Matt Hayles

Here there be dragons. (He/him)

[Matt Hayles @mathayles]

@headfallsoff Nobody in the galactic senate has staff.

[Joshy McCroo - His Majesty the Worm Out Now! @riseupcomus]

In the CYOA game book "Mines of Moria," there are a few instances where there are descriptions of already-triggered traps. This really gave me a strong sense of place.

Put traps that have already been triggered in your dungeons.

[Matt Hayles @mathayles]

@lincodega Honestly this is a wonderful concept for a short story and a very bad bit of literary criticism.

[Matt Hayles @mathayles]

PIIzza Hut 🤷🏻

[Matt Hayles @mathayles]

One of my least favourite modern experiences is having to create an account to do... anything. I was trying to pay for parking once and they made me create an account. Just take my credit card, jeez.

[Matt Hayles @mathayles]

Friends, it happened. I walked into a Pizza Hut to order *for here* and they would not take my order unless I gave them a phone number.

[Matt Hayles @mathayles]

Barbie was great and not particularly critical of men and what is everyone so upset about?

[Matt Hayles @mathayles]

@DarkplaneDM For sure! Getting people to move around is great DM craft. I just want to acknowledge that the game penalizes this desired behaviour.

Personally I love AoOs as an ability for select classes/monsters that want to pin down their enemies, but I don't love them as a universal rule.

[Graham Ward ✍️ Hundred Dungeons @DarkplaneDM]

Today’s #DMLifeline: “Characters have no incentive to move during combat. How do you prevent every fight from being static?”

Quick answer: use a larger battleground with multiple zones or features, and monsters coming from different places—including the sky. #dnd

[Matt Hayles @mathayles]

@DarkplaneDM I agree with all this but *also* games with Attack of Opportunity rules strongly incentivise static battles.

[Matt Hayles @mathayles]

@deja_writes @lucywoodz Happy to hear it!

[Matt Hayles @mathayles]

Writing in a subjective voice creates complexity and nuance all on its own. Adding details gives the players more world-building to pick apart. Naming specific people and places makes the rumour interactable. And some parts of this may be proven false while other parts are true.

[Matt Hayles @mathayles]

My fave technique for writing false rumours for D&D-style RPGs is to follow @UmActuallyShow rules, that is: write a long, true statement that contains one falsehood. That way you're still communicating your world-building to your players, but encouraging skepticism and analysis.

[Matt Hayles @mathayles]

"Old Man Eucris claims he made his scabbard from the hide of a baby green dragon that he slew in his youth. If you get him drunk, he'll tell you he remembers the path to its lair. But he swears he'll never return, for he fears the vengeance of its mother."

[Matt Hayles @mathayles]

@mawilson I've never been a writer! But that sounds like a good lesson haha.

[Matt Hayles @mathayles]

I vehemently dislike the sorts of corporate pro-LGBTQ messaging that end with "regardless of" or "no matter your." Always ends up sounding a lot like "we support you, even if you're gay." Corporate comms managers can do better than that.

[Matt Hayles @mathayles]

"Everyone is entitled to dignity and respect, no matter who they are, whom they love, or how they identify."

"Healthcare is for everyone, regardless of gender expression."

Can we please stop EVEN IF-ing queerness? K thx bi ✌️🏻

[Matt Hayles @mathayles]

@CineastBenRowe Yah in the U1-3 printing I have it's stated as 2,000 people or so. I upsized it to 20,000 so my players would have a larger port to operate out of.

[Matt Hayles @mathayles]

@CineastBenRowe Hey, lore question, do you know if there is a canon demonym for a resident of Saltmarsh?