Melody [0:00]
The Game Master Certification Organization welcomes you to our podcast series featuring interview excerpts! For the next few episodes, we have the pleasure of chatting with a game master with quite an interesting name: Charles the Sinister Storyteller. At the time of this interview, Charles has been running seven games a week! I’m your host – Melody Rainelle. So, without further ado, let’s meet our guest! Charles, would you like to introduce yourself?

Charles [0:32]
Hello, my name is Charles. I go by The Sinister Storyteller online, and I like to run games.

Melody [0:39]
Thank you so much. Would you please tell us about your moniker and how you selected it, and maybe about the different ways you tell stories?

Charles [0:47]
So firstly, I go by The Sinister Storyteller... now. I've had some soft rebranding, a couple times trying to figure out what I want my name to be. And you know, depending on the game that you play there's a different kind of name for the person running the game. So like in D&D it's Dungeon Master, in Pathfinder its Game Master, in Call of Cthulhu its Keeper, Delta Green its Handler - all, you know, each game... or many games have their own unique name for the person running the game. Well, I decided to call myself Storyteller, to really emphasize the fact that, like, yeah, it's a game, but I'm more interested in the story over the rules. Like we'll use rules, enough to tell a consistent story. The Sinister part came, partly because of alliteration reasons - Sinister Storyteller has like a good little bounce to it - but also horror is my preferred genre. So even when I'm running games that are in the fantasy genre, I tend to skew a little bit more toward scary, rather than pulpy; and as far as like, what types of stories I'm telling, I mean, the mechanics, the game system doesn't necessarily dictate what kind of story you tell. You can run a high octane bank heist adventure in Pathfinder. You could run a deadly astronaut space disaster scenario in Call of Cthulhu. It's all just math. And granted, each game has a preconceived notion of the kind of game generally that's going to be told with that system, but I don't necessarily really think that that's... well, it's not a hard and fast rule. Like yeah, when I run Pathfinder it's typically fantasy. When I run Delta Green, it's more on the realistic side rather than not. But then again, I also do other games that have interesting mechanics that I can use to spice up my Pathfinder games; there have been elements I've ripped out of 13th Age, which is another D20-based system. I've ripped some stuff out of there to use in my Pathfinder games. I've ripped some stuff out of the Alien RPG, to use in some of my fantasy games. So, I'm really am not nailed down to like - Pathfinder can only be Pathfinder, when I play it. It's all about: What can I do to tell the best story in the system that they want to use to play the story?

Melody [3:29]
Awesome. That’s a great point – the art of storytelling is definitely interwoven within the fabric of being a game master for tabletop role playing games. So, what do you like most about being a game master? 

Charles [3:43]
Well, I've always liked to read, and I think gaming is almost an interactive... well, maybe it's not so much an interactive reading, but I've always loved to read. I've loved stories, twists, and moments that make me gasp out loud. And the thing I like about running games is that I get to facilitate that for others. Just the telling of stories is really, really enjoyable for me.

Melody [4:13]
That’s fantastic. I’m sure you find that the enthusiasm you show with your storytelling rubs off on the groups you play with too. Next question: How did you learn the game?

Charles [4:24]
I learned by being a player first. Probably when I was about 15, my buddy Cory, who was a few years older than me, got some of his friends together and included myself, and we started running some D&D... Third Edition? I don't remember if it was third or if we started out with 3.5, but this would have been back in like, '95-'96, somewhere in that area. I know that we... we played 3.5 More than third, if, again if we ever even played third. I honestly can't even remember that far back. But then, I played in his group for a while; we played a couple different games we played some Earthdawn and Shadowrun, a couple different genres of games, and then I graduated high school, and joined the military and, you know, everybody kind of moved away from one another and then I missed being around a group of friends, like when I was playing with Cory so I decided to run a game for my Marine Corps buddies, and we did that for a couple years and then got out of the Marine Corps and started another group, and then I played with those people and then I moved again and I started another group, and now I just find it's easier to run games online because it doesn't matter if you move cities or states or even countries - odds are you'll probably still be able to play with the same contiguous people, more or less, in an online environment.

Melody [6:02]
Yeah, the internet has definitely been a convenient means to connect people around the world - like our previous interview with Bo from the Guild of Navigators showed as well. Tell us, please, how can people find you online?

Charles [6:17]
People can find me... You can search for me on Discord. You can also go to startplaying.games, and you can search for me there - I go by Charles on that website.

Melody [6:32]
Wonderful! Thank you for the introduction, Charles! We look forward to chatting with you more over the next few episodes.

To our listeners - please check the podcast description for details on how to connect with Charles the Sinister Storyteller! Our next episode will dive into how Charles handles mistakes and a little more on a unique approach to storytelling, so stay tuned! Follow us to receive notifications when new podcasts are released. For more podcasts and information, check out our website: https://www.gamemastercertification.org/. Like what you’ve heard here? Hit the share button to help us spread the word! Thank you for listening!