Who is GM Eric?
I am a full-time, professional Game Master.
“So what? What makes GM Eric so good at what he does?”
Passion, experience, and a commitment to deliver the best possible D&D experience
In Cuba, my grandmother had been a seamstress, and my grandfather made dentures prior to the revolution. Once established in the states, my grandmother put together outfits for cheerleader crews of pro sports teams. These ranged from the Cincinnati Bengals, to the Laker Girls, Spurs Silver Dancers, and even the Chinese Olympic Gymnastics team. Their creativity naturally rubbed off on me during my visits to Hialeah, Florida. I also spent a whole year living with them after moving out of my parents’ house. Combined with my parents’ joy of sci-fi, I got into costuming, and LARP. Characters I played ranged from biblical characters to Rambo. Sith Lords to the Jabberwock, and everything in-between. I still have my old Star Trek:TNG command uniform. (it fits my kid now) Making the costumes myself taught me the attention to detail necessary to generate a good result.
My most famous costume was a joint project with my wife,
which was a Cyb’arak (Heros of the Storm) costume.
We were voted in the top 10 world-wide cosplays for 2015. The costume also won first place for the Omaha Comiccon costume contest. Lastly, it was featured in the main library’s art gallery at the University of Nebraska at Omaha for three months.
Due to the way I was raised, I was taught that new experiences and stories are worth more than gold. As such, whenever life has presented an opportunity, I’ve tried to jump on it. It’s because of this, that I have hundreds of crazy, zany, and nearly unbelievable stories of stuff I’ve been through. It’s thanks to my dad’s stubbornness as a videographer and photographer, that I have evidence to back up my stories. (Much to my wife’s amazement each time) I mean, who would believe that I’ve grown a 12 pound zucchini squash that won first prize in the county faire? Or that my dad and I built a 9 foot tall ice-man to prevent local thugs from knocking it down.
Heck, in a single weekend, I met, and hung out, with JJ Abrams (famous film director). Played paintball with William Shatner. Found 13 dollars worth of quarters in a pay phone coin return. Got kicked out of, and banned from a casino with my friend. Was one of only 32 people to be sponsored by Red Bull for a prototype paintball marker tournament (I broke 4 of the prototypes due to intense play…sorry!). I got interviewed for four hours by a reporter for Playboy magazine. (the article never did get published, but the interview did happen!) All of this while staying in an RV with three other guys, a nationally recognized professional painter named Dominick, a private zoo owner/larp organizer that looks like Rob Zombie named Viper Rosenberry, and an ordained minister named William “Billy Bob” Roberts (AKA Reverend Splatter).
I’ve worked for some amazing companies, and on some crazy projects.
These include, in no particular order, and not limited to:
Blizzard Entertainment
University Health System
ServerBeach
The Interpublic Group
DCCI Internet & Network Services
HEB
DCI Communications
Reliable Retail
Pipe Creek Paintball
Knight Watch Games
I’m having a blast providing the best possible gaming, and customer service experience for my players.
We’re all passionate about our characters, the stories we’re playing in, and the adventures being had. If you’re not passionate about it, then why are you playing?
Experience…now this is where it gets interesting…
I was born to a Cuban refugee with a statistics major, and an Air Force Navigator in charge of refueling the SR-71 Blackbird. Math runs in my bloodstream. In fact, at the time I was born, he was refueling the chase planes for the space shuttle’s reentry in 1977. My Cuban grandparents worked for Atari, and as a wedding present, gave my dad an Atari 2600 console. From the time I was brought home from the hospital, until now, I’ve been a gamer all my life. I started playing RPG’s when I was 8 years old, on the playground during recess.
As I normally take a leadership role in whatever I do, I naturally became the Game Master for my small group of friends. That was 37 years ago, and I’m still loving the Game Master role.
That said, I’ve had a lot of experiences outside of RPG’s that have shaped who I am.