February is Dungeon Master Appreciation Month. Although I tend to be the DM more often than I’m a player, I have had the good fortune to play under some great DMs over the years. Throughout February I’m writing about a few DMs I’ve had, the best of the best, and sharing stories about what I found most interesting and memorable about them. This is my way of reminding them how good they are at what they do and showing my appreciation for fellow DMs.
Today I’m going to tell you a little bit about DM Monty (a.k.a. Steampunked) and why he’s an outstanding DM. I met Monty at my FLGS when I started playing Living Forgotten Realms shortly after 4e was released. He was a fellow player and I was always fascinated by how much careful thought he put into building and developing his characters. He was an optimizer who always looked for the best way to get the most out of his PC. As we met other players at our FLGS we were both invited to join a newly forming home game and for the next two years we played side-by-side week after week.
One night at our new home game someone started talking about the classic Gary Gygax super-dungeon adventure, the Tomb of Horrors. By then a 4e conversion of the original had been released as reward for public play DMs and there was a 4e hardcover that was positioned as a sequel to the original. DM Monty said he wanted to run the Tomb of Horrors as a 4e adventure and try to make it as deadly and fun as the original had been for 1e D&D. I immediately expressed an interest to be in that game.
