My story
I started playing tabletop roleplaying games in 1989 as my main social and creative outlet. Playing GURPS, Werewolf, Vampire The Masquerade, Mage, Champions, Paranoia, and Star Wars, I preferred playing a thief, scoundrel, or someone sneaky who I tried to keep alive by making mostly safe moves. I got so attached to one long-running character that I choked up when we all finally ended the main campaign.
After graduating and working for a couple of decades as a product manager, I picked up RPGs again in 2018, listening to actual play podcasts like The Adventure Zone and Dungeons and Daddies (the latter of which I was lucky enough to cameo in on Episode 48 as Juror #5). Reading and watching Game of Thrones gave me the perspective that the story is what matters most, along with staying true to character motivations (in service of the story) — so it was ok if characters died. Even mine.
As I began playing RPGs again like Dungeons & Dragons and Traveller, I also found a love for board games like Gloomhaven that include story and strategy, and eventually discovered heavier eurogames. Along with DMing, I completed the Game Design specialization from CalArts, am enrolled in the Graphic Design specialization, and help organize board game nights with the Park Slope Parents tabletop gaming community. My board game collection and activity are on Board Game Geek.
When I joined The Open Hearth, an online international RPG community, a wealth of RPG resources and expertise became available.
With its own podcasts and publishing company, and expert DMs available as mentors and players, members discuss, design, playtest, and publish RPGs.
Tailoring the story to the interests of the players at the table, I’ve introduced games to players with no experience and players who are veterans at one system but not another. I’ve helped them blend their characters into my heavily planned extensive campaigns, and run one-shots focused more on improvising from player ideas over one few-hour session.
I’ve written scenarios, run Dungeons & Dragons and Scum and Villainy (a Forged in the Dark game), attended seminars on how to hack games, and completed a camp to practice DM skills like spotlight management, cinematic pacing, introduction/use of safety tools, creating game tools for online use, and eliciting end-of-game feedback.
As a player, I hold on lighter to characters now, changing up their concepts to fit details revealed during the session about settings and other players’ visions. I put them at risk during the action to make the story better rather than keep them safe. I’ve played Dungeons & Dragons, Scum and Villainy, Masks, Hearts of Wulin, Trophy Dark, Brindlewood Bay, Coyote & Crow, Delta Green, “Long Time Listener, Last Time Caller,” Avatar, Traveller, Monsterhearts, and Spirit of ‘77. I’ve playtested games like Ares Ascendant (a playtest of a Paragon Agon game), Eotenweard, and AKA (inspired by the TV show Alias).
I run D&D in-person in Brooklyn which you can sign up for by reaching out. When I run games online like Coyote & Crow and Scum & Villiany, you can sign up for them using The Open Hearth Calendar.
For more than a decade, I learned skills from my day jobs and volunteering that I bring to DMing — specifically, managing a group, listening, and performing. I ran committees for tech projects, delivered product updates with teams of engineers, and spoke in front of hundreds of people as a product manager at The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, StreetEasy and Macmillan Publishers. In my free time, as volunteer chair of The Children’s Aid Society Associates Council and regular at Hip Hop Karaoke NYC (and occasional contest winner, listed as “Fine Tune”), I practiced the discipline of preparation and active engagement with the audience before and during the event.
