Pozeltum

With close to 25 years of gaming experience (I started playing when I was 6) I equally enjoy playing as the DM or as a player.

While playing as DM my style tends to be leveling at a slower pase than most DMs that I have come across over the years. Magic in my games is also harder to came across than most campaigns that people are used to. Once people do obtain anything from a new level to a short sword +1 they almost always walk away from that session of gaming with a true feeling of accomplishment. I would say after 4-5 gaming sessions 75%-80% of my players really enjoy the way I approach DMing. This also includes the role playing(storyline wise):combat ratio I am continuously balancing. I have a range in my ratios that I tweak each session depending on the people I play with. Most groups prefer a little more of one over the other, and since the game is about fun for everyone the tweak to their wants makes for great sessions.

Being a player is always a hoot. I am pretty laid back and have never came across a DM that had a house rule that I just couldn't play with. Even if I think a rule is just plain nutty I will play through the session without a grip or grumble. After having some fun and before leaving when everything is concluded I will usually offer the DM some of my ideas on what he could change and don't push anything. After long talks I have had DMs change a slew of house rules for his next GtG and thing when extremely well. I have also had my opinion changed many times which let to me changing my house rules around which led to my campaigns being improved.

When it comes to building a character I usually go through what persona I want to capture in the character. I don't worry about race or class until this is decided upon. Am I gonna be a sly, greedy trader of goods who doesn't realize that the only person that doesn't notice that he is shady is himself. No matter how many times he is told otherwise. Or maybe a female who can't control herself when she sees anything helpless(beggars, certain animals) being abused and/or mistreated. Luckily she has learded from experience that frontal assaults usually end poorly so she helps the mistreated if possible only to then exact revenge when the time is right and she has a good chance escape and is able to hide her identity. Those were so-so off the top of my head ideas but you get the picture. Once you have decided what persona you want, you then go through the various races and classes and see what mix would be a mix of the funnest and most challenging to play. You can then pick skills / feats and such that you would have otherwise skipped over in order to fine tune your character to fit who they are. Also a quick note, I usually roll my character up before I know what everyone else is. This makes for more flavor in the campaign in my experiences.


Quick lists of games played:
Pen and Paper RPGs: Dungeons and Dragons (Basic/1E/2E/3E-3.5E/Starting 4E), Most of the Palladium Books RPGs (Rifts, Robotech, TMNT, Heros Unlimited, Ninja's n Superspies no name a few), Warhammer/Warhammer 40K (Both RPG and Tabletop), Battletech, A little Shadowrun, GURPs, Paranoia and many odd balls here and there.

MMORPS's: WoW and SWG in depth. DnD Online and LotRO for a short time. A few other not so popular ones whos names are eluding me right now.