RPG Design Panelcast

Episode 381: Law and Governance in Games

Recorded at Metatopia 2024

Presented by Jason Pitre

Law, like game design, is fundamentally about guiding human behavior. If you don't want people to resolve their problems with axes, you create a rule saying axe-murder is not acceptable or find a way to prevent people from having axes. In this panel, we will discuss how games treat law, governance, and society and what lessons those real world subjects can hold for designers.

Episode 380 : Level Up Your Sexy Game

Recorded at Metatopia 2024

Presented by Samphire Savage & Meguey Baker

Sexy role play has likely existed as long as we have been getting it on. So what makes a game a sex game, and why write them? We willl explore common themes and design concepts in existing sex/sexy games, common pitfalls and risks in sex game design, and ways sex themes can support or derail design goals.

Episode 358: Ethical AI Usage?

Presented by Jason Pitre, Ash Kreider, Vivian Young, Eric Whalen, Tristan Zimmerman

AI is a hot topic. Authors are suing over their content being used to "train" AI without their consent. Platforms and publishers are taking hard anti-AI positions. Or coming out publicly to declare that they are using AI and nobody can stop them. People who want to use AI for idea generation or to simplify and automate boring tasks are at odds with peers who maintain that there is no ethical way to use AI. We're going to start by defining "AI" and then we'll have a respectful, thoughtful conversation on the topic.

Episode 352: Problematic and Taboo Topics

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2021

Presented by Anne Ratchat, Jason Morningstar, and regrets from James Mendez Hodes.

 When writing games, a lot of topics are taboo simply because as a community, we are worried how people might take the intentionality of the design to the worst possible places. The issue created by not writing these games, we erase the experience of so many creatives and players who also deserve to have their voices heard. We will be discussing the thought process of how to tackle these controversial topics so that games can be a place for all experiences.

Episode 342: Details for the Devil

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2021

Presented by Richard Ruane, Pam Punzalan, Brian Yaksha, Zedeck Siew.

 

In METATOPIA 2020's "Devil in the Details" panel, we explored microsettings; settings that focus closely on a specific area, region, or location. This year, we'll discuss how microsettings challenge traditional assumptions about game mechanics, focusing on character creation, magic, technology, and GM procedures. How can the concrete specificity of microsettings open up other design opportunities beyond just the setting details?

Episode 340: The Data is in, now what?

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2021

Presented by Tanya Pobuda, Sarah Stang, Erika Chung, Eric Lang.

We know where we stand - gaming, specifically analog gaming in this case, has a sexism and racism problem. We've proven that through our research. Now that we have the data to back up our lived experiences, what can we do to fix the problems?

Episode 331: Designing and Publishing with ADHD

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2021

Presented by Jay Dragon, Robert Donoghue, Rabbit Stoddard, Darla Burrow.

Game design and publishing are complex tasks at the best of times, and particularly so for those dealing with ADHD. Many creatives struggle with maintaining their attention and concentration on their design and publishing work. How do you track your accomplishments and keep track of what you need to do next? How do you manage multiple deadlines and juggling priorities? How can ADHD be harnessed to help you with your creative work? In this panel, four experienced designers will share their hard-won secrets

Episode 322: Biracial Game Design

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Whitney Delaglio, Camdon Wright, Avraham Yosef Baez.

People are told to tell their own stories when making games, but biracial folk are often forced into an unreasonable process of justifying their marginalization regardless of their life experiences. We'll also talk about the racist foundation of not allowing designers to speak about living in, growing up around, and often excluded from more than one community. Also about how our backgrounds influence the games and artwork we design.

Episode 319: Feminist Worldbuilding

Recorded at Metatopia 2020

Presented by Misha Bushyager, Elsa Sjunneson, Kristen Roberts

Explicitly feminist world-building will consider all the ways that traditionally domestic tasks and arts enrich your setting and shape your characters. From textiles to food, child-rearing to death rituals, considering the ways these details fit together will make for deeper, richer game experiences. These principles apply across all game forms

Episode 315: Jewish Games

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Dr. Jessica Hammer, Christopher Hall.

