RPG Design Panelcast

Episode 154 - What Games Attract Retailers and Distributors

Recorded at Metatopia 2017

Presented by Brian Dalrymple, Jason Walters, Melissa Lewis-Gentry.

Getting your game(s) into stores usually means dealing with distributors. How do you get their attention? What do they expect from you? If you're planning on going direct to retailers, what's the best way to do that? If you're planning on operating outside of traditional distribution, are you leaving money on the table? This is panel gives an overview of the 3-tier distribution system, including its strengths, weaknesses, and alternatives.

Episode 153 - From Idea to Product

Recorded at Metatopia 2017

Presented by John Adamus, Bryan Shipp, Laura Simpson, Tim Rodriguez

Games are a hydra on a roller coaster on fire. There's so much to do, so much to avoid doing, so much to plan for, and so much to hope works out. We'd like to talk about the process.

Episode 152 - Creating Compelling Adventures

Recorded at BreakoutCon 2018

Presented by: Robin Laws, Rachel Kahn, Jax Bryk, and Cindy Moore

Moderator: Pieter van Hiel

From fascinating NPCs to deadly dragons, each adventure the heroes brave must be memorable. Join our incredible panelists to discuss how to keep your adventures interesting and keep your players coming back for more!

Episode 151 - Crafting the Experience at the Table

Recorded at BreakoutCon 2018

Presented by: Rachel Kahn, Mark Richardson, Daniel Kwan, Alex Roberts

Moderator: Philip Vecchione

How do maps, minis, props, tools and other tactile elements enhance or affect our tabletop RPG games? Ways to add a tempting, touchable layer to your gaming experience, whether for your home group or as a designer.

Episode 150 - Breaking Into Boardgames

 

Recorded at BreakoutCon 2018

Presented by: Sen-Foong Lim, Rob Daviau, Allysha Tulk, Nicole Hoye
Moderator: Daryl Andrews

Have you ever wanted to be a boardgame designer? Join our wonderful panel of guests to discuss what it takes to get started down this path!

Episode 149 - GM Masterclass

Recorded at BreakoutCon 2018

Presented by: Robin Laws, Daniel Kwan, Emily Care Boss, and Michelle Lyons-McFarland
Moderator: Corey Reid

Learn how the best GMs run the best games. No matter what system or play style you love, this panel will have tips and tricks to help you level up your game.

Episode 148 - Making your First RPG

Recorded at BreakoutCon 2018

Presented by: Mark Richardson, Anna Kreider, Emily Griggs, Misha Bushyagar

Moderator: Jonathan Lavallee

The wondrous journey from beginning to end of working on your first game. It's a highlight reel of the big process parts and what to keep track of to make your first game as successful as possible.

Episode 147 - Blood on the Table: Horror in RPGs

Recorded at BreakoutCon 2018

Presented by Sarah Richardson, Michelle Lyons-McFarland, Jaym Gates

Moderator: Brand Robbins

Jaym Gates (BLUE ROSE 2nd Ed., TIANXIA: Blood, Silk, and Jade,), Michelle Lyons-McFarland (Chill, A Tragedy in Five Acts), and Sarah Richardson (Bluebeard’s Bride, Velvet Glove) as they discuss how diverse viewpoints bring new life to tired horror tropes. Topics may include feminine horror, setting the right tone, disrupting player assumptions, plus tips and tricks for running horror in trad, OSR, and story games. Make sure to bring questions of your own!

Episode 146 - My Games are Unapologetically Political

Recorded at Metatopia 2017

Presented by Shoshana Kessock, Neall Price, Susanne Vejdemo, Joshua A. C. Newman.

Art is and has always been political, and game design is no different. In this panel, we'll talk about developing games with political agendas not only wholly in mind, but front and center. We'll tackle discussions about the hard topics that come up in political games, whether or not you design for unity or for controversy, how to use game design to create the political message of your games, and how to design games with political messages in the current charged political world.

