RPG Design PanelCast

Heartwrenchers: Emotional RPGs Recorded at Gencon 2016 Presented by Jason Pitre, Shoshanna Kessock and Emily Care Boss The very best roleplaying games will tug on the heart strings during play. Whether the games make you feel love, grief or rage, they make for a memorable play experience. We will discuss these emotion-rich games, and what makes them tick like a broken heart. Apologies for poor sound quality on this recording. Before you go, we would like to  ask you to fill in the RPG Design Panelcast Listener Survey!  This will help us learn more about what you like, and solicit suggestions for future panels. You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes

Introduction to RPG Publishing Recorded at Gencon 2016 Presented by Jason Pitre, Shoshanna Kessock and Caleb Stokes Want to publish a roleplaying game? This panel, sponsored by the Indie Game Developer Network, is here to get started, avoiding the hidden pitfalls. Learn about Kickstarter, budgeting, distribution, printing, and the other black arts of publishing. Before you go, we would like to  ask you to fill in the RPG Design Panelcast Listener Survey!  This will help us learn more about what you like, and solicit suggestions for future panels. You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes

Introduction to RPG Design Recorded at Gencon 2016 Presented by Jason Pitre, Dustin Depenning, Emily Care Boss, Shoshanna Kessock You can design games, and we want to help. This panel, sponsored by the Indie Game Developer Network, is here to get you started by sharing resources and best practices.  Want to find out the basic of game design? We are here to help show you the way. Before you go, we would like to  ask you to fill in the RPG Design Panelcast Listener Survey!  This will help us learn more about what you like, and solicit suggestions for future panels.   You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes

Fictional Cartography Recorded at Metatopia 2015 Presented by Mark Richardson & Kenneth Hite Presented by Mark Richardson & Kenneth Hite. A discussion of map making for use in games. From tools to methodology and creative process. Learn what goes in to bringing life to the maps at the center of our gaming tables! You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes

Game Mechanics as Social Engineering & Social Engineering as Game Design Recorded at Metatopia 2015 Presented by Jason Morningstar & John Stavropoulos. Can a game’s mechanics influence player behavior? Evidence – from XP-grubbing to sophisticated and subtle systems for using player agency to adjust real-world habits – suggests it can. Join Jason Morningstar and John Stavropoulos for a stimulating and perhaps surprising discussion on this topic. Bring your own examples to share! You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes

Gaming the Future: Putting the Science Fiction in SF RPGs Recorded at Metatopia 2015 Presented by Joshua A.C. Newman, Dev Purkayastha, Laura Simpson & Rachel Walton. Science Fiction, as a genre, has always been about social change and the pressures that change exerts on those caught in that change. That vertiginous change in perspective is designed to give us insight into the human condition as we experience it now. Our panel will talk about the techniques we use to focus RPG play on the interplay of ideas that makes Science Fiction such a compelling genre. You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes  

Sanity Points Recorded at Metatopia 2015 Presented by Elsa S. Henry, Will Hindmarch, Kelly Osborne & Craig Page. The worst thing that can happen to you in a horror game is either that you die, or that you lose your mind. In games that focus on a world “gone mad”, how do we support real people living with mental illness through our game development? This panel will focus on revisiting systems like sanity points, and discuss how to address breaks with reality and surviving the very worst that horror has to throw at the world without treating mental illness as a comedic happenstance, or as something to be dismissed. You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes

GMing Outside Your Comfort Zone Recorded at Metatopia 2015 Presented by Cheyenne Wall-Grimes, Sarah Richardson and Elsa S. Henry We all have games that we love to play and GM, but what happens when you break out of your normal type of game and venture into unknown territory? How do you deal with a new group of players who are into something very different than what you normally run? Whether it’s in a campaign setting or running con games, we’ll go over some of the things to expect, avoid and how to bounce back. You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes

Recycle! Using Material From Other Games Ethically and Effectively Recorded at Metatopia 2015 Presented by Justin Jacobson, Cam Banks, Jeff Tidball & Andre La Roche. At one time or another, every designer gains inspiration from existing works. Whether it’s snagging a single mechanic or repurposing an entire game with one crucial tweak. What are some tricks for finding that inspiration and using it in interesting ways? What are the ethical and legal considerations when using material? When does inspiration cross the line into plagiarism or, worse, infringement? What sort of attribution should you use? You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes

Patterns and Shapes in Larp Design Recorded at Metatopia 2015 Presented by  J Li and Jason Morningstar From spatial layout to information management, this workshop lays out some of the architectural and psychological principles behind LARP design as craft. What’s the difference between a three person conversation and a four person conversation? What does time pressure do to plot? How do you change the outcome of a game by placing chairs? Join us in exploring the fascinating complexity of building stories out of spontaneous human behavior, and playing with the tools we can use to shape it. Associated information is available at larppatterns.org You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes

How to Give and Receive Critique Recorded at Metatopia 2015 Presented by  Joshua A.C. Newman, Hannah Shaffer & Rachel E.S. Walton. Planning and running a Kickstarter campaign for your game can be like designing and playing another game. Will you hack an existing formula or take a risk on an unusual approach? Will it include lots of fiddly mechanics and rewards or will you take a more artistic direction? When you’re running the campaign, how do you play the roles of marketer, designer, publisher, business person, and artist? Join panelists as they talk about the design and management of Kickstarter campaigns themselves. In what ways have they evolved into established systems (stretch goals, etc.) and how are some creators breaking those conventions?   You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes

Kickstarter 101 (2015) Recorded at Metatopia 2015 Presented by JR Honeycutt, Joshua A.C. Newman & Chris O’Neill Planning and running a Kickstarter campaign for your game can be like designing and playing another game. Will you hack an existing formula or take a risk on an unusual approach? Will it include lots of fiddly mechanics and rewards or will you take a more artistic direction? When you’re running the campaign, how do you play the roles of marketer, designer, publisher, business person, and artist? Join panelists as they talk about the design and management of Kickstarter campaigns themselves. In what ways have they evolved into established systems (stretch goals, etc.) and how are some creators breaking those conventions? You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes

Cinematic Plays Recorded at Metatopia 2015 Presented by Will Hindmarch What are cinematic game mechanics? What makes a game cinematic and what do we call it when a game is not cinematic? In this presentation, writer/designer Will Hindmarch examines the languages of film and what we can borrow from cinema when we make our games, our adventures, and our plays at the table. You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes  

Game Distribution Recorded at Metatopia 2015 Presented by Brian Dalrymple and Darren Watts An overview of the 3-tier system (Publisher to Distributor to Retailer), following the course of a game after production (solicitation to wholesalers, trade shows and open houses, discount structures, buying patterns and reorder cycles, the preorder system, flooring, and more…), and covering how stores discover, order, stock, and merchandise, as they try to put them in customers’ hands. Viable alternatives to the 3-tier system are also discussed. You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes

Agile Design and Publishing Recorded at Metatopia 2015 Presented by Rob Donoghue and Emily Dresner Join our panelists for a discussion of how nerdy business concepts such as Agile software development to can be applied to your gaming experience. Key concepts of agile software design include rapid and flexible response to change – let’s talk about how to apply them to running games. More about Agile from Rob over on his site, at this blog post! Yes You Kan(ban)   You can subscribe to us here!  RSS Feed iTunes