Michael Eshleman earns his 5th GM star!


Pathfinder Society

5/5 RPG Superstar 2012 Top 4

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Congratulations to Michael Eshleman for earning his 5th GM star! 146 GM credits were earned within the past year as seen in this chart. North Carolina is blessed to have such a dedicated volunteer.

The Exchange 5/5 RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16

Congratulations, Michael. I hope to sit at your table some day.

Of the 150 or so tables you've run, which has been your favorite, and why? What lesson do you wish all GMs would learn?

4/5 5/5 **

Congrats, Mike! Time to make room for another addition on top of the mountain, just have to kick these character corpses out of the way...

Sovereign Court 5/5 5/55/5

Way to go, Eshleman!

Shadow Lodge 4/5 *** Venture-Captain, Michigan—Mt. Pleasant

Congrats Michael! It feels good, doesn't it?

Silver Crusade 4/5 5/55/55/5 RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8

Chris Mortika wrote:

Congratulations, Michael. I hope to sit at your table some day.

Of the 150 or so tables you've run, which has been your favorite, and why? What lesson do you wish all GMs would learn?

That would be great Chris! I'll probably be at GenCon again next year running far too many games.

Well, it isn't quite 150 tables. There are some modules in there (I'm running Skull & Shackles, and I've run We Be Goblins and Crypt of the Everflame a few times).

What was my favorite table? Probably a late-night table of Sniper in the Deep I ran at a friend's house (for an adult crowd) where I had to make up some back stories for the thugs who surrendered to the PCs in the first fight. Favorite quote from that scenario? The cleric of Sarenrae is questioning the thugs to figure out if they can be let go or not (after their boss has been cut down before he can act), and asks them if they have committed any crimes. One of the thugs shakes his heads. One says, "Well, I done killed some folks but I reckon they had it coming." The third thug timidly raises his hand and says, "Does rape count?" Two of the thugs were let go, I'll let your imagination inform you about what happened to the third.

What lessons do I wish GMs would learn? That depends. There are a lot of different styles and personalities behind the screen. The number one lesson is make sure the players have a good time. I find myself getting lost in the weeds on that one myself, so it is good to keep in the forefront of one's mind.

There are certain styles of GMing that I dislike (e.g. the players have to pry every little piece of information out of the GM like pulling teeth). I also dislike adversarial GMing. I personally root for the players and applaud them (sometimes quite literally) when they do well or get out of a tough scrape, and I wince when the dice turn against them or I score a lucky critical against them.

Well, I guess that means this I can retire from running PFS? Right? ;-)

Silver Crusade 4/5 5/55/55/5 RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8

Eric Clingenpeel wrote:
Congrats Michael! It feels good, doesn't it?

I hold this among the highest of all of my pretend accomplishments! ;-)

The Exchange 5/5

You've gotta have a fun crowd of players to GM that much and not get tired out. And a cool VC. Congratulations Michael. I doubt you will slow down any time soon--all the better for your players.

When's that Steve Miller guy going to hit 5 Stars?? He is sure taking his sweet time...

5/5 RPG Superstar 2012 Top 4

Doug Miles wrote:

You've gotta have a fun crowd of players to GM that much and not get tired out. And a cool VC. Congratulations Michael. I doubt you will slow down any time soon--all the better for your players.

When's that Steve Miller guy going to hit 5 Stars?? He is sure taking his sweet time...

Eshleman and I were tied right around the end of GenCon. Then he organized and GMed at AtomiCon, GMed a bunch at Dragon*Con, and has continued to volunteer at his store. Since GenCon I've ... built a swingset?

Scarab Sages 4/5

Way to go!

Shadow Lodge 4/5 5/5 *

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Steve Miller wrote:
Eshleman and I were tied right around the end of GenCon. Then he organized and GMed at AtomiCon, GMed a bunch at Dragon*Con, and has continued to volunteer at his store. Since GenCon I've ... built a swingset?

Build A Swingset sounds like a secondary success condition worth using.

Congrats Michael. I remember playing my first PFS game, We Be Goblins!, with you at the Fantasy Gamer's Conclave. Maybe one day I'll gather up enough stars to high five you on that glorious 5-Star Mountain.

Note:
5-Star Mountain sounds like a setting worth using.

Sovereign Court 5/5 Owner - Enchanted Grounds, President/Owner - Enchanted Grounds

Congrats, Michael. Keep up the fun, and only retire from GMing when the weeds get too thick.

