It's time once again for another episode of Nice Job, DM! where we talk to DMs about their day jobs.
Today's guest is so cool, if I were a DM-less player, I would never stop calling him. Read on to feel the same...
Commissioned by a player from artist Motolog
Can you please introduce yourself and your day job?
Name's Brad Janes. I've lived in Illinois most of my life, starting in the Chicago suburbs, attending college in Bloomington, and currently live in central/southern part of the state. I have worked for WolframAlpha, holding many different roles over the last 16ish years. I have been a remote manager of a software team for nearly half of that time, though with AI and other issues, that role might be changing soon. The content my team is primarily responsible for is their math educational tools including automated step-by-step solution walkthroughs for solving math problems.
How did you get into that line of work, and what’s your favorite thing about it?
I fell into software after thinking I was going to be a teacher - I still teach math, just in a more indirect way via writing programs - and now, managing/supporting/championing my team to do the same. I enjoy the company culture and work-life balance that it provides. It might not pay as competitively as the silicon valley types, but I also am not crunching on deadlines like them either. Also, I am in tech, but I get to feel like I am making a difference in people's lives. Hearing "you helped me get through Calculus" never gets old.
What advice would you give to people who are interested in having that job?
Phew, in this economy? I don't even know what to say. The old adage of "The easiest way to get hired at a company is if your uncle is the CEO" may be more true now than ever. Especially with AI doing the majority of both writing and reading resumes - it seems very hard to break through now. For this job in particular, I was hired in mid 2010, right as companies were starting to consider hiring entry level positions again after the 2008 housing crash. I have seen many people leave for different, higher paying jobs, but I always had a good management team that I felt I was constantly learning from. And each time I started to feel stagnant in my then current role, something else opened up and I was able to get a new position with new responsibilities. *I am very lucky* - I know there are lots of people who have worked at the same place for decades and never received more that a few percent raise each year (if that).
That said, I guess I have some points of advice:
1. Use all your contacts. Friends, classmates, family. Go to job fairs. Get the certifications. Utilize resources at your school/library/local community college/local business groups.
Phew, in this economy? I don't even know what to say. The old adage of "The easiest way to get hired at a company is if your uncle is the CEO" may be more true now than ever. Especially with AI doing the majority of both writing and reading resumes - it seems very hard to break through now. For this job in particular, I was hired in mid 2010, right as companies were starting to consider hiring entry level positions again after the 2008 housing crash. I have seen many people leave for different, higher paying jobs, but I always had a good management team that I felt I was constantly learning from. And each time I started to feel stagnant in my then current role, something else opened up and I was able to get a new position with new responsibilities. *I am very lucky* - I know there are lots of people who have worked at the same place for decades and never received more that a few percent raise each year (if that).
That said, I guess I have some points of advice:
1. Use all your contacts. Friends, classmates, family. Go to job fairs. Get the certifications. Utilize resources at your school/library/local community college/local business groups.
2. Be willing to relocate. There are so many opportunities in unique places that sound scary or boring, but they are also full of people, and you can really make it anywhere. Moving when you're young is WAY easier than moving when you're old or married or have kids or health issues.
3. Don't cut ties. Even if your current job sucks, keep friendly with coworkers and management (if possible). You never know when some random contact might turn into an in at a company.
When and why did you start GMing, and for what systems?
When and why did you start GMing, and for what systems?
I had dabbled in playing various systems at various times in my life, but had never considered running. I was a big fan of the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game when it was a going product. I got involved in their small online community and even volunteered to run demos at Gen Con in 2019. As part of the compensation package, I received the then new Pathfinder Second Edition Core rulebook. Then covid happened, and I reconnected through Discord with some old college friends who had started up a regular Among Us game night. As that was getting stale, some of us decided we wanted to try to get an ongoing campaign of...something. I volunteered to try running PF2E since I had the materials already and was familiar with much of the lore from the card game. The group enjoyed the game and we've been playing weekly(ish) in a single campaign for about 5 years now. Aside from a few one offs for this group and other friends and family, this is the only game I've really run - though I have incorporated some concepts from other games (like PbtA Clocks as well as some homebrew mechanics).
Are there any campaigns, modules, or one-shots you’d recommend?
The Paizo published adventures and scenarios are, on the whole, very high quality. I have found them to be just the right amount of content that I can run them vanilla out of the box, or I can spent some time fleshing out characters, locations, challenges, etc. PF2E also has the tools and community available to help immensely, and people are very open and welcome, and will share everything from general questions and advice to art/tokens/maps/prep/strategies or even just GM (horror)stories. There are discords and subreddits for individual adventures. Community around these semi-shared experiences is definitely a benefit of running published adventures that I don't see discussed as much. We've played through all of The Fall of Plaguestone, The Slithering, several Pathfinder Society scenarios, and are literally on the final battle of Fists of the Ruby Phoenix. All recommended.
