Online D&D and other amazing tabletop roleplaying games
My world. Your character. Our story.
The world is mine and the character is yours. The story is the part we build together.
I run long-form campaigns for adults who want the hours they spend playing to feel worth it. Two sessions a month or four, three to four hours each, the same group every time, and a world that remembers what your character did.
Would rather talk first? Email me at storymasterdm@gmail.com and we will find fifteen minutes.
1988Behind the screen since
2018Paid tables since
300+Players seated
5.0 across 54 reviews on StartPlaying, where I ran 605 games before leaving in 2026.
Campaigns
Tables running now
Sessions run three to four hours. Groups stay together for months, and seats open when someone's life changes, so the list moves.
D&D 5e · Gothic horror
Curse of Strahd
A valley where the danger never quite leaves the room. The quiet scenes are the worst of it, because a quiet scene is the vampire deciding what to do with you.
Six seats to a table · ask what is openD&D 5e · Pulp noir
Eberron
A living city that runs on lightning and industry, where politics and corruption decide what your party can get away with. Airships overhead, the heat of the Cogs underneath.
Six seats to a table · ask what is openCall of Cthulhu · 1920s
Call of Cthulhu
Ordinary people, a case that will not close, and a rules system where running away is often the correct play.
No table running right now · ask to hear when one opens
Private groups can commission a campaign of their own, and it does not have to be D&D. I have run Call of Cthulhu, Fiasco, Honey Heist, The Dresden Files, The Wheel of Time, Star Wars 5e, A Song of Ice and Fire, and Open Legend, which is my own favorite system. Ask in the Discord.
At the table
Inside a session
d20Voiced characters. Every recurring NPC gets a voice, a speech pattern and something they want. You will know who is talking before I say the name.
“It never feels like ‘the DM talking.’” Dusty, player for 6 months
d12Live sound design. Ambience and effects run through Syrinscape and change with the scene, so the tavern sounds nothing like the crypt under it.
“Excellent ambience setting with scene specific background music, well designed maps, and appropriate NPC character portraits.” RJ, player for 6 months
d10A world that remembers what your character did. I write down what you say and do, and it comes back. Sometimes next session, sometimes eight months later.
“He remembers details about your character and brings them back in ways that make you feel truly seen, sometimes even used against you.” Laura, player for 6 months
d8Session zero first. Lines and veils get set before anyone rolls initiative, and they hold for the whole campaign. Rule of cool applies to everything else.
“Easy going table vibes (Rule of Cool Prevails). Respectful about Lines and Veils.” Britteny, player for 2 years
d6Not a combat grind. Some of the best sessions have almost no fighting in them, and when a fight does start it is built for your party rather than pulled off a page.
“Nothing feels like a stomp and it doesn‘t feel like we’re fighting for our lives every time we roll for initiative.” Tyler, player for 4 months
d4Not a module read out loud. Published adventures get rebuilt around the people at the table. I write the scenes before the session, including the versions for the choices I can see coming, and when a character dies the scene they wake into is written for the way they died.
“Understands and embraces the concept of gifting a world to his players, not just forcing his own narrative.” Allen, player for 5 years
d100New players do well here. I own the entire D&D Beyond catalog and share it with the table, so there is nothing for you to buy, and I will walk you through the software and the rules while we play.
“You can ask stupid questions and get real, thoughtful answers.” Megan, player for over 5 years
A scene, before anyone rolls
What it sounds like
A Curse of Strahd party decides to step into the tavern on the village square. I wrote this out before the session, in case they went in. This is what they heard.
Splintered, hardwood floors creak under your feet as you step into a large open room. The crackle of a blazing fire in the hearth gives scant warmth to the few people inside. Thick moth-eaten black drapes sit on either side of the window. And the tables and chairs look past their best days, though they may have been quite nice when new.
Looking around you see, sitting at the back of the room, three women in brightly colored dresses and scarves and turbans, very similar to the clothing of the Vistani women you met at the start of your journey. A few others sit in various places around the room.
Standing at the bar you see a smallish, overweight man with thinning hair and a scraggly beard. He looks up as though startled when you enter then his face fills with terror and he screams! “AHH!! DEVILS!” and collapses behind the bar, whimpering…
Everyone in the winehouse looks up at this spectacle but most simply shake their head and return to their own business. One of three women sitting together near the back of the room stands and walks swiftly toward the bar. “Arik, no. Stop it! They are not devils you mist-touched idiot!”
How I run
Where I stand, before you ask
At my tables, the people sitting in seats come before the game. And the game is what we're all there for. Here's how I handle the kinds of things that can come up at any table.