Episode 145 - Narrative Arcs in Boardgames

Recorded at Metatopia 2017

Presented by Roberta Taylor, Curt Covert.

Everyone loves a good story, whether it's in a book or on a screen, but what about memorable story in boardgames. What does story look like in a boardgame? How is story different from theme? How does the designer partner with players to tell a story? What are the limitations and where is the creative space wide open?

Episode 144 - Hierarchical Thinking in Games

Recorded at Metatopia 2017

Presented by Gil Hova, Jonathan Gilmour.

From Jones Theory to "this game fired that game", hierarchical thinking - comparing one thing to another in a way that ranks one as better than the other - is very popular in the gaming world. How useful is it? Are there situations where it hurts us? We will talk about the pros and cons of hierarchical thinking, and dive into why it's so appealing to us game fans.

Episode 143 - The Forge Retrospective

Recorded at Metatopia 2017

Presented by Bill White, Brennan Taylor, Lisa Padol, Evan Torner, and more. 

Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About The Forge (But Were Afraid To Ask). The Forge (www.indie-rpgs.com) was an online discussion site for indie TRPG design, publication, and play that was active from 2001 to 2012. Across tens of thousands of discussion threads, Forge participants hashed out new ways of understanding the dynamics of tabletop RPG play, and developed a new conceptual language for talking about game design, as part of a larger project of promulgating the "indie RPG" message that anyone can design and publish the game they want. This larger mission largely accomplished by 2010, according to its founders, the Forge closed its forums in 2012. But the ideas it offered still have value, and so five years after the closing of the Forge we look back and assess its insights, its accomplishments, and its imbroglios. Presented by Bill White, game designer and game studies scholar currently working on a book about the Forge, along with several regular posters from that era

Episode 142 - Games, Learning, and Social Change

Recorded at Metatopia 2017

Presented by Tam Myaing, Heather Wilson.

Games by their nature are learning tools. When we play games, we are, at a minimum, learning the mechanics and the boundaries of the game space. Can we use this 'learning mechanic' to design better games, and better players? The panel will explore the mechanics of learning in games and their potential to reach beyond the game space. 

Episode 141 - What are you scared of?

Recorded at Metatopia 2017

Presented by Darren Watts, Christopher O'Neill, Roberta Taylor.

You've got a board game, card game, RPG or LARP in your head, but something's stopping you from settling down and doing the work to get it done and out there in the world. What is it? Let's get into your head and smack down the voices telling you it can't be done. 

Episode 140 - We Have Always GMd

Recorded at Metatopia 2017

Presented by Kate Bullock, Michelle Lyons, Kathryn Miller, Anna Kreider.

As much as we'd like to banish "Women in Gaming" panels to the depths of our historic archives, there is still value in addressing the fact that being there are challenges for women at the gaming table that different than those faced by our male counterparts. This panel will talk about the ways women have always contributed to gaming, and how to handle some of the more nuanced situations that still come up.

Episode 139 - Writing Inclusive Alternate Histories

Recorded at Metatopia 2017

Presented by Eric Simon, Darren Watts, Shoshana Kessock, and Elsa Henry.

From the implicit imperialism of steampunk to the complicated controversy of HBO's Confederate, it seems like alternate history is often fraught with problems. We provide you with techniques and ideas for writing, designing, and playing with historical and alternate historical themes in ways that are positive, inclusive, respectful, and productive. 

The slideshow presentation used at the panel is available at https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Uyj3bTumXtXSSz6s7JV_kAc2mwnfSs1abUoeYfjWFfQ/edit?usp=sharing

 

Episode 138 - Professionalization

Recorded at Metatopia 2017

Presented by Michelle Lyons-McFarland, Jason Pitre.

Professionalization has been defined as "transformation into a profession of the highest integrity and competence." Integrity and competence are laudable goals for the profession as a whole, but how do we get there? What practices should we pursue? How do we differentiate between industry/business/community relationships, and are we willing to do so? This roundtable will try to hit on some best practices and identify the obstacles that stand in our way. 