Another thing that needs shouted out is Foundry VTT. It has taken a lot of the crunchiness of the system and automated so much. I've used other VTT products and they all pale in comparison to Foundry. Setup, customization, automation, ux, everything is just so perfect for running a game online. As a bonus, their financial model extremely generous (one time purchase per license instead of yet another monthly subscription that we all have too many of). It is so good, I even use it when we are at a real table playing with minis - if just to help keep track of status effects, etc. I am interested in their in-development game Crucible which seems designed from the ground up to be a VTT based system.
My favorite part of our bi-annual trip to Gen Con however, is trying new systems. I think like with many things, experiencing different systems is a good way to learn, and will make you a better gm and player, as there are always different aspect, elements, and even points of view that bring out a different element of ttrpgs. I have especially enjoyed Dread and Avatar as systems that have surprising depth to their at-the-surface simple rule sets.
What is your favorite part of GMing?
I enjoy hanging out with my friends. I enjoy teasing them and challenging them, even if they get a little upset from time to time. I enjoy watching them use _their_ creativity to overcome challenges in unexpected ways. I enjoy the crunchy mechanics and being able to come up with puzzles and encounters - or ways to modify published encounters to be more interesting. The thing that surprised me the most is how much GMing has allowed me to flex some creativity muscles that I don't think have gotten much exercise since I would play with my ninja turtle action figures when I was a kid. Now that takes the form of creative writing, including and performing bad rap verses tailored to my table's characters. My absolute favorite part of running with this crew is when one of the players steps up and does something extraordinary. One player commissioned artwork for all of the players and me. One player wrote and recorded an in character gangsta rap (seriously). There are also little moments where players are creative and catch me off guard, or add to the world we're collectively building in new and unexpected ways.
On a scale of The Witcher to Monty Python, how silly do your games tend to get?
I object to the question a bit, because The Witcher (and all good dramatic stories) do have some levity and sillyness to them - and they are better for it. You can't grimdark all the time. I think we fall in line closer to the witcher in character, while ooc conversations can veer towards Monty Python. Our discord side chat is very meme heavy.
Can you tell us your best memory from the table?
The characters had a younger sidekick style character that was a huge fan of them, and wanted to help. She joined in on an unexpectedly difficult encounter and she ended up getting killed. The party were able to get her body in stasis, via some quick creative thinking and use of character powers. Hearing one of the players whisper a helpless "no..." was the closest I've gotten to making the players cry, and it was a really somber powerful moment. Plus it gave them a new side quest to figure out how to bring her back, which led to a bunch of homebrew stuff from me.
Do any skills you use for your day job help you when you GM?
Definitely people and conflict management. Math. Some programming skills for using/updating macros and other custom things in Foundry. Also, and I don't want to sound pretentious, but there's not any getting around that. I went to a liberal arts college, so while my major and focus was math and sciences, I also took classes in philosophy and Shakespeare, and learned how to write. I think this multifaceted education has helped in uncountable ways both at my job and in creative endeavors like running Pathfinder.
What advice or house rules would you share with new GMs?
A lot of it is common stuff. Be a fan of the players. Play to find out what happens. Try to "Yes and", or "No but", especially in unexpected situations. It is always ok to say "that was cool but unexpected. Let's take 5 so I can figure out what that means". Let or encourage the players to be co-creators of the world - let their suggestions or "what if"s be elements. PF2E specific - trust the math. Don't be afraid to improvise or houserule small things, but the system as a whole is pretty tight. Reward the behavior you want to see - I had a rough time early on getting them used to rolling knowledge checks on tricky/puzzly monsters, so I both buffed the outcomes of said knowledge checks and also rewarded them in game with Hero Points - Pathfinder's in game reward system. Relatedly, if players are wanting to explore certain things that you haven't prepared for, allow them to do that, and come up with rewards - example is that I had a character who followed an inventor god and always talked about tinkering on some new little craft projects during downtime, so I granted them a free bonus archetype feat.
What’s your dice situation, either when playing or GMing? How do you choose which sets to use?
I love dice, current favorite set is one that lights up when you roll that my kids got me for xmas. I enjoy fancy ones, but am a big proponent of readibility - being colorblind, some combos tend to be extra difficult. If I can't read a die from across the table, I don't care if it's made of obsidian or whatever, I'm not going to use it. In Foundry, we use the incredible "Dice so Nice" module which lets each player customize their dice, and will even change dice based on moves (ie, fireball damage dice are pulsing reds and oranges), which is a lot of fun, and at least imitates having real dice on the table.
Are there any campaigns, modules, or one-shots you’d recommend?
The Paizo published adventures and scenarios are, on the whole, very high quality. I have found them to be just the right amount of content that I can run them vanilla out of the box, or I can spent some time fleshing out characters, locations, challenges, etc. PF2E also has the tools and community available to help immensely, and people are very open and welcome, and will share everything from general questions and advice to art/tokens/maps/prep/strategies or even just GM (horror)stories. There are discords and subreddits for individual adventures. Community around these semi-shared experiences is definitely a benefit of running published adventures that I don't see discussed as much. We've played through all of The Fall of Plaguestone, The Slithering, several Pathfinder Society scenarios, and are literally on the final battle of Fists of the Ruby Phoenix. All recommended.