Silver Crusade 5/5

congratulations Michael.

Steve my friend don't be too hard on yourself.

:
Is your son happy on the swing set you built him?

It seems to me that you do allot to keep the comunity down there together

Grand Lodge 5/5

Congrats!

Grand Lodge 5/5

As two of my most memorable OP moments involve Mike here (one as a GM and one as a player) I think he's more than worthy of the title. Good show sir, good show!

The Exchange 2/5

Congratulations--very, very well deserved. :)

2/5

*golf clap*

Shadow Lodge 4/5

Congratulations and welcome to 5-star mountain!

We just finished the extradimensional expansion, so we have plenty of room for all of the newcomers.

Welcome to the club.

Grand Lodge 5/5 * Venture-Captain, New Zealand—Dunedin

Congrats, Eshleman! May his name be spoken in hushed tones across North Carolina and beyond......

Silver Crusade 5/5

Michael Eshleman wrote:
Chris Mortika wrote:

Congratulations, Michael. I hope to sit at your table some day.

Of the 150 or so tables you've run, which has been your favorite, and why? What lesson do you wish all GMs would learn?

That would be great Chris! I'll probably be at GenCon again next year running far too many games.

Well, it isn't quite 150 tables. There are some modules in there (I'm running Skull & Shackles, and I've run We Be Goblins and Crypt of the Everflame a few times).

What was my favorite table? Probably a late-night table of Sniper in the Deep I ran at a friend's house (for an adult crowd) where I had to make up some back stories for the thugs who surrendered to the PCs in the first fight. Favorite quote from that scenario? The cleric of Sarenrae is questioning the thugs to figure out if they can be let go or not (after their boss has been cut down before he can act), and asks them if they have committed any crimes. One of the thugs shakes his heads. One says, "Well, I done killed some folks but I reckon they had it coming." The third thug timidly raises his hand and says, "Does rape count?" Two of the thugs were let go, I'll let your imagination inform you about what happened to the third.

What lessons do I wish GMs would learn? That depends. There are a lot of different styles and personalities behind the screen. The number one lesson is make sure the players have a good time. I find myself getting lost in the weeds on that one myself, so it is good to keep in the forefront of one's mind.

There are certain styles of GMing that I dislike (e.g. the players have to pry every little piece of information out of the GM like pulling teeth). I also dislike adversarial GMing. I personally root for the players and applaud them (sometimes quite literally) when they do well or get out of a tough scrape, and I wince when the dice turn against them or I score a lucky critical against them.

Well, I guess that means this I can retire from running PFS? Right? ;-)

Your murderous thug sounds like a good candidate for the society. ;). Congrats man, see ya at SCARAB

1/5

Eshleman's enthusiasm and stamina for society play is awesome. If we could all be a tenth as crazy as him I think that research in the triangle would grind to a halt because of so much pathfinder going on.

Good Job Michael - congrats

Dark Archive 3/5

Congrats! Keep on make believin'!

Sczarni 4/5 5/55/5 ****

Congrats Michael, Great Job.

Silver Crusade 4/5 5/55/55/5 RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8

Michael Meunier wrote:
As two of my most memorable OP moments involve Mike here (one as a GM and one as a player) I think he's more than worthy of the title. Good show sir, good show!

I'm curious to hear what those moments were!

Liberty's Edge 3/5 Venture-Agent, Australia—QLD

GRats

Silver Crusade 4/5 5/55/55/5 RPG Superstar 2013 Top 8

Nicholas Fees-Baumeister wrote:
Steve Miller wrote:
Eshleman and I were tied right around the end of GenCon. Then he organized and GMed at AtomiCon, GMed a bunch at Dragon*Con, and has continued to volunteer at his store. Since GenCon I've ... built a swingset?

Build A Swingset sounds like a secondary success condition worth using.

Congrats Michael. I remember playing my first PFS game, We Be Goblins!, with you at the Fantasy Gamer's Conclave. Maybe one day I'll gather up enough stars to high five you on that glorious 5-Star Mountain.

Note:
5-Star Mountain sounds like a setting worth using.

As of Gen Con you made it Nick! ::high fives::

I'm just waiting for your forum tags to catch up!

Scarab Sages 5/5 5/5 *** Venture-Captain, Washington—Spokane

Congratulations and thank you!!

5/5 *****

Congratulations!

Liberty's Edge 4/5 5/5

Congrats Mike, maybe you'll play at a few more of my tables in the future.

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