As we get closer to the release of the Wizard Riders Quick-Start Rules for Free RPG Day on June 27th, I wanted to find out more. Not just about the setting, which is wild and fun in itself, but about the minds behind it.
Matt Heerdt is the Catalyst RPG Division’s Media Design and Production Lead. He has been with the company for years, and has worked on Shadowrun, Leviathans, Voltron: Defender of the Universe, Voltron: Legendary Defender, Frostpunk, and much more. He is also a massive motorcycle enthusiast and the guy behind Wizard Riders.
So I wanted to have a chat!
Meical Kingfisher: Hey Matt! I’m new to this whole “interviewing” thing, so let’s get started with an easy one. What kind of bike do you ride? Do you ride multiple?
Matt Heerdt: I’ve ridden many different bikes in the past–dirt bikes, mopeds, vespas, Suzukis–but these days I ride Harleys. Right now I have three:
- 1989 Sportster 1200 (XLH): This was my first Harley and it’s fun to bop around on, particularly when you just want to do a quick ride or don’t have far to go. It looks a bit rough, but the Evolution motor is simple and easy to work on. I’m always tempted to chop it up or do something drastic to it, but just haven’t been able to pick up the saw and do it.
- 1985 Wide Glide (FXWG): I just picked up this bike a few weeks ago and it’s something special. In 1985, HD introduced the Evo engine, replacing the legendary shovelhead engines, and started phasing out kickstarters. So this Wide Glide is a strange transitionary design that has shovelhead aspects, the new Evo engine and still has both electric start and kickstart. The fella I got it from had it in storage for many years so it needs some attention and, on another note, informed me that Devil’s Tower is hollow. Maybe this is esoteric knowledge I’m not privy to?
- 2019 Road King (FLHR): Rex the Road King. This is my main ride and it’s dialed in. I’ve been all over with this guy and have added a lot: upgraded S&S cam/cam chest, Vance and Hines headers/exhaust, S&S air cleaner, Dyno tuned, Legend suspension, new bars, heated grips … I could go on. Listen, all roads lead to baggers.
Meical: No one can accuse you of being a “fair weather biker” I see. Rex sounds like one hell of a ride! Just looking through the Wizard Riders Quick-Start Rules, I can see how much of that flavor made it to the page. How did your love of motorcycles inspire you to craft this setting? Did you have any other major inspirations?
Matt: If you work in the gaming industry, it’s highly likely that you love all kinds of sci-fi/fantasy media, and I definitely do. So while there are a huge number of influences throughout the years, a few coalesced one day into the idea for Wizard Riders.
Back in 2023, I think, I had ridden to South Dakota for the annual Sturgis rally and was hanging out in Deadwood. I had been reading a lot of Glen Cook’s The Black Company series, Jack Vance’s The Dying Earth series, and Gene Wolfes’ Book of the New Sun/Urth of the New Sun series.
Vance and Wolfe both feature far-future worlds where the sun is going out and the line between technology and magic is blurred. Both Cook and Vance’s worlds feature wizards with crazy names—Rhialto the Marvellous, The Limper, Soulcatcher, Vermoulian the Dream-Walker, etc etc.
Bikers also do this with nicknames. Think of any biker movie and you know what I mean: Chopper, Jax, Bearclaw, Zippo, etc. It wasn’t a leap to ask: What if those were wizard names too? Then it all flowed from there. I added some Dying Earth-genre elements, fleshed out a few other thoughts and sent the idea around to coworkers. Now it’s taken on its own life and I couldn’t be happier. Wizards on choppers! What’s not to like?
I also went as a wizard biker for Halloween that year.
Meical: Ah. I am going to have to check out some of those. I’ve been reading Chronicles of the Black Company on and off and your mention of The Limper spooked me a bit! Terrifying character, that one.
So your inspiration is solid, but what were some of the most exciting aspects of Wizard Riders that you got to work on? Did you bring in any of your love for other properties you’ve worked on in the past?
Matt: Catalyst has been extremely fortunate to work with many awesome, established games like Shadowrun and BattleTech or other brands like Vikings, the Valiant Comics universe, or Frostpunk. But each of those is established with its own canon and histories—so one of the best parts of Wizard Riders was having a free hand to create anything we wanted and not have to worry about retcons or getting an in-game historical fact right. How does a wizard make a chopper? Let’s figure it out!
Meical: I feel that. The few times I worked on things in-universe for Shadowrun and BattleTech have definitely been a wholly different experience than when I’ve worked on my own things. It is nice having that ability to play with your setting and tweak things without worrying about breaking established ideas.
I know that you have a lot to do with the layout process for Shadowrun Sixth World and Leviathans: The Great War, among other things, but I know you have an eye for fun art as well. Do you have a favorite piece or two in the Wizard Riders Quick-Start Rules that you wanted to talk about and maybe show off?
Matt: There are so many awesome art pieces for Wizard Riders. We’ve been very lucky to work with Leanne Buckley and Rob Hudnut for this project and they both bring amazing talents to the game.
Leanne did the cover art and I feel it’s very unique and eye-catching. I was hoping for a piece that was both understated and able to capture the core essence of Wizard Riders, and she nailed it.
Rob, known for his amazingly illustrated Greasy Reaper How-To Books, has delivered some amazingly creative pieces for the book. I can’t really pick one as my favorite, but here’s a sample…
Meical: Oh, I love those! I hadn’t seen the full-sized cover art yet and yeah, “understated” really captures that essence. If I was following that dude and he looked at me like that, I would probably jump out of my skin.
And that piece from Rob is amazing. I love the punk vibe of the art!
It was great talking to you about Wizard Riders today! Do we have a launch date for the game?
Matt: The Wizard Riders Quick-Start Rules booklet will be part of Free RPG Day on June 27th. The core book is wrapping up development, and we’ll have a release date announcement as soon as we have a solid date to give!
I hope y’all like it as much as I liked creating it!
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That was a great conversation and a wonderful, new experience for me as an interviewer!
As Matt said, you will be able to find the Wizard Riders Quick-Start Rules for Free RPG Day at any participating local game store, and on the Free RPG Day website on or after June 27th.
If you want to work on your Harley-Davidson, or just want to check out more cool illustrations from Rob Hudnut, make sure to visit him on the Greasy Reaper website. You won’t be disappointed!
And if this is the first time you’ve heard about Wizard Riders, you can find out more by checking out Catalyst RPG Director Jason Hardy’s recent article, Experience Arcane Anarchy with Wizard Riders this Free RPG Day! You can also find the first-ever actual play that Catalyst streamed live from our 2023 PAX Unplugged booth on YouTube. This was a great time and featured Rem Alternis, Talon Coleman, KP Upadhyayula, James Kirtley, and Dapper Raccoon!
- Meical Kingfisher
