So who is this Witch of a DM and how did she come to be?
My name is Rin, and at the moment I'm writing this I'm in my late thirties, but if anyone asks I'm twenty-nine...always. I am not your typical D&D player or DM. I did not grow up rolling dice in my parents' basement chowing down on the Funions and the Mt. Dew. My teen years were devoted more to the paranormal and some sci-fi and only a few hints of fantasy (though I did watch the D&D cartoon as a youngin). At some point in my early twenties, my younger brother started to play D&D and through him and his circle I had a little bit of exposure to it but wasn't really interested. Closer to my mid-twenties my now husband (whom I call Tyr in the blogs) and I became closer friends and eventually a couple.
Tyr tried several times to get me interested in D&D but I was resistant, which he couldn't understand given my background. My degree is in psych and I had more than enough credits in both literature and writing that I got invitations for English grad programs and I took my fair share of theater classes. Years roll by and somehow he talks me into creating a little one shot western RPG for him and our neighbor to play. I actually kind of had fun with it, even if our neighbor's character spent pretty much the whole time in the whore house.
More time rolled by and after being laid off from a job Tyr took a crap temp job where he met Omar. They wanted to get a game going but neither of them wanted to DM. Over time Tyr worked his charms on me and I agreed that if everyone agreed not to chew the newbie DM up and spit her out that if they got enough people together I would make an attempt at being a DM, that was 2013. Omar got his cousin Hal on board and the above-mentioned neighbor gave it a try as well. The neighbor quit after the first session but a short time later, I believe, Dumb Dwarf joined the table.
Low and behold, I thought it was pretty damn cool. I started watching Chris Perkins DM, to learn from him. Tyr and I listened to Nerd Poker. Eventually, Critical Role came along and I've picked up things from watching Matt Mercer. I've read blogs and talked to other DMs, always striving to be the best DM I can. I do take a lot of flack from my players though because I don't read any of the books that are usually found in the libraries of most D&D players. No Dragonlance, no R.A. Salvatore, no Pat Rothfuss, nothing along those lines. I didn't play Neverwinter, Baldur's Gate, or Morrowind. Still, everyone seems to enjoy my adventures, even if I've never read a book set in Faerun.
My campaigns and worlds are all home brewed by me, straight out of my twisted little mind. We played 3.5 at first and then switched to 5e when it came out. Over the years we've played in person around the table and we've done the whole Roll20 thing. In person is by far the way to go, in my opinion, when you are able to.
I have found though that while I'm not normally one to focus on how my gender impacts my hobbies, being a woman does seem to have an effect on my DMing experience. Now, this is by no means some sort of feminist soap box, but there are some differences I've noticed that I feel stem, at least in part if not in whole, from my being a woman.
So why "Witch" of a DM? Well, I'm a long time practicing Pagan and my players have called me a "witch" with a "B" on more than one occasion when they've come close to having their whole party devoured. There ya have it, Witch of a DM.
No comments:
Post a Comment