Hey there, thanks for looking at my profile. I'm an experienced tabletop nerd who has close to two decades worth of experience under my belt. I'm most experienced in D&D (1st - 3.5), Pathfinder (1st), and various White Wolf products over the years. I have played in a variety of other systems and settings that I won't fully list here; suffice it to say I have dabbled.
If you're looking here, then most likely you are considering me for a game that you're part of. I am on the west coast of the United States, so I'm on PST/PDT and am available nearly every day of the week from the afternoon to night. I am currently looking for games that will include my friend as well, who is available Sun, Mon, and Tues from 12PM PST until night. The TL;DR for what I'm looking for in a game is long term, preferably AP (or fleshed out home brew), with an emphasis on role-play and healthy respect for mechanics.
For additional information about me, here's a list of pros and cons of me as a player (biased, I know):
Pros:
-Very heavy role-player. I'm the type of person that puts in many hours into creating my character for a campaign. I usually will make a character specifically for a campaign/setting/group rather than having a stable of characters to choose from. If I'm into a game, I spend my time daydreaming during the week performing what I call 'Puppet Theater' where I plan out my next moves and play out potential scenes in my head.
-Dedicated. Once I've committed to a group, I will stay with said group for as long as the game is running. I stayed with my last group on Roll20 for about three and a half years of weekly (barring holidays/emergencies) play. I would dearly love to find this again. I will almost never miss a session without first giving notice to the group before hand, and very rarely be late. I do my best to respect everyone else's time and expect others to do the same.
-Prompt. If anyone messages me, I'll get back to them same day or no later than the next day most of the time. Messages on Roll20 are only prompt so long as I'm actively looking for a game; it is much easier to contact me via Skype or Discord. I will happily share either with folks that wish to speak with me.
-Mechanically proficient. This isn't the same as saying that I'm a min-maxer, but I have played enough D&D/Pathfinder that I know my way around making a character and won't make many basic mistakes on mechanics in game. If I don't know a rule, I look it up myself and always ask the GM if things work the way I think they do.
-Honest. If I make a mistake, I will report it to the GM/group. I recognize that what we are doing in a campaign is both a mix of game and collaborative story telling. It cheapens the story if cheating occurs. Sometimes the most interesting stories come out of bad die rolls.
-Keeps meta gaming to a minimum. I really do my best to keep things in character as much as possible, restricting ideas to things that our characters might naturally think up. I only really bend this rule when I think that someone else's character should rightfully know or think of something, and even then I generally will just give a hint rather than flat out say what it is. Most of the time even this is restricted to mechanical suggestions (like what abilities might help in a situation) rather than telling people how to play their character. I'm definitely not offended if people choose not to follow my ideas/suggestions either and will keep my mouth shut if people prefer.
-I have supporting materials for my characters. I'm very much the kind of person who writes pages of back story (unless a GM doesn't want this; then I just keep it in my head). My last character had over ten pages of back story (the travails of a long lived race). Usually these back stories are long to provide ample ammunition for a GM to use over the course of a campaign for or against my character. Additionally, for any character I play in a campaign, I always find musical themes to fit how I think of them. Generally a character theme, battle theme, and death theme (because deaths happen). Note: I don't expect GMs to use my music in Roll20; it's really mostly for me and for others to listen to after game if they feel like it.
-At ease with fate. Short of someone maliciously targeting my character, I am fine with character deaths (or other permanent injury) happening in game. I recognize that even the best laid plans may not succeed. "It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." -- Jean Luc Picard.
-Team player. No matter what alignment of character I create, I put the group first. I am a firm believer in the players' contract: that the players will do their best to make a group work. I am quite experienced at games of various levels--from groups of new players to hard core veterans. I often play the role of 'team leader' in games, trying to make sure the group stays on task and that everyone is involved with something.
-GM friendly. As a person who has tried and failed spectacularly at GMing, I appreciate GMs a great deal and will do my best to make things as easy as possible for you. I'll have my character fully prepared for any thing that they might do; if they have summons, I'll have stat blocks prepared. I make macros for commonly used abilities. I know the mechanics of my character and will check in with the GM if I am uncertain on things.
-Respectful. I am very comfortable with people of various races, orientations, walks of life, etc. I have no issues with who people are on the other side of the keyboard. I treat everyone the same.
-Comfortable with mature themes. The night is dark and full of terrors. Bad things happen to good people. Sometimes they're done by evil beings and monsters, sometimes they're done by people. I am perfectly fine with morally grey situations or outright dark/bleak ones. These can serve as motivation to our heroes on their quest forward. Or as grim reminders of what failure may bring. Generally, I like my games to be as 'realistic' as possible, in that bad things happen. Not necessarily all the time in some kind of dark, Call of Cthulhu-esque horror fest, but enough to fit whatever narrative of game we're in.
Cons:
-Talks a lot. I try to be mindful of talking too much, but when I get excited I will sometimes dominate the air. My last group spent so much time talking with NPCs that we often joked that our campaign was slower than real time, and in actuality it was much of the time. For this reason, I may not be as ideal a pick for a large group of people (6-8). I may also not be a great fit if a group is keen on quick, efficient play (outside of combat), since I do enjoy spending time role-playing.
-Straight forward. I tend to be pretty honest, both in my speech and with my feelings. If something bothers me, I will speak with someone about it (not interrupting the flow of game, generally saving it for post session or private messages). This isn't to say that I'm easily offended; quite the opposite really. The main things that might cause me annoyance are when people are either too disruptive, not respectful of other group members, are consistently late/absent, or otherwise break immersion in a game.
-Jokes often. I often will make off the cuff jokes in game. I'm pretty good about not interrupting scenes with them--I'll usually place said jokes in group chat or will save them for when a scene is done. Depending on how serious the group is, this may be seen as immersion breaking or annoying. I am able to rein this in as required, but I also believe we're here to have fun as well as create a story. I sometimes test boundaries with said jokes to get a rise out of people, but my jokes are never mean spirited. If something is offensive, it is almost certainly unintentional. In those cases, a simple message to me is enough to get an apology from me if I don't notice that I've upset anyone.
-Discerning. Otherwise known as picky really. I'm getting older and just have less patience for things that aren't what I'm looking for. When I was younger, I'd happily join any game so long as it meant I'd play. This has led to some pretty horrible games (but have helped solidify me as a table top gamer, so no regrets). These days, I like to take my time and make sure that everyone is on the same page before I commit fully. I've had too many games ruined by one or more people in a group that are thoughtless and selfish. I'm happy to work with people and make sure we all get what we want out of a game, but that requires folks to meet me half way. And, though it shouldn't need to be said, that the group be willing to take action to preserve the unity of the group if someone is causing problems. There should be no issues so long as our group has a framework for conflict resolution and we all respect each other.
-Secrets. I have a flair for the dramatic and often like to keep aspects of a character's back story or sometimes even their class/race secret for big reveals. Some people don't like this sort of behavior and prefer everyone be open about everything. I'm fine with doing this if requested, but I'm noting this as a Con since this is my default. Note: I keep far less secrets from the GM, as I like to view the GM as my dramatic partner in crime. I usually feed these secrets to the GM so that they can use them in campaign.
-Over-analytical. Seriously, this whole biography (plus my posts in general) are just rife with over-thought out things. I will over think challenges the group faces to come up with every perceivable problem and solution. Of course, my character may be restricted in coming up with certain solutions (due to personality or stat deficiencies), but that doesn't stop ME from thinking about them. I am very much of the mentality that I'd rather know than not know, and generally assume that others are the same way. Thus why I give too much information to help people make a decision. I've found this alone is often a disqualifier, sadly. =(
If you've made it this far, congratulations! You're very patient and I appreciate you. Whether you chose to message me or not, you're a wonderful person and I wish the best for you.
I've done my best to lay out most of the details about me so that you can make as educated a decision as possible. I know this isn't -everything-, but even this much has probably scared off the majority of those curious. The rest can be learned by messaging me. You can expect that I'll be pretty forthright with answers.
I look forward to hearing from any interested parties. Game on my friends!