Matty Mattkins

he/him

5.0

(5)

Timezone

America/chicago

Language

English

Identity

Published Writer

Educator

Game Designer

About Matty Mattkins

Welcome to the realm! My journey into TTRPGs began in 1989 when some friends and I each awoke to the HeroQuest board game on Christmas morning. Playing together was great fun and good preparation for when, having moved away a few years later, a new group of friends introduced me to Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 2nd ed. These games would continue to introduce new, and bring together old, friends throughout the rest of my life. Many years later some family friends were interested in playing D&D with their kids so I volunteered to DM and we haven't stopped playing since. We began with paper & pencil but I've since learned the magic & might of FoundryVTT. This worked out beautifully when, over 30 years later, I reconnected with my childhood friends and we started playing HeroQuest again, now virtually. We've had such fun and I'm excited to share that with all of you.

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

3 games hosted

Highly rated for: Knows the Rules, Sets the Mood, Storytelling

$20 per session

Featured Prompts

I became a GM because

some close friends were interested in playing something with their kids and were interested in Dungeons & Dragons. I'd been playing off & on since childhood and still had my old AD&D 2ed. books, so I volunteered to DM for the group and we've been playing ever since.

My favorite books are

mostly nonfiction. That said, some of my favorite fiction titles include: Ishmael, Neuromancer, A Confederacy of Dunces, Dune, and the Illiad/Odyssey.

My favorite shows/movies are

Movies: The Thing (1982), Enter the Dragon, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Alien, Office Space, There Will Be Blood Shows: Mr. Show w/ Bob & David, Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul, Game of Thrones, The Simpsons

How Matty Mattkins runs games

My priority as a GM is to do my best to accommodate the interests of my players. I learned quickly that sometimes what makes for a good session for myself, as a player or GM, does not for other players. Experimenting with aspects of gaming that I was not as comfortable with or practiced in has helped me most to grow as a GM. That said, my playing interests lean more into the combat and strategy aspects of gaming. This carries over into my GM interests which lean more into level design and game mechanics. Telling a great story always comes first in preparation though, so all of these elements should be in service of that. “The maturity of a person—that means, to have reacquired the seriousness that one had as a child at play” - F.N.

Featured Prompts

I deal with rules issues by...

experimenting. If there are good reasons for changing or omitting a rule then it's worth trying it out to see how it works.

If my games were Movies they'd be directed by...

me, of course! Some of my favorite (living) directors though include: Paul Thomas Anderson, Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, and Panos Cosmatos.

Rules are...

what make the game. They're like the walls of the house. You can take them out or change them but you'd better be careful they're not load-bearing first.

Matty Mattkins's ideal table

My ideal table is filled with friends, old or new. Gaming is collaborative, so players and GMs alike should be willing to cooperate with one another and open to ideas. The main reason we play is for fun, and though there are many ways of doing that, that goal must remain in front.