RPG Design PanelCast

Randomness makes games fun, but it can also make them terrible. Our Industry Insider guests give advice on the right way to use randomness in game design. Randomness makes games fun, but it can also make them terrible. If you’re going to use randomness in your games, it’s like using fire in your kitchen. A great tool, but only if you know how to handle it. Our Industry Insider guests will give advice on the right way to use randomness in game design. Presented by James Ernest and Jason Morningstar.  

There are thriving RPG scenes in outside North America. Come find out from our Industry Insiders on what’s up, what’s innovative, and what’s scandalous. Presented by Jason Morningstar and Dominic McDowall-Thomas.

Join Industry Insider designers and developers as they talk about post mortems of various independently published projects.  Presented by Jason Morningstar and James Earnst

Presented by Jason Morningstar and Kenneth Hite. Stress-Free Historical Roleplaying Description: How to enjoy roleplaying in historical settings – common pitfalls and how to avoid (or ignore) them. Presented at GenCon 2012.

A discussion about GM’less games by Jason Morningstar at Metatopia 2012.  This was presented to a group of game designers and publishers who ask some advanced questions. Sorry that the introduction doesn’t include the title of the seminar.

A discussion about GM’less games by Jason Morningstar at GenCon 2012.  This was presented to a general audience and provides a good foundation on the subject.

What kinds of playtests are there? How can you run them or play in them effectively? Learn how iterative testing improves a game Discuss the purpose of playtesting. The three styles of playtesting? Playtesting your own game. Runing someone else’s game. Observing a playtest. Playing in a playtest with panache. Questions and answers Presented by Jason Pitre and Adam Koebel

“It’s a Hit! Now What? Dealing With Unexpected Success” presented by Fred Hicks & Curt Covert. You’ve made something and people like it and want more. Or your preorder went well – much better than you expected – and you find yourself facing a bigger print run and a bigger shipping effort than you’d planned for. Success can be a tricky thing – the bigger you succeed, the harder you have to work, and sometimes there are pitfalls. Join us and talk about the “now what?” phase.

The Retailers’ View: What Sells, What Doesn’t, and Why presented by Jim Crocker and Brian Dalrymple. This panel will focus on what new games look like from the perspective of the stores that sell them. Our panelists will lead a discussion of recently published games and how they fared once they hit their stores.

“Self-Publishing: Production and Fulfillment” presented by Fred Hicks, Darren Watts & Jim Crocker. You’ve decided to print and distribute your product yourself. What do you need in order to do so successfully? Come learn from folks who have done it.

“Licensing Popular Intellectual Property” presented by Amanda Valentine, Fred Hicks & Cam Banks. Three designers with extensive experience in the world of licensing well-known intellectual properties discuss what makes a good property for licensing, how to go about getting a license, and how to keep your licensor happy and yourself protected throughout the process.

An overall summary of Indie Game Publishing, including copyright, printing costs and the perils of distribution, by David A. Hill Jr. of Machine Age Productions.

“Addressing Controversial Topics” presented by John Stavropolous, Bill White & Brennan Taylor. Join our panelists for a discussion on handling delicate and/or controversial topics in your game design. Subjects include political correctness, sexual and romantic interactions and religion.    

“Editing and Organizing Game Text” presented by Amanda Valentine, Fred Hicks, Jason Pitre & John Adamus. Successful game text requires clarity, structure and style. Learn the secrets of this dark art at this roundtable discussion.  

“The Care and Feeding of Artists” presented by Ed Bell, Jen Christiansen & Fred Hicks. You’re not an artist yourself, but your game needs art! How do you hire artists, and how do you work with them to get what you need? This special panel features Ed Bell and Jen Christiansen, two art directors from Scientific American magazine.