dungeon crawl maps, full color.
- Azgaar Github Fantasy Map Generator
- Dungeon Fog: Free map-making tool
- Dungeon Map Doodler
- Spotify: There are so many D&D playlists to choose from, or, pick your favorite video game tracks to play.
- Syrinscape: With Syrinscape, you can control the master playlist and players can decide their preferred volume from their end.
- YouTube Premium: Put on a 3-hour ambiance video without commercial interruptions.
- Google Forms
- TTRPG University Google Forms to Copy
- DMs Guild: A place to find supplemental guides and campaigns to enhance your official D&D content.
- Drive Thru RPG: The all-TTRPG sister of DMs Guild.
- The Monsters Know: A book series about monster tactics and strategies to help enhance gameplay.
- Point Buy Calculator: Doing a character sheet from scratch? This will help so much with the number crunching. https://chicken-dinner.com/5e/5e-point-buy.html
- DnD Beyond: The best place to build a digital character sheet. Fully connected to all the official D&D content. Makes leveling up take about 30 seconds.
- Wild Shape Tracker: Super helpful for druids. https://arcaneeye.com/apps/wildshape-tracker/
- Character Backstory Template: https://arcaneeye.com/dm-tools-5e/dnd-character-backstory-template/
- Xanathar’s Guide to Everything: I use this particular book ALL the time to help build my character backstories. There are roll tables in the “This is Your Life” chapter.
- Google Dice Roller: Super simple. Go to Google, type “dice roller,” and you have a dice roller.
- Roll Dice With Friends: You can give your temporary room a custom name, share the link with your friends, and all roll together!
- Owlbear Rodeo (straightforward and intuitive)
- Canva (DIY, simplified VTT)
- Roll20 (complicated learning curve)
- Foundry VTT
- Norse Foundry
- Shard
- Tablespire
- Tabletop Simulator
- Fantasy Grounds
