Mat
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About Mat
Hi my name is Mat and I'm a 37 years old DM from germany who thrives in RP and collaborative storytelling. While I enjoy combat and mechanics a lot, for me the core of the game is player interaction and story. I will always advocate for a "rule of cool" approach and rather drive the story, then being a rule lawyer. As always in life there's a certain grey area here rather then black or white. I will mostly run DND and Nimble in DnDBeyond for character creation and the VTT environment. I like a simple approach for the backend, which makes it easy for everyone to jump in and just have fun. I'll help with everything from character creation to backstory and will tailor it until it fits your playstyle. I'm open to homebrew to a certain extend and I'll will have you play the character you envisioned. For Draw Steel I'll be using their own VTT Codex and have a few licenses so, new players are cared for!
At a glance
1 year on StartPlaying
$20 per session
Featured Prompts
I started running games because...
I thrive in fostering collaborative story telling. I enjoy scheming and planning player backstory. Building, re-imagining and evolving a world specifically to the group. The most joy for me running, emerges out of seeing a group experiencing their own story instead of running by the book!
My favorite books are
I can only answer this for the moment :-) Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive is what captured me recently. I enjoy his world building quite a bit. Reading it with my daughter, I rediscovered the Hobbit. I'm looking forward to reading Joe Abercrombie and I am a big fan of the Witcher books.
People are always surprised when I tell them
A plot in a TTRPG doesn't need written story beats and a perfect plan by the DM, but rather challenges the PCs can discover and overcome.
How Mat runs games
For me story comes first in and out of combat. This means there's multiple solutions (most of the time) and it should feel purposeful and not just randomly killing time (and bad guys). Difficulty will depend on the module, campaign setting and most important players desires. I'll always give a heads-up of my plans in the game description, but session 0 will be decisive here. As I'm not a native speaker in english. That means I'll not be doing a variety of english accents, because I don't want to butcher them. Every NPC that talks will have a voice though. I love this roleplay aspect and will try to engage all players in it. I want to encourage new players to speak in character, to immerse into the world. It is a viable option to describe what the PC says in my games, but I'm looking for players that enjoy this style of play. Expect me to be very open to discussion outside of the table. I'll gladly incorporate backstory and will help with the scheming wherever I can. No backstory is wasted 😄 In the end it is collaborative storytelling. I use a lot of beautiful maps and assets from a variety of content creators, that will be linked in the respective games. On my table there will be safety tools such as the X-Card and the above-mentioned session 0. Here the common ground for what can happen in the game is discussed. I'm providing an inclusive table where everybody can have fun and won't tolerate intrusive behavior or crossing of the agreed boundaries.
Featured Prompts
My games focus on...
how players interact with the world and consequence of choices.
Rules are...
giving certain boundaries for mechanical parts of the game but should not stand in the way of creativity within the limits of reason ;-)
When it comes to voices
I will give it my all and it will be ridiculous 😄 I am not good with specific accents though, so unfortunately no perfect Scottish dwarf 😭
Mat's ideal table
You need to enjoy combat. The systems I run here like Draw Steel and Nimble, as well as DnD5.5e are designed with combat in mind. I enjoy the social part of RP a lot and it is a central pillar of my games, but I want to challenge Players. Depending on the gameplay loop this cannot be achieved without combat. Other then that I want to encourage speaking in character and mostly resolve NPC interaction with conversation. This doesn't require a complicated voice or accent! The tone will differ between system and specific game, but you will see me running Dark Fantasy a lot ^^ Lastly I advocate that every party composition will work out, so play what you like and not what you think the party needs. That also means don't force others into "we need a healer" type of argument.
Featured Prompts
I love it when a player
Actively develops their character. Come at me with whatever idea you have and we will make it work in the world!
I think metagaming...
is ok when it comes to party tactics. Your PC a capable warriors and wizards, so talking strategy and tactics is a fun part of the game. Reading statblock is not 😝it also won't help as I mix up different official sources and versions of monsters. Veteran players should have a thrilling combat, too!
My perfect party mix is
when every player plays the character they want, as long as they form a unit. In my games there is no room for betraying the party as a plan all along. If the story develop in this way and there are clues for everybody to get, sure.
Mat's Preferences
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