Game Master Bios...

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 I’m Jason and one of the three founders of Matinee Adventures. I’ve played and ran TTRPGs off and on for 30+ years. Like most gamers, I cut my teeth with D&D and then expanded my palate to systems like: World of Darkness, Legend of the Five Rings, 7th Sea, and Big Eyes Small Mouth. My collection and interests over the years have only grown from there.
 

As I’ve developed as a game master, I find that I’m drawn to cinematic systems. I like allowing my player characters to do cool and setting appropriate things. That is over highly tactical rules-based maneuvering. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy a little crunch in my games. I just prefer quick thinking and fast action style (especially for convention games). Over the year the varied stories I’ve had the honor to facilitate have been nothing short of spectacular! I give all the credit to the amazing players and fellow GMs I’ve had at my table. I’ve learned uncountable things from them.
 

Outside of the TTRPG hobby, I’m also a board and card game junkie (collection large enough we won’t talk about it). My day job is in business strategy and so I’m well versed in buzzwords. I choose to pour my passion into this hobby due to the rewarding feeling I get when sitting at a table with friends sharing stories of past adventures. My hope is that you will join us and be a part of those stories. 

My given name is Dean. I have been gaming for 40+ years and have been GM’ing for 20 of those years. Like the majority of players, I got my start with D&D but have since expanded out into modern and futuristic sci-fi settings. While GM’ing, my favorite settings include Aliens, Battlestar Galactica, Delta Green, and Serenity which present so many great storytelling opportunities with rich backgrounds and fantastic casts of characters. I joined Matinee Adventures and have been GM’ing at various conventions with them since 2012.
 

I tend to be rules lite for my convention games and will often defer to the “Rule of Cool” which makes for a better story and player experience. I focus on player driven storytelling, creative problem solving, memorable characters and NPCs. Expect a balance of roleplaying, tactical challenges, and unexpected twists—because the most memorable adventures are the ones you never saw coming.
 

When I am not gaming, I am enjoying retirement and spending free time hiking long distant trails and searching for lost treasure with a metal detector, like any good adventurer. I currently live in south central Pennsylvania.

My name is Ken. I have been affectionately referred to as 'The Thrall' by the original 3, because I have been tagging along from the beginning. Unlike a lot of other GMs in the group, I never played Role Playing Games until I started hanging out with the Matinee Adventures Big three. A few years of playing games with these amazing GMs helped me build the courage to give GMing a shot.
 

Since the beginning, I've always enjoyed running games using the Cortex Plus System. I like to use the system to allow for a more flexible, cinematic, con-friendly game. When Jason H introduced me to RPGs, he described it as collaborative storytelling. I firmly believe that and I am more concerned with everyone having a good time than hitting certain milestones. As long as everyone is having fun, then where we go is not all that important. I also like to offer kid-friendly games so that the next generation of gamers have a fun and safe place to play with or without their parents.
 

Away from the gaming table, I do database development and project management. I am a long time Scout Leader and I like to bake.

I’m Kevin, a lifelong gamer with over 50 years in the hobby. I’ve spent over 45 of those years as a GM. My journey began with wargames and the original D&D, and I’ve since run countless adventures across multiple systems including Traveller, Call of Cthulhu, Twilight 2000, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer to name a few. I’ve been GMing with Matinee Adventures since 2015.
 

I enjoy the convention atmosphere as those games are one-shot in nature, allowing me more flexibility in planning and completing the adventures. Encouraging player participation and input in my games is critical and allows them and me to have a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment when the adventure concludes.  
 

With a master’s in military history, I love crafting scenarios set in real-world conflicts. Since retiring in 2020, I’ve devoted even more time to gaming, writing, hiking, and traveling. Based in Annapolis, Maryland, I look forward to sharing new adventures with fellow gamers. 

My name is Jason, and I have the privilege of being a GM with Matinee Adventures. My gaming life started a long time ago during recess in 5th grade. A friend introduced me to D&D through the old famous red box starter set. I was super enthusiastic and threw myself into the game. As soon as my parents saw how much reading and math were involved, they went out and bought the D&D Starter Set for me! This started me in a hobby I have enjoyed for 40 years!