What does it mean to design games from a Jewish perspective? We have recently seen several games that center on the Jewish experience, like Rosenstrasse, Keeping The Candles Lit, Dream Apart and Mud. In this session, we'll look at key Jewish texts to see how themes and ideas from Jewish culture can inform your design. All texts will be provided in English; please come prepared for a vigorous conversation.

Episode 302: Shores Not Quite Undiscovered

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Pamela Punzalan, Vince Smith, and Alastor Guzman.

 

Much of the dialogue relevant to the tabletop gaming industry and the communities that form around it is centered around the United States of America. Many know that creators from all around the world exist, but few understand just how different their contexts can be from the status quo. This panel seeks to bring multiple voices from beyond America together in order to discuss these differences, and provide some nuanced insight on how the America-centered industry informs their own contexts and communities.

Episode 298: Becoming Better Than Well Intentioned

Recorded at Metatopia 2020 Online

Presented by Kitty Stryker, Spider Perry, Avonelle Wing.

We will talk about practical actions you can take to be better prepared the next time you have the chance to speak up. It might be addressing a micro-aggression at the game table or shutting down a bully who wants to make somebody feel small in an online setting, for example. These aren't easy things and the skills don't always come naturally. Our panelists will talk about practicing phrases and learning to overcome the social conditioning that perpetuates "isms

Episode 288: Designing Microsettings

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

 Presented by Richard Ruane, Brian Yaksha, Zedeck Siew, Amanda Franck, Pamela Punzalan.

 

Microsettings (settings that focus closely on a specific area, region, or location) can be a powerful touchstone for game design. By focusing their attention and concerns on a small region, city, or even places as focused as a bar, a school, or a shopping center, microsettings give the smaller, more particular stories a space to happen. In the panel, we'd like to discuss how designing and detailing of focused microsettings can evoke a location's multiplicity and diversity, make the world of the game more accessible and real, challenge characters to form relationships within the setting, and invoke curiosity about mundane aspects of setting life.

 

A thread of additional questions and answers have been prepared by Brian Yaksha, one of the panelists.

https://twitter.com/goatmansgoblet/status/1324917649143435265

 

 

 

Episode 287: Designing RPGs That Don't Centre on Violence

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

 

Presented by Ash Kreider, Jason Morningstar, Mike Czaplinski, Jeeyon Shim.

 

A panel about the limitations of imagination when it comes to how we see violence in tabletop games. With the entire range of human experience to draw from, why is designing games without violence still seen as having a "niche" audience? In this panel, we will discuss what it means to explore designing games that don't feature interpersonal violence as a resolution mechanic.

Episode 285: English as our Vehicular Language

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Kalum, Pamela Punzalan, Diogo Nogueira, Allan Cudicio.

"RPGs and English as Our Vehicular Language: Beyond the American Culture Online: The internet enables Tabletop RPG fans to come together globally. However, it is difficult for non-American communities to have their voices heard. This due to the use of English as our shared vehicular language combined with the disproportionate American demographics online. In this panel, we'll explore the experience of non-native English-speaking RPG luminaries within this reality. We'll talk through the lens of RPG about local identities and cross-border engagement. 

Episode 264 - Queer Game Designers

Recorded at GenCon Online 2020

Presented by AC, Kira Magrann, Wilson Zorn, Jay Dragon, and Lucian Khan.

 

Streamed live for Gen Con Online 2020. You can find games from all these creators on IPR's website, linked below!

https://www.indiepressrevolution.com/...

Find Kira Magrann at - 
https://twitter.com/Kiranansi
https://kiramagrann.itch.io/

Find Wilson Zorn at - 
https://twitter.com/zornwil

Find Jay Dragon at -
https://twitter.com/jdragsky

https://jdragsky.itch.io/

 

Find Lucian Kahn at - 
https://twitter.com/oh_theogony

https://necromancy.itch.io/

 

Episode 263 - Games in Education

Recorded at Metatopia 2019

Presented by Jennifer Gutterman, Shawn Roske, Tim Blank.

Are you an educator wanting to gamify your classroom? Are you building a traditional education game? Do you want your game to be fun but also teach the players about something? This is where we can discuss ideas, workflows, deployments and examples of games in education, gamification in the classroom or building games that teach.

Epsiode 261 - Updating Cyberpunk

Recorded at Metatopia 2020

Presented by Dexter Duckworth, Elsa Sjunneson.

The Distant Future, the Year 2000: Updating Cyberpunk for the 21st Century. The hard-hitting themes of social inequality and corporate exploitation found in cyberpunk are as relevant now as they were in the 80's, but not everything in the genre has stood the test of time. This panel will dive into how both the technologies and sensibilities found in cyberpunk can be updated in order to design games that are timely and inclusive.

Episode 260 - Paying it Forward and Supporting Diverse Creators

Recorded at Metatopia 2019

Presented by Jason Pitre, Cat Tobin, Amanda Valentine, Lauren McMannon, Camdon Wright.

Everyone should have a chance to create and publish games. Unfortunately, there are many structural barriers keeping unrepresented voices from coming to the table. In this roundtable discussion, our panelists discuss ways that established publishers can support new voices through information, promotion, funding, and education.

Episode 253 - Holding Space for Teens

Recorded at Metatopia 2019

Presented by Meguey Baker, Caleb Stokes, Clark Valentine, Edward LaValley.

Teenagers bring innovation, creativity and hard questions to the game table. Our panelists will talk about how to hold space for everything that makes gaming with them magical.

Episode 244 - Creating Safety Tools

Recorded at Metatopia 2019

Presented by Kate Bullock, Camdon Wright, Bronwyn Sperling.

Want to learn how to create safety tools that fit your game and are baked into the mechanics instead of just adding pre-established tools on top? This panel dives into the creative and mechanical process of understanding safety and support and integrating it into your ttrpg designs.

Episode 243 - Responsible Research

Recorded at Metatopia 2019

Presented by Jason Pitre, Misha Bushyager, James Mendez Hodes.

Some of the best games deal with heavy topics and challenging subject matter. Creators who look to design or publish games addressing sensitive subject matter need to do due diligence to reduce the chance their work could do harm. In this panel, we will discuss how creators can ethically do the legwork and research to tackle issues of race, sexuality, identity, and trauma.

Episode 241 - Nostalgia as a Genre

Recorded at Metatopia 2019

Presented by Shoshanna Kessock, Brian Neff, Doug Levandowski, and Sean Jaffe.

Echoes of the late 20th century are all around us in 2019, especially in pop culture and media. Stranger Things, IT, and Bandersnatch have tapped into a rich vein of nostalgia that has entranced audience and permeated our time. Gaming, especially tabletop gaming, has been depicted as a vital part of 80s culture. In return, game creators are tapping into both the renewed interest in the hobby, and the evocation of nostalgia for this time period. In this panel we'll be exploring this recursive relationship with creators from Kids on Bikes and Rememorex. We’ll talk role playing and nostalgia, how to evoke an authentic sense of a time period, and what has drawn us as creators back to the past.

Episode 235 - Designing RPGs With Safety Tools Included

Recorded at Metatopia 2018

Presented by Philip Vecchione, Senda Linaugh and Alex Roberts.

Let's talk about integrating safety tools into your design process from the foundation. Yes, the x-card is valuable. Let's talk about design that builds the next generation of tools in from the beginning

Episode 233 - Deconstructing Religion in your Games

Recorded at Metatopia 2018

Presented by Shoshana Kessock, James Mendez Hodes.

Religion has held sway across the world in various forms, and its influence has molded everything from how we live our everyday lives to the laws we make and the entertainment we consume. We will take a look at how real world religious ideologies have impacted the games we create, how they influence the worlds we build, and how we might deconstruct those ideas to approach our games from a different perspective. Specific care will be taken to contrast western ideologies from across the world.