Enter GM Josh

I am GM Josh, the other GM in this experiment. While Joe may lead you to believe that I am a strict GM by describing his own relative laid-back style, I’d like to set the record straight: that is an absolutely correct assumption. I follow the rules closely and I wield ultimate veto during play. I also tend to start a campaign with few house rules. That said, I do NOT let the rulebooks tell me how to run my games any more than the players. If a rules dispute ever comes up during play, my first step is not to check the books but to make a ruling on the spot which we will follow for the rest of the session. After which we will usually see what the rules as written (RAW) say, but even then I will sometimes have my ruling hold. Outside of game time, I am perfectly willing to discuss and reconsider the rules and many times I do agree to change the rules one way or the other, but when I am behind the GM screen, my rules are law.

Huh, looking up at the previous paragraph, I sound like an over stereotyped paladin. Eh, whatever, my methodology works much better in practice than I can describe it in writing, and anyone who has played in one of my games knows as much, and my players often appreciate skipping a long rules debate to get back to the game. I’ve been GMing for almost 12 years now, and I’d like to think I have improved in many ways. I often try alternative approaches to running games, many of which have influenced my standard methods. But that is enough about me, here’s a quick run-down of the Player Characters

Nalphion, Human Paladin of Bahamut, his player is the most experienced of the group (but less so than I) and is a good role-player and roll-player both

Butterbeard, Dwarven Monk, his player is relatively new to tabletop having been seduced to D&D by his love of KotOR, but is really good about getting into his character

Zekial, Half-Elf Bard, his player is the second most experienced, and he has a good grasp of the rules and is a fantastic role-player and fast talker

George, Half-Orc Barbarian, his player is very new to D&D although he has had some experience

And an as-of-yet unnamed Elf Rogue, I’m not entirely certain of her player’s experience besides odd stories from high-school days

The last three players all have experience with online MMORPGs, for what that’s worth, and the fact that I haven’t said anything about the last two players’ skill at the table reflects that I have yet to play with them and see for myself

It is also worth saying that due to many of my player’s complete ignorance of the Fearun setting, I’ve decided to use standard Grayhawk theology for familiarity’s sake.

--GM Josh

If you must know, the main reason I insisted on using GM rather than DM in this blog was purely for the sake of alliteration…