About the DM

My name is Dave… I’ve been playing some form of RPG for over 25 years now, though admittedly out attempts at gaming as children could only loosely be called so.

My passion is world building. Nothing gives me greater joy than having a complete and immersive world for people to enjoy. Most of my campaigns take place in places so developed that laws, tax codes, weather systems, and noble genealogy are all well worked out. I love this for two main reasons:

1 – It allows for my players to do anything they wish. Many of my campaigns are free-form, where the plot does not propel the characters (at most times). They are free to wander, explore, help, ignore, and generally do as they wish. There are plots all around them, and some of them can end up being huge plots, but generally nothing ‘world-changing’. They can save the girl, crush the protesting guild (or help it), or start their own thieves guild.

2 – It gives the world a more ‘complete’ feel. While the players may never actually have to deal with the tax code, simply knowing it allows for the cities and villages to be denser, more realistic. Guilds can be built around deceiving certain tax codes, people can live outside of a town to avoid paying an export tax on their goods… so many things that the players can encounter, and possibly never understand. But it all fits together, and it all WORKS. Economies can make sense in fantasy gaming… believe me… and when they do it only adds to the feel of the world, and it helps to make players CARE.

Now, I’m not for hyper-realism. I’ve known of the DMs that have characters dye of pneumonia or infections from bed lice and the sort. I think that is a bit far, but I truly believe that there is a level of ‘realism’ that can exist in any game, and it will only make things better, and only help things to make sense.

But that’s just me.