Matthew

he/they

Timezone

America/chicago

Language

English

Identity

Game Designer

About Matthew

I love all kinds of different games and genres, including gritty fantasy, high fantasy, space opera, hard sci-fi, pulp adventure, and period and modern horror, among others! I enjoy one-shots but campaigns that go for years and become touchstone memories for the players is something you can't get from any other medium. I run games for friends online every week and I'm here to make new friends and have more opportunities to play.

At a glance

Less than a year on StartPlaying

Featured Prompts

I became a GM because

I wanted to play different kinds of games and I was having trouble finding other people to run them.

The three words my players would use to describe me are...

Collaborative, Creative, and Flexible

When I'm not running games I'm...

talking about games.

How Matthew runs games

I like games where the action is collaborative and primarily driven by player choices. I don't create plots, I create situations. I prefer light to moderate backstories where the most interesting parts of the characters' lives are the moments we'll experience together. Most of my games are PG-13, though I'm not averse to juvenile humor nor to mature themes. I'm not interested in evil characters (there's plenty of that in the world already) but I do like complicated heroes, dark heroes, anti-heroes, scoundrels, and schmoes with unrealized heroic potential.

Featured Prompts

I prep by

figuring out what's happening in the world beyond the characters' control. How the characters respond to that and how the world responds to their response is the game.

My games focus on...

characters making choices and dealing with the consequences of those choices.

Rules are...

important, but we need to be flexible.

Matthew's ideal table

I want to play with people who are excited to play - people who are interested, curious, and fascinated by the possibilities in the game. I like a collaborative table where everyone is contributing to the game in their own way. I'll do the heavy lifting at the start, but I want to hear your ideas too and I'm open to change!

Featured Prompts

I love it when a player

cares about the game enough to want to think and talk about it away from the table.

I think it's a red flag when players...

only care about their own character and their own fun. Every player should do what they can to make the game fun for the other people at the table.

I think metagaming...

is usually not that big of a deal. Do a little exercise and make a list of everything you know about vampires and werewolves. Now imagine how much lore common people would hoard in a world where monsters are a real threat to your life.