Hello! I'm Valse, an experienced D&D 5e GM and player looking to make new TTRPG friends online and play some D&D or D&D adjacent games like Draw Steel Daggerheart, or Pathfinder. I'd like to say upfront that I'm mostly looking for weekday evening games in my timezone (starting around 6pm or 7pm US Pacific time). I know that's a tough ask for some, so thought I'd make en edit here now that I'm getting some message requests.
Campaign Preferences: I am a lover of deep roleplay and lore, tactical combat, and crafting entertaining and unique character backstories and builds. I enjoy combat, exploration, and roleplay all to similar degrees and tend to prefer games with a good mix of all three, if possible - my least favorite aspects of a game tend to be the book-keep-y, simulationist elements like tracking rations, encumbrance, or (and I'm sorry to say it for everyone who loves to browse) shopping episodes. As far as plots and settings I tend to prefer the grim, dark, tragic, and melancholic, but with the expectation that our party will be trying to overcome those aspects of the campaign rather than feed into them. In these settings, I prefer a group that's not so overly serious that we can't crack a joke now and then to lighten things up. While that's what I tend to prefer, I'm not at all exclusive of classic fantasy worlds, which I still quite enjoy, or even silly whimsical ones where we can improv some absurd shenanigans and no one in-world will bat an eye.
Playstyle: As an active GM I really enjoy writing new characters and taking them in fresh directions, and as a player I like to start out that process by trying to fill out whatever seems needed in a group, be that mechanically or story-wise - a tank for a party of squishy casters, a wholesome dad character for the morally gray chaos goblins, a morally gray chaos goblin for a party of wallflowers; a victim of your Big Bad driven to pursue the main plot at all costs, a member of that fun new class, species, or faction you recently came up with, etc., etc. I find it extremely rewarding coming up with compelling, flawed, yet still mechanically effective characters with enough room for growth based on the parameters I've set up for myself trying to serve the group's fun.
About Me: As a person I'm a fairly introverted and nerdy (of course) 29M, but pretending to be in a fantastical setting with some pals does really help bring me out of my shell. I also try not to take myself too seriously, and can get pretty silly to keep the vibes light; I'm actually known as "the quiet comedian" in some circles for the random one-liners I'll drop that have the gang bursting out in laughter. I've been writing little fantasy stories and imagining worlds and characters since I was a little kid and was drawn to video game RPGs to help scratch the itch, but I find there's no feeling like seeing those ideas come to life at the table where me and my friends are in total control of the fun. I'm LGBTQ+ friendly and neurodivergent friendly as a survivor of depression myself. I've got two precious kitties and a wonderful partner of almost 7 years who's been playing tabletop games alongside me pretty much the whole time - she's also interested in joining a game with me if things shake out on here, so ++ if you've got more than one spot open for an experienced, friendly player! :)
Systems: I've got 6+ years experience GMing and playing 5e, with some increasing 5.5e / 2024 experience as our groups slowly transition to the new rules. I've played other systems here and there mainly through one-shots just to try things out, and am particularly interested in trying some more Draw Steel by MCDM. With any system I like to really dig into the rules and build up my knowledge to keep things moving smoothly at the table whenever there are questions - as a GM I share all my knowledge freely of course, but as a player I try to avoid sounding like a rules lawyer and just let the GM take the lead, only chiming in here and there just as a player advocate if it seems like a fellow player could use some help understanding or optimizing their classes, or if the GM needs help finding a quick ruling on an open question or something like that. Outside of 5e and 5.5e, though, I'm a total newbie at most systems, so a little patience from an experienced table would go a long way - or for a table of fellow newbies we can experience the joy of figuring it all out together!
Favorite Media: Our imaginations and tastes might gel super well together if you enjoy any of the following media: Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Wheel of Time, Pokemon, Fullmetal Alchemist, Code Geass, Castlevania, Fire Emblem, Ghibli films, Persona, The Witcher, Kingdom Hearts, and similar.