Maxwell Durbin-Tan

he/him

Timezone

America/los Angeles

Language

English

Identity

Hispanic/Latinx

Published Writer

Teacher/Educator

Game Designer

About Maxwell Durbin-Tan

My journey into tabletop started where many do,sitting across from a dungeon, a set of polyhedral dice, and Dungeons & Dragons. What began as a player's curiosity gradually became a GM's obsession: not just with running games, but with understanding what makes them work at the deepest level. I didn't, at first, care about roleplaying, but I found myself soon enthralled after listening to podcasts like The Adventure Zone, and later Critical Role and just fell in love with the game, running it for my friends for five years before the pandemic hit. That obsession reached its peak during the pandemic. With the world paused and the gaming table moved online, I did what any reasonable person does with too much time and too many ideas, I built my own TTRPG from scratch. BEYOND wasn't built in a vacuum, it was shaped by everything I'd played, studied, and loved about the hobby. The M.A.D. System came out of a simple conviction: that every great TTRPG moment you've ever had traces back to one of those three elements: Mystery, Adventure, and Dread. Building mechanics around that belief changed how I think about GMing entirely.

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Featured Prompts

My favorite books are

Literary Muses: Ursula K. Le Guin - Always Coming Home Gene Wolfe - Litany of the Long Sun Jorge Borges - Fictonies Jack Vance - A Dying Earth George R.R. Martin - A Knight of Seven Kindgoms J.R.R. Tolkein - Beren and Luthien R.F. Kuang - Babel Terry Pratchet - Good Omens

My favorite system of all Time is

My favorite system is one I made myself: the M.A.D. System. I built it during COVID when I had a pile of dice and too much time to think about what TTRPGs actually are at their core. Mechanically, it runs on a tension between Dread dice and Action dice, with players rolling while the GM narrates.

How Maxwell Durbin-Tan runs games

What to expect when you sit down with me I approach every campaign the way an author approaches a story — but where it goes is entirely up to us. My style at a glance Narrative-first Roleplay-heavy Quick, punchy combat Player-driven story Session 0 always Collaborative worldbuilding Storytelling lens I think like an author — character arcs, themes, and meaningful moments drive the game. Roleplay over rollplay Expect rich NPCs, layered dialogue, and scenes that reward leaning into your character. Combat that moves Fights are purposeful and don't overstay their welcome — high stakes, fast resolution. How I run session 0 Before we ever roll dice, we talk. I want to know your hard nos, what excites you, and the kind of world you're hoping to live inside. That conversation isn't a formality — it's where the campaign actually begins. Everything I build, I build around what comes out of it. I also ask for ongoing feedback. If something isn't landing, I want to know so I can adjust. This is your story as much as mine. Where I'll follow you I come in with a vision, but I hold it loosely. If you want to burn down the plot I planned and chase a rumor your character heard in a tavern — let's go. The best moments I've had at the table were ones I never saw coming.

Featured Prompts

I deal with rules issues by...

Ruling in favor of the story. The M.A.D. System is designed to serve the fiction, not constrain it — and when a player's instinct is good, I'll bend the rules to meet it. We're here to make something worth remembering, not to litigate a rulebook.

My favorite trope is...

The world that was. Ruins that remember. Civilizations that left something behind they didn't mean to, and people who have to reckon with it anyway.

My games focus on...

Story and atmosphere first — the kind of play where what your character believes matters as much as what they do. Exploration, mystery, and the slow accumulation of consequence.

Maxwell Durbin-Tan's ideal table

My table runs literary horror and post-apocalyptic fantasy with an emphasis on atmosphere, character interiority, and the kind of worldbuilding that rewards curiosity. I design my own systems and settings, so expect something that doesn't feel quite like anything you've played before — the rules exist to serve the fiction, not the other way around. Sessions tend to be dense rather than sprawling: I'd rather one scene hit hard than five scenes pass by. Players who fit well here are the ones who read, who have opinions about narrative, who get excited about a mystery they might never fully solve. You don't need to be a "roleplayer" in the theatrical sense — quiet, thoughtful engagement at the table matters as much as performance. The vibe is collaborative but GM-led; I come prepared, I have a world with bones, and I want you to push against it and see what gives.

Featured Prompts

I am for a vibe that's...

Sits somewhere between a campfire myth and a fever dream — grounded human emotion underneath something genuinely strange. I run games where the world has texture and history, where beauty and dread live in the same sentence, and where your choices accumulate into something that means something.

I love it when a player

Comes to the table with questions instead of plans — who wants to know why the world is the way it is, not just what they can take from it.

My table is not the place for...

Optimizers who treat NPCs as obstacles, players who compete with each other instead of the fiction, or anyone who needs the world to make clean, comfortable sense.