It started at a friend’s house in 1991. A bunch of weird looking books with bizarre images of wizards, mythological beasts, maze-like caverns, and all manner of fantasy trapings. Even as a boy, I’d been fascinated and enamored by the fantasy genre. Films like Legend, The Neverending Story, Willow, Labyrinth, and The Dark Crystal became an adolescent obsession. And let’s not even get started with the obscene number of fantasy cartoons and books I would watch and read.
My friend’s brother had gone to college, leaving behind a treasure trove of these books, along with composition notebooks filled with cryptic scribblings and arcane maps. Atop this mystical horde of tomes, lay the mother of them all – Advanced Dungeons and Dragons: Dungeon Master’s Guide. Eyes wide, I peeled through page after page. While my friend scoured the Player’s Handbook, I delved deeper into the limitless toolsets of creativity provided to the role of… pause for dramatic effect… The Dungeon Master.
Since that day, I’ve been hooked. Now, I have become…
Conjurer of halls where shadows creep
Founder of tombs where horrors sleep
Warden of evils in dungeons deep
Taking up the mantle of Dungeon Master (Game Master, Judge, Chronicler, etc.) grants awesome cosmic powers. You are a creator of worlds, steward to unfathomable secrets, and keeper of an endless menagerie of monsters and villains. Best of all, you’re a facilitator, adjudicator, and storyteller. With any group of people, you can craft legendary tales that will be told and retold. Tales of mystery, action, romance, intrigue, or horror. Even the sky is no limit.
And that’s where the genesis of this site came from. Much like personal DM heroes like Matt Colville and Chris Perkins, I want more people at the head of the table, weaving new stories and coordinating the fun with friends.
On this site, you’ll find musings, advice, reviews, travel blogs, and anything else I can throw out there that might be useful to neophyte and veteran DM alike. So, give me feedback, and let me know what you’d like me to focus on. Hit me up on the usual social media outlets, or shoot me a message through the Contact page. And as always, game on!
Excelsior!
Jon
The Dwarven DM
The Dwarven DM 