Along the way I also started playing miniature wargames in 1988, when I started working at my FLGS/Comic Store. Adeptus Titanicus was my first game, and my wallet has not recovered to this day. Over the years the miniature painting aspect of the hobby came to be useful for bringing RPG characters to life.

My favorite system is Mutants & Masterminds, and my favorite RPG genre is superhero roleplaying. I also love Star Wars RPGs, but really I’ll play almost anything with the right players and GM! I’ll even play a GURPS game with the right GM. I have recently started running Star Wars using the FATE system as well.

I have been GMing with the fine folks at Matinee Adventures since 2015. I’ve been attending Origins since 2005 and have added U-Con to the cons I attend since 2017. I have been running games at conventions since 2007. I tend to run games where the players get to be the Big Damn Heroes and I try my best to give each player their moments to shine.

My name is Paul with Matinee Adventures! I have been gaming for 44 years and counting! Of that time nearly all of it has been GMing, though I have gotten to play more in recent years. I started my love for the hobby like many at that time with ‘The Ole Red Box’ Basic Dungeons and Dragons. When ‘Elf’ and ‘Dwarf’ were classes! Once my love for the hobby took hold, I found various other systems and settings and enjoyed it all. The list is long but can be summed up with: AD&D e1&2, Shadowrun (all editions), Villains and Vigilantes, Traveller, GURPS (2e, 3e, & 4e), Modiphius Star Trek, D&D 5e, and Mutant and Masterminds 3e.
 

My love for the TTRPG, stems from my love for stories, preferably cooperatively written with players at the table. I make it a point to provide the players with a rich backdrop and allow their actions to ‘paint in the world’. At conventions I enjoy meeting new folks and especially NEW PLAYERS! Please never feel like you must be a rules expert sitting at my table. I enjoy nothing more than introducing someone to a new setting or to Role-playing games in general.  
 

When I am not gaming, I work from home as a system integrator of card access and security for my companies’ clients. I am husband to a lady who understands, supports, and embraces the hobby. And a dad of great, now almost all adult, kids who patiently roll their eyes at me as they explain the most recent internet ‘thing’ I didn’t understand. Oh, and I am a ‘+1 Warm Lap’ for a ragdoll cat named ‘Squish’.

 Hi, I’m Carl, and I’ve been deeply involved in the world of role-playing games for nearly 30 years. Over that time, I’ve had the pleasure of both playing and running adventures for a wide variety of groups. From casual sessions with friends to introducing new players at conventions, I enjoy crafting stories, challenges, and memorable experiences that bring games to life.
 

I have a strong passion for exploring all aspects of the RPG world, from diverse systems and genres to homebrew mechanics. Whether it’s a classic favorite or a bold, experimental concept, I’m always seeking games that inspire imagination and engagement. Some of my personal favorites to run include: Fabula Ultima, FATE System, Edge of the Empire, Alien, Essence20, Forbidden Lands, 13th Age, Cypher System, Anima Prime, Sentinel Comics, Battle Century G, and Star Trek Adventures.
 

Outside the gaming table, I work as a QA project manager and enjoy creative hobbies such as cooking, painting, and video gaming. I'm also involved in Symphony Entertainment, a streaming channel on Twitch where we make live streamed horror rpgs. I’m also an avid fan of movies, sci-fi and fantasy novels, and spending quality time with my wife and our dog, Tiberius.
 

If you’re ready for an adventure story, I’d be thrilled to tell one with you. 

Hey folks, I’m Ang and I am a gamer for life. You can pry this hobby from my cold, dead fingers!

I was first introduced to RPGs in the mid-1980s where I was handed a borrowed halfling thief that died in a TPK a few hours later. Somehow, even with that horribly auspicious beginning, I have never looked back. It took a bit, but I eventually started running games in the mid-2000’s. To my absolute shock, considering the number of years I thought I couldn’t possibly ever be a game master, it turns out I was pretty good at it.

Given how obsessed I am with RPGs and my insatiable desire to keep talking about them, I started writing about games. Initially, I wrote for Rogue Princess Squadron, a short-lived blog focused on the voices of women gamers. In 2014, I joined the award-winning gaming advice blog, Gnome Stew, where I have been ever since. And if that weren’t enough, I started podcasting in 2017 when I began hosting and organizing Gnomecast, a show where the authors and friends of Gnome Stew get to chat about a wide variety of gaming topics. More recently, I also began co-hosting THAC0 with Advantage, a fantasy game focused podcast.
 