On metagaming
It detracts from the fun for everyone... we are here for a story full of adventure and carefully prepared surprises. Let yourself and everybody else have those surprises. This is not about winning the game. The game is the journey.
On min-maxing
It has its place and it can be fun... in fact, leaning into those dump stats makes for amazing ROLEPLAY moments. I run character driven games, so I would rather you built around the person than around the sheet.
On rules disputes
I listen to your side, make a ruling in the moment based on my understanding of the rules in context, and I am happy to pick the conversation back up between games if you want to go deeper. I have never had a rules argument split one of my tables, but I have heard the horror stories.
On silly voices
My table is a safe place to try out voices, accents and talking in character. Nobody is required to. As for mine, be prepared for MANY voiced characters. I lead by example.
On what I ask of you
Come in knowing we are all here for a collaborative experience, and that it is everybody's job to make sure everybody else is having a good time.
The moment I love most
When a player suddenly starts speaking in character for the first time.
Seat pricing
Pick a tier, then pick a pace
Billed monthly through Ko-fi. Every tier holds your seat at the same table, with the same group, for as long as you want it.
Every tier includes
A reserved seat in your campaign
Voiced NPCs
Foundry VTT with dynamic lighting, HD maps, scene art and tokens
Four hours, start to finish, in D&D or any other system I run, from Honey Heist to Call of Cthulhu. Birthdays, bar and bat mitzvahs, holiday parties, bachelor parties, hen nights, or any other night worth turning into an event. No subscription, no campaign commitment.
Each credit is good for a free one-shot later, whenever you want to cash it in. Every tier comes with a yearly allowance, and the higher tiers come with more.
The character art
Every tier includes a commissioned piece of your character each year, drawn by hand. The higher the tier, the more of your character gets drawn.
Coaching for game masters
Anyone can become a great Game Master.
The skills are learnable, and most of them are not about the rules.
A one-on-one hour works as a diagnostic. You send me what keeps going sideways at your table before we meet, and we spend the hour on that. Some of the topics I have coached GMs on:
Every NPC coming out in their own unique voice.
Bringing your table back from banter and into the story again.
Adapting a published module to fit your vision and make it fit your players perfectly.
Backstories that went in the file after session one and never came out.
What it takes to improvise successfully when players ask questions or go places you didn't expect.
Making combat encounters that grab your players by their breastplates and don't let go.
Group classes follow a set curriculum with two to four GMs in the room. A lower rate per hour, and you get to hear how other people's tables break.
Realm Hero and Legendary Hero seats get the member rates automatically.
A game session shows you how your team actually behaves under uncertainty. You see who steps up when the plan falls apart and who waits to be asked.
Your group plays a short adventure built for people who have never touched a twenty-sided die. Afterward I run a debrief that ties specific moments from the game back to how your team talks to each other and makes decisions at work.
Online, or in person around metro Atlanta. I quote per group, because headcount and format change the work.
A story-driven program for young players. The game does the teaching: kids practice speaking up in a group and working a problem out with other people, because the story will not move until they do.
I am building the Academy so neurodivergent and neurotypical kids can sit at the same table and both get something out of it.
Enrollment has not opened yet. Join the interest list and you will hear about it before anyone else.
$30 a session, billed monthly at $130, for anybody with a valid student ID. Weekly, weekday daytime, six players, same production as every other table I run.
Your game master
Hi, I'm Joel.
Three friends on a bedroom floor in 1988, papers and crayons and six-sided dice everywhere. One of them, me, frantically drawing dungeon corridors, two big-nosed trollish things and a lizard with a lion's head, scratching through them every time somebody landed an attack. We pushed Parcheesi tokens around the page. I had seen the red box at a friend's house. I had not actually played the game yet.
I am in my forties now and I still like this imagination game better than any other hobby. A dozen systems have come and gone in that time, from AD&D 2e and GURPS to Fiasco, Open Legend and the odd round of Honey Heist. I went professional in 2018, and more than 300 players have sat at my tables since.
My wheelhouse is character and story. I put together a good fight as well, but the fight is there to serve the story rather than the other way around.
Three rules at my table. Put others before yourself, which means six people are watching out for your good time instead of just you. Ask the stupid question and get a real answer. Play your character instead of the optimal move, and I will reward you for it every time.
From the table
What players say
Published with each player's permission.
What has meant the most to me is sharing the Eberron game with my son. I brought him into the campaign, and Joel's storytelling has given us something to experience and talk about together. It has helped us bond. I also get to watch my son express himself through his character without feeling judged. Seeing him feel comfortable making choices, taking chances, and being himself at the table is something I'm deeply grateful for.
