Join us as we chat with Joe Giarrusso, a GM who gets paid to run TTRPGs as DM Noctem!
Jared: First off tell us a little about yourself?
Joe: My name is Joe Giarrusso, I’m 42 years old and live in Central Florida. I’ve been in the hospitality industry for decades and am an aspiring professional GM. I have a love for fantasy that began at a very young age with Tolkien, and have been an avid reader since. R.A. Salvatore, Brandon Sanderson and Matt Dinniman are some of my favorite authors. I was recently awarded the Top GM badge on Start Playing. I was also on the History Channel for medieval combat!
Q: When and how did you get started in tabletop games?
J: My first look at ttrpgs came when I was 8 years old, so in the 90’s. I was visiting family up in Pennsylvania and my cousins, who were quite a bit older, showed me the Monster Manual from Dungeons and Dragons Second Edition. That spark held until High School, when I finally got into my first campaign.
Q: What made you want to be a Game Master?
J: I wanted a bigger role in the creation of the story. That’s what its all about for me, the story we tell when we come together and play. I wanted to see some of my own ideas given life and fleshed out. I finally got my first chance about 10 years ago.
Q: Next tell us about the beginning of you running games as a paid GM?
J: My first paid GM gig was actually running games at bars on slower nights. A lot of bars will do anything to get their sales up on the slow nights, so me bringing in a group of 6 to 10 adults who will sit for 3 to 4 hours and rack up bills, was a god send. After about 2 years of this as a side hustle, the amazing woman I am dating lit a fire under me to do more. She knew it was a dream of mine to be able to just run games and make stories for a living. She got me to sign up for StarPlaying, pushed me to make amazing games and beautiful scenes and now I can see that dream coming closer and closer!
Q: Do you have stage/GM name/handle? Where did that come from?
J: DM Noctem is what I go by, and honestly it comes from high school Latin class. When I learned that instead of saying Carpe Diem (seize the day), you could say Carpe Noctem (seize the night), that was that. Noctem became my gamer tag for everything for years, and I’m glad it has stuck with me.
Q: What can people expect coming into the website/social medias etc?(Please include links to any of your “business” website/social medias)
J: Unfortunately, this is the one area that I am consistently falling short on. I do have socials, but they are decently barren at the moment. Mostly they will find updates on what I am preparing and upcoming games, along with some shared geeky videos.
Insta, TikTok, Youtube – DMNoctem
Start Playing – https://startplaying.games/gm/noctem-gaming
Q: What do you see as the future of you running games on Start Playing? Goals?
J: To do so full time, and create an active, thriving, safe community for everyone to come find like minded folk and joy. Our Discord community is over 50 people and growing all the time. I have big plans for beyond Start Playing, but I’m going to have to keep those close to my chest for now.
Q: Do you have any other projects coming up?
J: I do! I have a World of Darkness world that I am currently getting set up in Foundry VTT (Virtual table top), which means Chronicles of both Vampire: the Masquerade and Werewolf: the Apocalypse coming soon! Also, being the Dungeon Crawler Carl fanatic that I am, I have purchased the Backerkit for the ttrpg, including the VTT add ons, and will be one of the first GMs on start playing to have up and running.
Q: Anything else you would like to add?
J: I just want to thank the people who got me even to this point, a man whose day job is quickly becoming irrelevant and whose dream is becoming reality. To the amazing woman who pushes me to be better every day, I love you. To my players past, present and future, thank you for your support and helping me to hone my craft. To the guys here at RPG Counterpoint for even considering me worthy of an interview, and finally to whomever is reading this, thank you for being a part of this community that helps keep imagination alive!
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