About the Halfling Master

My name is Derek Bizier, and I have been playing games of imagination as long as I can remember. I have been Role-playing ever since grade school with friends before we knew that there was a nifty game called Dungeon and whatever. While I never officially played in a tabletop RPG until college, I read and looked at many versions of ttrpgs leading up to my first game experience where I learned to love all those funky dice.

Unfortunately after I graduated from college I lost ties with most of the people playing the games I had come to love, however, I found solace in actual play podcasts. Critical Hit, Greetings Adventurers (then titled Drunks and Dragons), The Adventure Zone, The Glass Canon Podcast, Friends at the Table, and many more over the years that have come and gone for me. These are just the tip of the iceberg of the podcasts I’ve listened to over the years.

All the while loo I looked to scratch that itch, when an old friend from college asked if I wanted to play in a game he was messing around with. This game was a Black Hack, Maze of Blue Medusa game (before all the crap went down with he who shall not be named). This old friend introduced me to the OSR and since then I have looked for, collected and read almost as many rule sets as there are stars in the night’s sky, or at least it feels that way sometimes.

I have since taken over the group for our weekly meetings and while we do on occasion play board games or Magic the Gathering, we mostly play fantasy and sci fi RPGs. We are a rather small group currently but we have fun.

I have written for the FKR zines In Play and Neverending Drachenschwanz, contributed to the hit Kickstarter Harrowings 3: Muspelhell, and am working on a few other projects at any given time.

I specialize in rules interpretation and as an avid play-tester I work to use the rules in a way that will help propel the play experience of both players and referees. If you ever want any consulting on the topic of rules or are looking to get a game reviewed or maybe just looked at I am more than willing to help out, just contact me and we can talk.

Since 2018 I have moved into schools, first as an Ed Tech 3 / Paraprofessional / Teacher’s Aide and now as a 8th Grade Integrated Studies teacher. I have offered children a gateway into the hobby of Table Top gaming. I run a group weekly and also have taught miniature painting and refereeing to students over the years.

And to clear the air… Yes, Halfling’s are in fact my favorite.