Most of the games I run are heavily character focused, with the players driving the plot with the connections their PCs have to each other and the world they’re in. Combine it all with a bit of mystery and cinematic action and you have the games I love to run. My tastes in game vary wildly, and over the years I’ve run Doctor Who, Masks, Monster of the Week, Tales from the Loop, Vaesen, and a variety of settings using Savage Worlds.

While the majority of my life revolves around gaming, I am also a graphic designer and a photographer. I have a deep appreciation for the beauty of life all around us and always seek to capture even the tiniest hint of that in my work. I live in Western New York and share my home with a wide variety of house plants and several cats that run the show.
 

Gnome Stew | The Gaming Blog

GnomeCast – Polygamerous Podcast Network

 THAC0 with Advantage – Polygamerous Podcast Network 

My name is Andy and I have been running games with Matinee Adventures since 2016. I started gaming about 27 years ago and have been a game master for 23 years. My analytics and statistics bring a very unique level of fun to my players. I enjoy creating player characters for all walks of life and incorporating nuances to endear movies, series, and comic characters to all of you.

I have a long list of games, systems, and home brews. Here are some of my favorites. Please join me as I present anything from Savage Worlds, Fate, Hollow Earth Expedition, Mutants & Masterminds, Things From the Flood, to Cypher. Incorporating themes like Warehouse 13, Gundam, Castlevania, Young Justice, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Rocketeer Corps, My Cartoon Universe Duology, My Anime Supers Universe, and Mega Man (X). 

While I have done a few blogs and weekly streaming events, I really enjoy running games for friends and new convention goers. My regular life has me working in analytics, running in Spartan races/events, and spending time with my kitties in the Mid-Ohio area.

I’m Laura from Matinee Adventures, and I run story-driven TTRPGs with strong atmosphere and meaningful choices. I’ve been playing TTRPGs since the late 90s and gamemastering since 2001. These days I mostly run Savage Worlds, but I have also run Star Trek Adventures, Cortex Plus, Part Time Gods, Big Eyes Small Mouth, and D&D 3.0/3.5. Most recently, I’ve run games set in East Texas University (urban fantasy) and Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time (epic fantasy). When I’m not running, I love getting to roleplay superhero, sci-fi, and anime characters.

Through playing and gamemastering with Matinee Adventures, I found my cinematic roleplay style. I focus on atmosphere, collaboration, and the kinds of emotional stakes that make a session memorable. My style emphasizes roleplay over rules, as I want players to have space to inhabit their characters, make meaningful decisions, and help shape the story.

By day, I’m a software engineer who believes that technology should improve human life. When I’m not writing code or playing TTRPGs, I help organize U-Con Gaming Convention, a regional event held in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Both roles inform my TTRPG style: I aim to create tabletop experiences that are engaging, welcoming, and responsive to the players. 

My name is Mike. I have been rolling dice and spinning stories as an RPG gamemaster for over 40 years. I run everything from homebrew campaigns for friends around the table to large-scale organized play events, including more than two decades with the Pathfinder Society and the RPGA. I joined Matinee Adventures’ roster of gamemasters in 2019.
 

I am also a lifelong Star Wars fan, and a big chunk of my RPG experience comes from playing and running every version of the Star Wars roleplaying game. For Matinee Adventures, I run Star Wars sessions using the Fate Core system: I feel that Fate Core’s accessible mechanics, cinematic action, and emphasis on collaborative storytelling make it a perfect fit for Star Wars games, especially at conventions, where it lets players with a range of experience levels easily get into the action.
 

When I am not behind a GM screen, I work as an advertising strategist and moderator — a job that, like GMing, involves a lot of creativity, a fair amount of improvisation, and the occasional need to wrangle unruly groups. I live in the Chicago area, though I will remind you that I am really from Wisconsin. 

