Back by popular demand, welcome again to Nice Job, DM! where we interview cool DMs with cool day jobs.
Today, we're chatting with Michael "Miko" Robinson. He's known online as The_Okayest_GM, but at home he's The_Bestest_Dad. Employed in the second-oldest profession, stay-at-home dad-ing has been a game-changer for Miko, and has spurred on his love of tabletop!
Formal introductions, please!
My name is Miko, otherwise I am known as The_Okayest_GM in social/internet spaces. I like to tell people that I am a Dad, gamer, data-ninja, creator, producer, and storyteller. I had my first TTRPG experience as a freshman in high school and have been playing and running games ever since.
My name is Miko, otherwise I am known as The_Okayest_GM in social/internet spaces. I like to tell people that I am a Dad, gamer, data-ninja, creator, producer, and storyteller. I had my first TTRPG experience as a freshman in high school and have been playing and running games ever since.
Hello, Miko! Tell us, how do you spend your days?
My full-time job is a stay-at-home dad to a young man of almost 5 years, but as a side gig I also stream actual play content and am a paid storyteller for both online games and in-person games at one of my local FLGS.
Amazing! What was behind your decision to take all of this on?
Well, the stay-at-home dad thing happened because my wife and I were living abroad and I was unable to work in the local economy because of my visa, so we decided it was good timing to grow our family. All the side gig stuff came about because I am a glutton for punishment and can't abide having a scrap of free time.
What's your favorite part of Dad-ing and GMing?
Being a Dad is an amazing, intimidating, phenomenal, chaotic, rewarding, and mind-blowing experience. My favorite part is definitely the daily surprises that the kiddo can produce, such as today when he and I finished a 1,000-piece transformers puzzle. Yes, I did most of the work, but I was shocked at how good he was with it and just how many pieces he actually put together. As for the storyteller gig, that's just pure fun for me, creating something people enjoy being a part of.
Any advice for future Dads?
None, I have no advice, all parents are just winging it and hoping to do the best they can, lol.
Fair enough! Let's get into tabletop, where did you get your start?
M
y first GMing experience came in the form of D&D, though I very quickly pivoted to other systems of the time, such as Top Secret, Marvel Superheroes, and GURPS. Mainly, I sat behind the screen because my best friend, who was also really into TTRPGs, had a learning disability and found it too difficult. I wanted to play of course, but getting to tell the stories was equally as fun for me because of how much fun it brought him. Nowadays, I look back at that time and realize how much more inclusive I should have been in regards to letting the players be more than participants in the stories, but also be active creators themselves.
Do you have a favorite memory from the table you can share?
One of my favorite table memories is not a single thing, but rather a series of things all for one campaign. I was running an introductory campaign for a group of friends where only one had ever played TTRPGs before. I asked them to each alternate writing journal entries for the group each week, told from their character's perspective. There were 5 players, so no one had to do it more than once a month, but they diligently wrote these journal entries into physical old-school, leather-bound journals. I still have the journals and have read them a few times to reminisce about the game.
Do any of your Dad skills carry over into GMing?
Oh, 100% it is patience. You need ample amounts for both roles.
Ok, no advice for future Dads, but any advice or house rules for future DMs?
I have lots of house rules I have created for my games, and it all depends on the system the GM is running. If we were talking about D&D though, the best house rule I ever created is that I give every PC one free expertise proficiency of their choice. That stems from the notion that a low-level bard can know more about Arcana than a wizard. As an addition to this though, I also make them take what I call a "deficiency", where they choose one skill and that skill is always rolled at disadvantage. They can also never have expertise in that skill, though they can be proficient as per normal rules. This fits a notion that we each have certain skills that no matter how hard we work at it, we just have a hard time picking up.