Another thing that needs shouted out is Foundry VTT. It has taken a lot of the crunchiness of the system and automated so much. I've used other VTT products and they all pale in comparison to Foundry. Setup, customization, automation, ux, everything is just so perfect for running a game online. As a bonus, their financial model extremely generous (one time purchase per license instead of yet another monthly subscription that we all have too many of). It is so good, I even use it when we are at a real table playing with minis - if just to help keep track of status effects, etc. I am interested in their in-development game Crucible which seems designed from the ground up to be a VTT based system.
My favorite part of our bi-annual trip to Gen Con however, is trying new systems. I think like with many things, experiencing different systems is a good way to learn, and will make you a better gm and player, as there are always different aspect, elements, and even points of view that bring out a different element of ttrpgs. I have especially enjoyed Dread and Avatar as systems that have surprising depth to their at-the-surface simple rule sets.
What is your favorite part of GMing?
I enjoy hanging out with my friends. I enjoy teasing them and challenging them, even if they get a little upset from time to time. I enjoy watching them use _their_ creativity to overcome challenges in unexpected ways. I enjoy the crunchy mechanics and being able to come up with puzzles and encounters - or ways to modify published encounters to be more interesting. The thing that surprised me the most is how much GMing has allowed me to flex some creativity muscles that I don't think have gotten much exercise since I would play with my ninja turtle action figures when I was a kid. Now that takes the form of creative writing, including and performing bad rap verses tailored to my table's characters. My absolute favorite part of running with this crew is when one of the players steps up and does something extraordinary. One player commissioned artwork for all of the players and me. One player wrote and recorded an in character gangsta rap (seriously). There are also little moments where players are creative and catch me off guard, or add to the world we're collectively building in new and unexpected ways.
On a scale of The Witcher to Monty Python, how silly do your games tend to get?
I object to the question a bit, because The Witcher (and all good dramatic stories) do have some levity and sillyness to them - and they are better for it. You can't grimdark all the time. I think we fall in line closer to the witcher in character, while ooc conversations can veer towards Monty Python. Our discord side chat is very meme heavy.
Can you tell us your best memory from the table?
The characters had a younger sidekick style character that was a huge fan of them, and wanted to help. She joined in on an unexpectedly difficult encounter and she ended up getting killed. The party were able to get her body in stasis, via some quick creative thinking and use of character powers. Hearing one of the players whisper a helpless "no..." was the closest I've gotten to making the players cry, and it was a really somber powerful moment. Plus it gave them a new side quest to figure out how to bring her back, which led to a bunch of homebrew stuff from me.
Do any skills you use for your day job help you when you GM?
Definitely people and conflict management. Math. Some programming skills for using/updating macros and other custom things in Foundry. Also, and I don't want to sound pretentious, but there's not any getting around that. I went to a liberal arts college, so while my major and focus was math and sciences, I also took classes in philosophy and Shakespeare, and learned how to write. I think this multifaceted education has helped in uncountable ways both at my job and in creative endeavors like running Pathfinder.
What advice or house rules would you share with new GMs?
A lot of it is common stuff. Be a fan of the players. Play to find out what happens. Try to "Yes and", or "No but", especially in unexpected situations. It is always ok to say "that was cool but unexpected. Let's take 5 so I can figure out what that means". Let or encourage the players to be co-creators of the world - let their suggestions or "what if"s be elements. PF2E specific - trust the math. Don't be afraid to improvise or houserule small things, but the system as a whole is pretty tight. Reward the behavior you want to see - I had a rough time early on getting them used to rolling knowledge checks on tricky/puzzly monsters, so I both buffed the outcomes of said knowledge checks and also rewarded them in game with Hero Points - Pathfinder's in game reward system. Relatedly, if players are wanting to explore certain things that you haven't prepared for, allow them to do that, and come up with rewards - example is that I had a character who followed an inventor god and always talked about tinkering on some new little craft projects during downtime, so I granted them a free bonus archetype feat.
What’s your dice situation, either when playing or GMing? How do you choose which sets to use?
I love dice, current favorite set is one that lights up when you roll that my kids got me for xmas. I enjoy fancy ones, but am a big proponent of readibility - being colorblind, some combos tend to be extra difficult. If I can't read a die from across the table, I don't care if it's made of obsidian or whatever, I'm not going to use it. In Foundry, we use the incredible "Dice so Nice" module which lets each player customize their dice, and will even change dice based on moves (ie, fireball damage dice are pulsing reds and oranges), which is a lot of fun, and at least imitates having real dice on the table.
Final Q: dice tower, rolling tray, or raw table?
I nearly always rawdog it - especially when rolling a pile of dice. I only recently got into dice towers. They are fun, but I like to save them for pivotal rolls (think D20 box of doom).
I nearly always rawdog it - especially when rolling a pile of dice. I only recently got into dice towers. They are fun, but I like to save them for pivotal rolls (think D20 box of doom).