GO TTRPG Looking for DM

Sadly voice chat is an issue for me. During the waking hours my house is crazy noisy. Lots of little kids and my computer is in the dining room, which shares a space with the kitchen. So background noise would be high and disruptive to the game. My upcoming work schedule has me in bed at 4pm. I am awake during the hours of 12am to 10am CST with nobody else in the house awake. But those aren’t exactly prime RPG hours for other players.

Otherwise I would love to GM for a group. Although I haven’t used a standard RPG system in years. I grew tired of the restrictions placed on my imagination by rules and allowed player moves/actions/capabilities. The last system I was playing was Dungeon World.

I really enjoyed DW because it was so easy to introduce new players to. The entire character sheet was one 2-sided piece of paper. Which also contained all the moves and information a player would need to know before starting the game. The GM needed to read the rulebook, but the player didn’t. Additional “need to know” stuff was revealed in an organic matter, as the game progressed. It was the perfect intro and pick-up game system.

One core mechanic for resolution was rolling 2D6.

2-6 = failure, a serious complication arises
7-9 = success, but with a minor complication
10-12 = success, with no complication

I modified this further so that 2 and 12 were critical success/failure. No matter what happens, the story was always encouraged to flow. Cinematic style playing was encouraged (my personal preference for any system) and character concepts were diverse, cool, and easy to tweak to player preference.

As time went on I got rid of DW altogether and kept the dice rolling mechanic. I kept in the loop on the TTRPG scene for many years, remembering the mechanics I liked, marveling at settings I liked, and following the industry. I’ve even considered working professionally as a TTRPG designer. I actually studied with Ennie Award winning author Johnn Four for a time. Though the money side of it being a designer was a problem and I ultimately up on that path. The point is, I’m very passionate about TTRPGs.

As a GM I eventually fell out of love with settings entirely. The time required to learn the canon of a setting just to GM a game was very high. Frankly the same can be said for rules with the vast majority of TTRPG rulesets as well. I have some skill in writing and I enjoy using my imagination and creativity. I think well on my feet so creating my own stories on the fly, improvisationally during play, became my preferred method of gaming.

Collaborative storytelling is the sweet spot of TTRPGs for me. I’ve focused on finding ways to get input from players and to find other mechanics (like the DW resolution mechanic) that I can drop into games on a situational basis, as themes and challenges warrant their existence.

I prefer to play completely within the theater of the mind. With the only props being whatever GM Tools or Player Aides I decide to devise for the story. Players tend to have a pencil and paper for tracking information or their evolving inventory. This is my preferred ways of GM’ing these days. I could say more, if it becomes relevant, but for now I’ve probably already talked too much :blush:.

However, I would be willing to learn a new system for a new group. The obvious issue is my weird time schedule. Gameplay would literally need to take place between the hours of 12:30am and 10am (CST | UTC/GMT -6 | Texas, USA). If that is possible, I’m volunteering. If it isn’t, it won’t be a surprise :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:.

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