I'd like to nominate my GM Mike (Spunkrat here on the boards) as 'Best GM Evah', who is living proof that an obsession with telling stories, coupled with three years in acting school, isn't necessarily a big waste of time! For years and years and years Mike has run a campaign for myself and my friend Rob, with various other players dropping in and out over time. Mike has guided us in weaving the utterly immersive tale of our characters - two brothers, Simon and Saul, a wizard and a priest.
He took us through the horrors of Ravenloft at low levels (Mike is a master of the macabre), where we developed (or had inflicted on us) the physical and emotional scars that would stay with us through the many adventures and years to come. Mike then thrust us (climactically) into this own homebrew world, and we had the great pleasure of watching this immensely colourful and history-laden world evolve and expand as our characters grew (and, most satisfyingly, be shaped by our characters). As well as weaving stupendous, world-shaking plotlines, Mike is a dab hand at creating games in which the player characters are central to the story - not merely the guys who disrupt the story that would have happened otherwise. Sure, this sometimes means that our characters are partially responsible for the near-destruction of the world, but oddly that makes you a whole lot more attached to them
We're now playing in one of the last story arcs of this uber-campaign. The stakes are immense - not least because Mike as got us so attached to these characters that they're like a part of us. I'd like to take this opportunity, on behalf of myself and Rob, to say "THANKS MIKE!!" And also, if you kill off Simon and Saul you're in suuuuch trouble...
Matt
edit: damn, just missed out! Well, all of the above still stands!