DustyEberron and Curse of Strahd · player for 6 months
If ever you weren't sure about paying for professional GM services, Joel has proven (at least to this former critic) that there are storytelling experiences worth paying for.
BrittenyEberron and Curse of Strahd · player for 2 years
I once turned down an in-character action because it wasn't something my character would do, and he rewarded that instead of just rewarding combat wins. Some of our best sessions have had almost no combat at all.
LauraEberron · player for 6 months
As a Gamemaster myself I hold a high standard for the games I play in and Joel's games have yet to disappoint in more than a year of playing.
Justin MCurse of Strahd · a game master himself
Nothing feels like a stomp and it doesn't feel like we're fighting for our lives every time we roll for initiative. The story feels like a shared story, and it doesn't feel like he's reading just from a module.
TylerPlayer for 4 months
As a beginner of D&D, I really recommend Joel's campaigns to give you a full D&D experience while also giving you room and tips to learn.
NikkiEberron · player, her first campaign
The man can take a chuckling and wise-cracking table straight back into a dramatic scene with such effortless narrative maneuvering that you wouldn't even feel the whiplash of what just happened. Joel not only sets the bar, he'll hand you the 10 foot pole you need to help you clear it.
RJCurse of Strahd · player for 6 months
He is the first and only DM I've ever had post our sessions to a private YouTube channel. It made me feel very professional, like I had to work a little harder on the RP.
RubenPlayer for 6 months
I've seen players come and go, beloved characters die, and villains win in ways the party never thought possible... 11/10, would bring a backup character again.
AllenCurse of Strahd and Eberron · player for 5 years
He is great at creating challenging and intriguing combat as well as doing awesome storytelling descriptions. In addition, he helps foster a supportive environment in his groups. I would highly recommend this GM.
TomPlayer for 2 years
One-shots and private events
He was very inclusive for the newer players, and helped move the game along a good pace. The custom story was unique and engaging.
@TatarusA one-shot with a custom story
Joel is the first great DM I've had the pleasure to be at the table with. He really matches the tone and momentum of the group very well, and has his own fun ways to bring complexity and thought to the game.
@tfowlCurse of Strahd and one-shots · player for 2 months
Players wrote these in their own words. Nothing is edited except obvious typos, and everyone below gave permission to publish their name.
Questions
Before you join
How do I get a seat?
Join the Discord and tell me what kind of game you are after. Open seats get posted there, and I will match you to a table whose schedule works with yours.
What do I need to play?
A computer with a current browser, a headset or microphone, and a Discord account. Foundry runs in the browser, voice runs on Zoom, and the table shares a D&D Beyond library... so there is nothing for you to buy.
How long is a session?
Campaign sessions run three to four hours. One-shots and private events run four hours, start to finish.
What happens if I miss a session?
Let me know at least 24 hours ahead if you can. Your seat is yours either way, and your banked game credits cover a free one-shot later. If you are absent, I run your character in a support role during combat, basic attacks and tactics, so the party is not down a body and nothing happens to your character that you would not have chosen.
Life happens, and everybody gets a grace absence for the times it happens without warning. The one thing I ask is that you tell me, because I build each session around the whole party and last minute rewrites are the part of this job that shows.
What is a game credit?
Think of it as a banked game. Every tier comes with an allowance each year, from four at Folk Hero up to twenty-four on the weekly Legendary tier, and whenever you want to cash one in it pays for a free one-shot. You decide when to spend them.
How do you handle difficult content?
Every campaign opens with a session zero where the group sets lines and veils. They hold for the whole campaign, and anybody can raise a new one at any point, during a session or in DMs afterward. No explanation needed.
If something lands wrong mid-session, raise your hand and I stop the game. From there we usually do one of three things: fade to black and I summarize where that leaves the story, rewind a short way and take it a different direction, or take five and come back to it.
The fine print
How cancelling works
01Cancelling your seat. Cancel any time on Ko-fi. Your seat runs to the end of the month you have paid for, and nothing is charged after that. Partial months are not refunded, since the seat was held and the prep was already done.
02Missing a session. Tell me and tell your group. Your seat stays yours, and your banked game credits turn into a free one-shot whenever you want to use one.
03Sessions I cancel. Six a year are built into your subscription, which covers sick days and time off. Past those six, anything I cancel gets rescheduled rather than skipped.
04When the technology fails. If something on my end breaks and we cannot play, we reschedule. That one is on me, not on your month.
05One-shots and private events. Paid on the day of the event.
