mateusmatooza

As a kid, I was an introvert and a loner. I had a penchant for medieval fantasy and some creative ability with both drawing and writing. My mum ran a local library and I was lucky enough to spend time there after school when the doors closed in the afternoon, waiting for her to finish work. The library is a tranquil and meditative place when you are the only person present and it is a fond memory. School... not so much.

I was allowed to use one of the computers in the library office to play a text-based game called “Adventure”. For all its flaws I found it engrossing and gave me ideas of my own. It was around this time I found a Fighting Fantasy gamebook on the shelf in the library. I read many of these. Once I had saved up enough money, I would wait until my mum and dad would make the protracted journey into town and I would go to the local bookshop. I would search the one shelf up the back that housed the gamebooks, looking for a new one to buy. It followed on from there that I learned about Dungeons and Dragons and a more obscure game world called Rifts.

I lived in a small community with not a lot of money. The friends I had from school were not interested in D&D or Fantasy gamebooks, so my interest remained my own. It was not until the last year of primary school that a new boy came to my school and I quickly found he had an interest. We became good friends and I began making adventure games. I meticulously designed top down maps of numbered rooms and made a written description of each one, using index cards from my parents study to make adventure sheets. My friend would come over and he would embark on the adventures I created. After many successful quests, I created an adventure where I was both DM and player. As you could probably guess, this was a disaster and brought our friendship over fantasy adventures to an end.

Throughout my schooling and beyond, my desire to create faded - probably due to my own erroneous perception of the subject not being "cool". There were very few people I knew, who had an interest in D&D or anything of that ilk. Being an introvert, I rarely sought after it. Whenever I came across a gamebook or anything related, I would devour the artwork and creature information. I still imagined my own fantasy world from time to time but as life progressed, it seemed to become less relevant.

It is only since 2018 that I began to work on this project with a serious view to completion. It was a joy to devise an original dice-based combat system, the concept arising from the roll of a six-sided dice that I found in a cheap gift given to me and my wife. It is satisfying to solve (what I perceived to be) shortcomings that I found in other gamebooks with literary concepts of my own.

It is definitely a task to weave together inventories, encounters and literary game mechanics but it is very rewarding as my game world expands with each word and illustration. Hopefully I end up with some interested followers and a finished gamebook at the end. Maybe a few coffees too :)

Then comes Book 2, already in the works…

To produce the illustrations for my Fantasy Gamebook series: Sword, Spell, Skill, I’m using Procreate on iPad and I have to say it is incredibly intuitive. It has played a part in me being able to produce artwork in the new black and white style that I am employing to create these illustrations.

I am still learning to use it so am excited to see how this new style evolves as I become better at using its many features…

"Hobgoblin Spook" is the first deviation that I have submitted in quite some time and marks a departure of sorts from my old style. This style is what will populate the pages of my Sword, Spell, Skill series.

I'm enjoying the creative process of this project and I've not felt this sort of enthusiasm for years. I am still searching for Fantasy Gamebook fans and will flush them out soon enough... so if you are one feel free to express support via comments, requests, points donation or you can even buy me a coffee at https://ko-fi.com/mateusmatooza

I will continue to provide updates and post artwork.

I've committed to writing and illustrating a series of Fantasy Gamebooks and am canvassing for interest from people who are enthusiastic about such things. I realise this is a niche area of interest but if you want to know more, feel free to follow my progress and ask questions.

I've set up a page at https://ko-fi.com/mateusmatooza. I work on this project in the early hours of the morning or late at night (work and parenting take up the rest of the day) so I find 2 or 3 coffees a day helps me forge ahead and make progress. If you feel like you would want to contribute to my efforts you can buy me a coffee there. I will be grateful for any support.

Much of the writing for the first book in the series is complete and I will commence work on the 33 black and white illustrations as time allows. I will post these in my gallery as I go.

I'm not expecting an avalanche of support given the subject matter but am happy to hear from supporters and/or followers. This is a passion project for me. I plan to do a small print run when the first book is finished and will take note of my more dedicated followers.

I've changed my username here as I think it is relevant to my project. It is a name my mum would use for me when I was younger and I can trace the inspiration for this project back to the days when she ran a library service. I would spend time alone amongst the ambience of just the books themselves after hours. It was here that the inspiration started.