RPG Design PanelCast

Hello to all listeners of the #RPGDesignPanelcast! To date, I have been hosting this podcast on my website, which has worked well for years. Unfortunately, it’s using an in increasing amount of server resources and it’s interfering with the website itself working as intended! To that end, I have just migrated the website over to a professional, paid hosting solution. What this means is… 1) You won’t be getting any new episodes in this feed. 2) You can get all of the episodes, both new and old, over at http://genesisoflegend.podbean.com/ Please head on over there, and resubscribe to the new feeds. I look forward to using a paid podcast host, because it will make the production and posting of new episodes and encourage me to get more of them out the door. Thank you for your time, and happy listening!

Historical Larp Design Recorded at Metatopia 2016 Presented by Moyra Turkington, Kimberley Lam, Shoshana Kessock, Elsa Henry, Rachel E.S. Walton, and moderated by Alex Roberts This panel is all about re-evaluating the real diversity in historical settings, the difficulties of researching for historical non-western, non-white events and eras, especially those that feature women. It serves to discuss both larp design, and tabletop design, and is well worth a listen. You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes  

Game Master Mechanics Recorded at Metatopia 2016 Presented by Vincent Baker and and Jason Pitre. Role playing games have a long history of providing detailed rules on how players may act in the fiction. Very few games provide explicit direction and purposefully designed tools to constrain GMs. Let’s talk about the various approaches, from Fronts, to Countdown Clocks, Doom Pools, and more. Where can GM mechanics change design? You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes  

Powered by the Apocalypse: Using Apocalypse World to Outline and Draft Your Own RPG  Special episode, recorded online. Presented by Meguey Baker, Vincent Baker, and Jason Pitre. Apocalypse World offers a powerful, flexible framework you can use to outline, draft, and potentially finish your own role playing games. Dozens of creators, both experienced designers and first-timers, have used it with great success, and you can too. It’s not a game system, it’s an easy approach to game system design, a reliable way to get your creative vision quickly into a playable form. In this episode, we discuss apocalypse World’s philosophy and foundation, describe the fit and purpose of each of its systems, and point out fruitful ways to build on them, contradict them, repurpose them, subvert them, and go far beyond them. A copy of the presentation that goes along with the episode is Available Here. This panel was originally presented at Metatopia 2016, but technical problems at the audio meant that we had to re-record the discussion. It’s an excellent one though, where we discuss issues of the structure behind apocalypse, where the heavy design work needs to happen, the decision points on move construction, and how consent/power fit into the context of the framework. Enjoy and share this episode freely! You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes  

Breaking into Board Games Recorded at Breakout Con 2017 Presented by Pam Walls, Tim Brown, Eric Lang, Sen-Foong Lim, and moderated by Daryl Andrews. Want to design a board game? Have no idea how to get into the industry? Join our wonderful set of panelists to talk about how to enter the board game design world, do some playtesting, and get your game published. You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes     Episode118-Breaking_Into_Boardgames

What’s Up in Tabletop Games? Recorded at Breakout Con 2017 Presented by Michelle Lyons-McFarland, Jonathan Gilmour, Robin D. Laws, Eric Lang, and moderator Jonathan Lavallee. Bombard our panelists with questions about tabletop gaming and the many directions it’s headed in. You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes

Creating Horror in Games Recorded at Breakout Con 2017 Presented by Michelle Lyons-McFarland, Jonathan Gilmour, and moderator  Jacqueline Bryk, Like ghosties, ghoulies, long-legged beasties, and things that go bump in the night? Join us for a panel on how to incorporate gothic horror tropes into your project or campaign! You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes

Sex in Games Recorded at Breakout Con 2017 Presented by Moyra Turkington, Jacqueline Bryk, Alex Roberts, and moderator Emily Griggs. From the Ramayana to Romeo and Juliet, love and passion are at the heart of some of the most timeless stories ever told. So, how do we explore these themes in roleplaying games? How do we as players and GMs help each other have fun and stay safe? What systems bring sex and romance to the forefront? What’s that thing larpers are doing with their hands? Your panelists will answer all these questions, and many more. You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes

GM Troubleshooting Recorded at Breakout Con 2017 Presented by Robin Laws, Matt McFarland, Anna Kreider and moderator Fraser Ronald. Solve your toughest GMing problems with the aid of our masterful panelists. Discussing the challenges of the game master’s life. You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes

Art in Games Recorded at Breakout Con 2017 Presented by  Rachel Kahn, Anna Kreider, Emily Griggs, and moderator Cory Reid Demystifying the process of how art gets created for games — how to get commissions, how the process works, and what art can do for a game besides look great! The art that surrounds a game greatly influences how the game gets played, and inspires the players at the table. Join Anna Kreider, Rachel Kahn and Emily Griggs as they discuss the role of art in gaming. You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes

Getting Kids into Games Recorded at Breakout Con 2017 Presented by Daniel Kwan, Rachel Kahn, Sean Munro and moderator Pieter van Hiel   We love role-playing games! Regardless of the game system, the storytelling, dice rolling, teamwork, and creative thinking involved in all tabletop RPGs have had a profound impact on our lives. But how do you introduce families and children to the imagination, storytelling, empowerment, and cooperation involved in gaming? Find out how to lay the groundwork for future, more complicated RPG sessions with your kids and family! You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes

Being a Great Player Recorded at Breakout Con 2017 Presented by Emily Griggs, Jason Pitre, Moyra Turkington and Chris Chung, moderated by Corey Reid. A great GM can only craft an amazing tabletop RPG experience with the help of great players. A discussion of how to be one of those players, improving the at-table experience for both yourself and everyone else. Includes discussions on roleplaying technique, communal storytelling, and how experienced players can help welcome new players into the hobby. You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes

Game to Game: Converting Between Systems Recorded at Metatopia 2015 Presented by John Adamus and Paul Stefko If you play more than one RPG, you will eventually want to use material from one system in another. Or maybe your favorite game has been updated to a new awesome edition, but you want to keep using your old books too. What should you keep in mind when converting RPG rules and adventures from one game to another? How much (or how little) work do you need to do? You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes

Playing and Designing at the Intersections: Creating Good Allyship Recorded at Metatopia 2015 Presented by Kat Jones, Krista White, Elsa S. Henry & K.N. Granger. This roundtable will focus on how to design and run games from an intersectional feminist standpoint. We will discuss different ways a game can be intersectional including: mechanics, characters, artwork, and more. Drawing on concrete examples from panelists about their own design process, as well as games that have influenced them, we will offer suggestions for designing intersectional games. We will also give some examples of how to make pre-existing games and systems more intersectional. Topics included in the discussion will be: how to fail forward, how to be a good ally, and how to respectfully write about marginalized groups when coming from a position of privilege You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes

Art for your Game without Breaking the Bank Recorded at Metatopia 2015 Presented by Jack Parra,  John Carimando, Scott Bowmanchester and Brennan Reece. Getting high-quality art is key to making a product look professional. How do publishers do it without breaking the bank? Our panel makes with the tips and tricks. You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes