people talk about the table interactions and dynamics a lot but let’s take a moment to appreciate how matt dotes on the players differently. because sometimes they say he plays fave on liam, but the truth is he’s soft about all of them in his own way
travis - they kind of have this little pact going about knowing the truthness of his characters. matt knows travis loves those moments of impulsiveness and he presents plenty of opportunities to let him explore those. the two most iconic moments may be grog vs. the giant that broke his cask and fjord touching the red gem. the moment of play is really pushing travis’ boundaries and letting him press the big red button and thats just Friendship™ to roleplay seducing and being seduced
marisha - oh how to count the ways that matt loves his wife. i remember in campaign one they had a more strenuous relationship over the table because marisha wanted to make sure he didn’t play faves when it came to her (bless her precious, righteous heart). matt respected this deeply and i don’t think i can count the moments they share of mutual glances and “alright this is happening” or “i will make this challenge for you” while everyone else is freaking out. but, letting her explore her power and strength and always allowing moments for her to step up as Kiki, especially with all the support of the NPCs around her, tells a lot of how much he wants to show his support. with beau, they’re loosening more of the ‘play faves’ and just going full “fuck it, monks are just Awesome” and both revel in those scenes
liam - the fate-touched. need i say more? it’s not that matt plays faves but... he’s definitely soft when it comes to liam and his choices. an entire arc formed around the acceptance of death, fate and destiny for a friend who matt knew was struggling a lot with those things. also, gilmore. also “matt didn’t have any comments to my backstory with caleb, i think he let me do pretty much anything”. but more detailed, i guess they’re so in tune with giving and receiving roleplaying challenges. liam wants to explore the deep, dark depths of the mind and damn if matt doesn’t take him by the hand and go “follow me”, leading and guiding along the way
sam - i think matt has said multiple times that bards are just his fave but whenever sam would sing i could just sort of feel the love pouring out of matt, despite the snappy comments they may share. matt knows sam is a smart motherfucker and knows that he likes to play with his hands tied behind his back so he... presents that opportunity when possible. also the entire scheming of scanlan’s departure testifies to the level of devotion he has to sam’s arcs. also, sam might be known to be the most jokey and messing around all the time, but damn if he doesn’t get into it and deeply appreciates all the work matt does for every session that goes by and i think matt knows that.
laura - everybody loves laura bailey, and matt is no god damn exception. every time he does something that hurts her, i think he feels the most remorse than hurting any one character. the amount of times he’s apologized to her specifically whenever she makes the :((( face is just incredible. also he knows she wants to hits things as jester and desperately wants to allow her to do so - even in some of those rare direct DM moments where he outright says ‘you can cast inflict wounds here, i know you love that spell’. like, gosh, the dedication. also love love love the moments between them as the traveler and jester, and jester and her mom.
taliesin - age old friendship shows here. they share so many inside jokes and secret moments, twinkle in their eyes. taliesin loves the mystery, the unspoken and you can really tell he trusts matt explicitly and i think matt really enjoys he can take to taliesin’s subconscious in this way - percy and molly had very secretive backgrounds, even to them, and caduceus’ mysticism with the wildmother allows for these “trust falls” between matt and taliesin. i also really enjoy the fact that matt wanted to bring taliesin in as a guide to the others originally, because it also means he trusts taliesin to have taught the others the reigns and directions they can go in. it just. you know, oozes trust between them. love seeing that.
ashley - since her appearances have been rare, it’s clear he always wants to make it as special as possible. pike’s holiness and yasha’s power and strength of her arc lets him give her some really iconic, powerful moments of both campaigns. she often underestimates what she’s capable of, and i think matt does take special care to lean into presenting her at her most awesome so she can see what everyone else sees all the time. i love how ashley still surprises matt and how he is still attentive and learning about what she wants to go in depth with - he listens a lot, and knows her abilities as an actor and wants to give her those moments too.