Professional Dungeon Master
Shay Atlas picks up the pen. You pick up the dice.
Are you ready to become the hero of your dreams? Your story is about to begin.
Shay Atlas is a professional Dungeon Master who runs D&D 5e games throughout the Chicago, IL area and online on Roll20.
Whether you’ve always wanted to play D&D but don’t know where to start, or you’ve assembled your friends for game night only to realize no one wants to DM the session, Shay will get you rolling.
Shay Atlas provides:
- Session 0 (One-shots get a condensed version before the session)
- Safety tools such as the X-Card and Lines & Veils
- Pre-generated character sheets OR character creation guidance
- Optional D&D 101 call for an overview of D&D 5e rules for new players
- Maps*
- Minis*
- Dice sets
- Pencils, notecards, and rules cheat-sheets
*Some games are run as theater of the mind, without visual aides.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is a D&D session?
Game sessions typically run for 3~4 hours.
What’s the difference between a one-shot and a campaign?
A one-shot is an adventure where players experience a story from start to finish in a single session. A campaign is a longer story taking the same group of characters on an ongoing journey over real-world weeks or months.
I’ve never played D&D before – what can I expect?
Beginners are more than welcome! Shay Atlas offers an optional D&D 101 call before game night where they’ll explain the basics of D&D 5e rules and how to read a character sheet. During the game, Shay Atlas takes care to guide new players through gameplay until they’re comfortable. Questions are always welcome!
I don’t have a group. How can I join a Shay Atlas campaign?
Shay Atlas launches new in-person and online campaigns throughout the year. When new campaigns are open for player recruitment, you’ll want to fill out the campaign application and wait for next steps. Sign up for Shay Atlas’s newsletter to be the first to hear about new campaigns!
Where are games played?
Games are held at venues such as bars or breweries across Chicago, or online through Roll20.
Book a D&D Game
Have you assembled your adventuring party but need a Dungeon Master to run the game? Hire DM Shay Atlas to run your next D&D 5e game in-person or online!
Shay Atlas is available for one-shots or campaigns.
Special Events
Whether you have a birthday, wedding, anniversary, or other special event, DM Shay Atlas will work with you to offer you and your guests a bespoke and customized D&D 5e gaming experience.
What Shay’s Players are Saying
It was such a gift to play with Shay. I feel so spoiled by this experience, its going to be difficult to top.
The worlds [Shay] creates are vivid, well planned and complex or as simplified as you want. They are a terrific improver as well. They are very thoughtful and takes care to make their tables very inclusive and safe. Their vast knowledge and experience allows them to make the game accessible to newbies and immersive for experienced players. Finally they give every player their time to shine. They take time to know your character so that your character’s backstory is woven into the adventure and creates situation where they can use their fun abilities and spells. Obviously, I can’t recommend them highly enough.
Shay did a great job at shining a light on every character, whether PC or NPC, and created such an immersive world for everyone to explore through vibrant description of setting and rich characterization of NPCs. There was a great mix of combat as well as role-playing, and even within combat, PCs got to have memorable interactions that expanded on their character’s background. Not only was the setting a fun one overall… Shay was able to pull in everyone’s backstory to create a truly fun and unique experience for everyone at the table within a very short timeframe.
Shay Atlas brings the world you play in to life – with fantastic story telling, enchanting details and compelling characters. Our past sessions were always fun and entertaining with a variety of scenarios from captivating story arcs to thrilling battles. Shay has a talent in picking up players’ ideas and spinning a whole new creative scenario around them. They balance every game so that everyone feels included and helps whenever you forgot about a certain rule. You can tell how much they love this game.
Shay was born to do this! Their enthusiasm for the game is contagious!
Always and forever will I proselytize the works of Shay Atlas. The experience was everything that I hoped it would be… The attention to detail, the mix of combat and story. The marriage of improv and preparation was definitely chef’s kiss. Shay is the embodiment of “Just Do It” and when you are new to this space it is sometimes hard to break out of your shell. Shay is right there to hold your hand through the process.
Once you play with Shay, you may never want to work with another DM. Like, for real.
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