Reviewing Chris Perkins

Chris Perkins is billed as "DM to the Stars", and has appeared in numerous videos showcasing both 4E and 5E D&D. He's done this on stage in front of hundreds, and on camera.

What are your thoughts on his DMing? Is it similar to yours? Have you learned anything from his examples? What are his strengths and weaknesses?

I give him 5 out of 5 Beholders.

In particular, I very much like his free-form style of DMing. Its very similar to my style, I dont get caught up in the rules and I will bend the rules to the situation as needed. In this regard I like his style very much.

I think were he shines is when he role plays his NPC's. I definitely get a sense that he tries to immerse his players in the Forgotten Realms. Watching him DM for PAX and most recently for GT, he does a very good job of drawing in everyone at the table.

I agree with chibi.

He is also a master at building suspense through his NPC/monster dialogue, and even when there is little combat, the way he tells the story keeps his players riveted.

I especially like how he handles a split party too. He cuts back and forth from the party to the lone exploring member of the group at interesting moments to keep suspense and give all players pretty equal playing time.

Another thing he does is to exert an authority and confidence that is powerful. He does not get flustered or tripped up (even when the players do some bonehead things). He makes the game run smoothly and he makes even mishaps add to the flavor of the story.

is there a good example of his play that i can watch somewhere? I'd be interested to see

Psikerlord# said:

is there a good example of his play that i can watch somewhere? I'd be interested to see

Click to expand...

There's one on the news page right now.

I think I'd give him about 5 out of 10. But it's hard to say, because I generally despise his players. Also, this is (obviously) very subjective.
(1) I think he does a pretty good job on pacing, which is important for GMs.
(2) I don't find his game sessions to have any real depth... but then again, in his public videos he's only got a couple hours to work with, and he wants to keep the story moving.
(3) I hate that he uses different voices, as it pulls me out of immersion, but I understand that many people prefer that.
(4) I don't like that he "says yes" as much as he does (not that I'm against "saying yes" being done), but that's also personal preference in a fantasy game.
(5) It looks like he adapts pretty easily (at one point I'm fairly certain he turned some standard minotaurs into minions because they were low on time). That's a plus.
(6) His advice on GMing (in his old column) was alright, but nothing ever struck me. I couldn't list any of his advice now. I will say that it made his off-camera campaigns sound as if they had more depth, which goes against an earlier critique of mine. I just can't be sure one way or another.

Regardless, he seems like an amazingly nice, gentle guy during panels and stuff he's involved in. I don't know much about him personally, but I don't have anything against him. If I could somehow get passed the voices and end up in a surprisingly deep game run by him, I'd move my assessment higher. But, based on the public videos, I'm keeping it at 5/10 for now. Again, though, I might be biased by hating most of his players.

I think we all fancy we see the best parts of our own DM'ing in Dungeon Masters that we like, and I really like Chris Perkins.

Given the limited format of the various games he's run in the public eye, he is exactly what I would want out of a DM in those situations. Running his own stuff over the long term, he's probably even better. I would love to see him at work in such an environment.

Wizards have a bona-fide star on their hands with Chris, and I think they know it. I would certainly give him a 9/10 in most situations, and the Acquisitions game he designed that took place at the Darkmagic family home was an outright 10/10 masterclass.

I think he does a great job. He lets the players have fun but keeps the story going in a public, time-limited format. I like how he keeps the plot, characters, monsters and action in good focus even during chaos. The fact that he's very generous to his players while keeping all the plates spinning is very commendable.

Besides, any DM who goes to the trouble of dressing up like Bhaal is 10/10 in my book.

Yesterday my fiancée told me he's her favorite DM. Then she guiltily looked at me and revised it to second favorite DM.

He's superb. I'll rank him with the top 10 GMs I've ever gamed with (out of several hundred), AND he can hand-draw gorgeous maps. Bastard.