“IvyXtreem” has been a part of my life since my youth. I use this pen name and gaming handle to bring my personality to you. I have been an avid gamer for 34 years and a game master for 30 of them. I enjoy my gaming roots in D&D but have moved into other genres. I prefer to run supernatural and horror with my flavors of shock and awe. Examples: Little Fears, White Wolf with a focus on Vampire, ShadowRun, and Xtreem (my own creation).

I joined Matinee Adventures in 2024 as an official game master. I have been running games at their private events since 2021. I truly enjoy coordinating the hospitality side of events for this amazing group and creating a wonderous world of adventures for players to spend their vacations wrapped inside. 

I have no free time between my pending game book publishing, my privately owned company, my ever-growing family of misfit toys at home, and my real-world profession of chief financial officer for multiple businesses. I started my life in Northern Ohio and after a few other states, have decided I belong here.  

You might know me as EvilIrishman, InkedIrishman, or Marty. You may know that I joined Matinee Adventures in 2024 officially. I have been gaming for 40+ years and running games for 30+ years. I swear I was young when I started, really young! I would say D&D and ShadowRun are at my core but I bring them to life with newly adapted convention rules to make your experience more enjoyable. 

I have played in more systems than I care to remember and draw on elements of all of them to keep my players at home or at conventions guessing. It is more about the experience than being rules heavy in my opinion. I am looking forward to adding Aliens, the Warhammer Universe, and more Post Apocalyptic genres to my arsenal.

I am fairly well travelled, well read, both during the military and as a civilian with a Master’s in Art History focused on Medieval, Gothic, and Renaissance eras. My daily life as a Project Coordinator has me juggling all aspects of manufacturing allowing me to then juggle all my hobbies and my dog (the real boss)!

My name is Ted; I’ve been playing and GMing roleplaying games for over 40 years. I remember finding a box of D&D miniatures for sale at a store as a kid and being fascinated by them, wanting to know more about the game they were used with. That’s when I started gaming with my friends in middle school. I’m still drawn to the miniatures, although it never hooked me into wargaming, but I often get my ideas for characters or scenarios by finding a really interesting or beautiful miniature and thinking “so what could be THIS guy’s story?”. I try not to let the minis and scenery be the main focus, but I do enjoy games like Household or Fallout, where they can really help set the mood.

I am relatively new to Matinee Adventures, joining in 2024, but it’s been a joy to connect with so many kindred spirits, who love a variety of games. I like bringing references to pop culture into the scenarios I create, usually with a bit of humor and absurdity thrown in. I’ve run sessions based on movies, TV shows, video games and anime over the years. It’s great going to conventions and meeting new players who are fans of whatever source material I’ve chosen for the session.

Outside of gaming, I live in southeastern PA with my wife, Ginny (also a big gamer) and work in supply chain management. I spend my free time going to Ginny’s many concerts, spoiling our cat, reading about history and trying to paint all these dang miniatures I keep buying. 

I am Pepita, but prefer Pita! I am the newest member of Matinee Adventures as of March of 2025. I have been a gamer chick for 27 years and running games for a year or so now. I have always loved the creativity of building characters and bringing my artistic quality to life in drawing my own character art. 

I would classify myself as a cutesy anime artist with a progressing Warhammer obsession. I have chosen to run Animal Adventures and Household for my convention games. I also have the skills to run Iron Claw and Hollow Earth Expedition. 

My personal life has me busy with my own yoga business, ask me about it! I fill classes online all the time for gamers, private sessions, or specialty groups. Art of all kinds makes my hobby world a vast exploration of sewing, costuming, drawing, painting, writing, and museum going! I am a native California Girl that landed in Northern Ohio. I really hope to see you at my table! 

www.pitayoga.com

I'm Robin! I have recently been asked to run board and card games for Matinee Adventures. I have been playing board and card games my entire life, and was introduced to RPGs about 40 years ago in middle school. I enjoy playing a wide variety of games, both cooperative, and strategy-based board/card games, RPGs and miniatures. 

My first foray into running games at conventions was about 20 years ago when I was asked if I would be interested in helping run card games for Steve Jackson Games at Origins. That began my love of running Munchkin games at conventions. I aim to make games fun and entertaining for everyone.
 

I am a Data Analyst by day, and in my free time, I enjoy doing puzzles, reading, costuming, cooking, and obviously playing games!