MATTY LANOUETTE
CONTENT DESIGNER
PERSONAL PROJECTS
Reach for the Stars
-
Role: Narrative Designer
-
Feb 2019 - Current
-
Team Size: 2
Reach for the Stars is a custom tabletop RPG system that is still in development. It started with a systems designer (Lindsay Price) and a narrative designer (myself) came together to make a space opera tabletop. Reach for the stars features custom dice, four playable races, and a setting that is a fun mix of the show Firefly, the movie Treasure Planet, and the game Destiny.
Lindsay wanted to work with custom dice and to find a system that utilized the dice in a cancelation method, like the tabletop setting Genesis, so that the players wouldn't have to do much number crunching. Instead, they would get to roll large amounts of dice and quickly discover the result of their role and how they wanted to spend their special talents.
My focus was on the world and the races. I pitched idea after idea to Lindsay for the world, the history of the galaxy, and the races. Based on feedback from her, as well as outside listeners who spared their time to be introduced to our new setting, I moved forward with the four races and the feel for the world.
While Lindsay was working on the math behind the dice for combat and skill checks, I wrote a module to be used in our first real playtest. The module was designed to be between 1-3 sessions featuring an overall linear story with some narrative hooks at the end in case the players wanted to continue with the campaign. I also designed the character sheets, which went through a few iterations before being ready for the module to playtest.
Many of these elements are still in development and will change as work continues to be done in this tabletop system.
ACADEMIC SOLO PROJECTS
Prismatic
-
Feb 2018 - April 2018
Prismatic: Varied and Brilliant is an original tabletop RPG system created during my senior year of college for class. The systems that were influential were Pathfinder, Fate, and Genesis. It is a narrative-focused setting but with enough support systems to keep more numbers-oriented players interested as well.
Prismatic is heavily team-based. Players create teams working for a network of guilds, traveling the world and keep city-states safe from the ever-changing beasts of the Wilds. Each player has some kind of special power, and those powers are what have given humanity an edge up on the beasts and allowed them to carve out their place in the world. Being a Prismatic is dangerous though, their powers draw beasts to them.
One of my main focuses while creating this system was character and world customization. I wanted to provide enough structure and context for players and DMs so that they would feel comfortable making their own content to flesh out the talent tiers and cities, but also include examples and pre-made options for people to use until they got more comfortable making their own. This was done by building out the world and being consistent when talking about terminology in both characters and cities to set the groundwork.
I also wanted to encourage teamwork as part of the world. By supplying the players with a reason they're in a party, or a quick reason for the new formation of a party, they can focus more on developing those interpersonal relationships and how they function as a team on the battlefield. Their individual goals within the guild can vary, but this at least gives them a singular uniting focus.
Included below is a link to the Handbook as well as the character sheets.
