The Raven Caws is a blog about my interests in table-top roleplaying games (ttrpg): About playing them, running them, designing them, and everything in-between.
Why The Raven Caws? Years ago in some gaming forums, I started using Gunnhrafn as a user name, which is a compound Old Norse word meaning War Raven.
About Me
I’m John, a long-time gammer, academic, technical communicator, spouse, and father. I periodically run games on the Dice & D-pads, Raspy Raven, and One-shot Fridays Discord servers, through Start Playing Games, as well as in-person and online games with friends.
As a GM, I run inclusive, welcoming tables, and I strive to balance play style to players’ interests and to the game system. I approach being a GM as I do an educator: My job is try to provide the best experience I can for each player based on their interests and comfort levels.
I first began playing ttrpgs back in 1982, and started GMing in 1983 or 1984, though not in earnest until 1986. I took a 15-year or so break — life as a graduate student and an adult who moved to five different cities before online gaming other than play-by-post was a thing — and returned to gaming in 2014.
I’m one of those gamers who likes to play and run — and read — a wide variety of ttrpgs. From 1986 to 1993, my regular gaming group ran multiple campaigns of D&D (1e, 2e), Cyberpunk 2020, Marvel Super Heroes, Paranoia, Rolemaster, Skyrealms of Jorune, Shadowrun, and Top Secret. Prior to that, I’d played and/or run Star Frontiers, Gamma World, Champions, Boot Hill, Gangbusters, Conan Roleplaying Game, and others I’m sure I’m forgetting.
I came back to gaming in 2014 when I mentioned I liked reading ttrpg rulebooks for fun, and a friend suggested I check out the forthcoming D&D 5e as a good example of ttrpg rulebooks as technical communication.
Since then, I’ve run or played D&D 5e, Alien RPG, Ars Magica 5e, Call of Cthulhu, CBR+PNK, Cosmic Dark, Coyote & Crow, Cthork Borg, Cthulhu Dark, The Esoterrorists, Fall of Delta Green, Gaen Reach, Mærsung, Monster of the Week, MÖRK BORG, Night’s Black Agents, The Paragon Blade, Pirate Borg, The One Ring 2e, Sanction, Shadow Run, Star Trek Adventures, Swords of the Serpentine, Trail of Cthulhu, Trophy Dark, Trophy Gold, Vaesen, and The Yellow King RPG. And there’s plenty more games I’ve read and are asking to be played.
Occasionally, my academic interests will show up here as well, informing what I write. Those too are rather eclectic: Writing Studies with a specialties in digital rhetoric and technical communication; medieval studies with a focus on Old English, Middle English, and Old Norse language and culture; the history of communication technologies; digital curation; and science fiction and fantasy.