Episode 137 - Don't Shred your Game

Recorded at Metatopia 2017

Presented by Dev Purkayastha.

A workshop for designers who have playtested their game - here or elsewhere - and have gotten challenging feedback. It's easy to feel discouraged, but it's important to take the next step. The goal of this workshop is to provide encouragement towards the ongoing process, rather than workshopping specific feedback.

Note: This is a workshop rather than a panel, but there is some good advice and discussion worth your time.

Episode 136 - Crowdfunding Retailer Tiers

Recorded at Metatopia 2017

Presented by Melissa Lewis-Gentry, Brian Dalrymple.

So you're planning crowdfunding for your game, and have heard that Retail is important. Maybe you did a retail tier in a previous Kickstarter and had no one buy it, or maybe you lost money by creating that tier. Regardless, the industry is changing faster than we can keep up. Learn from Retailers on what they want and what they won't back for 2018 Kickstarters & IndieGoGos. Learn from Expert Campaigners on the pitfalls of building tiers. Be sure to bring questions about your upcoming campaign, we want to hear them.

Episode 135 - The Confused State of Rulebooks

Recorded at Metatopia 2016

Presented by Joshua Yearsley, John Adamus, Dr. Jessica Hammer.

Writing and editing rulebooks is still a black art, not an empirical science. In this panel, Dr. Jessica Hammer and professional editors John Adamus and Joshua Yearsley hash out the state of the rulebook. What works? What doesn't? Why do so many professionals (including us!) disagree about how to write good rulebooks? Why are so many rulebooks still bad, and what can we do about it? We won't have all the answers - maybe you'll help us find some. It is somewhere between a panel and a roundtable. We'll certainly have things to say and discuss with each other, but we absolutely welcome audience input to figure out what the world's thinking about.

Apologies for the poor sound quality.

Episode 134 - It Takes a Village

Recorded at Metatopia 2016

Presented by Jason Pitre, Jeff Tidball, Stephen Tasker, Darren Watts.

As a game master, you use NPCs to describe the setting, and to interact with the PCs. As a designer, you help shape the kinds of NPCs that fill those roles. This panel is all about different ways that designers can establish NPCs and relationships in their designs. Who do the PC's love, hate, defend, or overthrow?

Apologies for the poor sound quality.

Episode 133 - Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

Recorded at Metatopia 2016

Presented by Fred Hicks and Chris Hanrahan.

Innovation and new ideas are fantastic in game design, but designers have borrowed, stolen, and adapted other people's ideas for as long as we've been making games. Let's talk about whose works have influenced us, how we can best credit and pay homage to that work, and what we might not understand about ourselves as designers based on the works we ourselves have created.

Note: This is a short episode with mediocre sound quality. The content is good though!

Episode 132 - Worldbuilding Towards Story

Recorded at Metatopia 2016

Presented by Kenneth Hite, Bill White.

The principles of worldbuilding for games are not the principles of worldbuilding for novels (depth of field) and certainly not the principles of worldbuilding for physics (plate tectonics). What are they? How can you apply them to a pre-existing world, real or fictional?

Episode 131 - Managing RPG Development Teams

Recorded at Metatopia 2016

Presented by Emily Dresner, Fred Hicks, Rob Donoghue.

You're a successful indie publisher! You did a great job wearing all the hats - game designer, writer, editor, artist, and graphic designer. Now, you want to create something bigger and more grand! You discover that, without years of time, you cannot carry out your vision yourself. You need other people... and that leads to new headaches. We'll talk about tools, techniques, schedules, planning, effective communication, using freelancers, and even a little Agile on how to turn yourself from a one man band into product making machine.

Episode 130 - It Won't Fit

Recorded at Metatopia 2016

Presented by Kenneth Hite, Jason Pitre, Marissa Kelly, Fred Hicks.

When designing a game, the temptation is to use another tested rules set: Fate, PbtA, HERO, BRP, OSR, or what have you. When shouldn't you do that? What demands special treatment, and when should you make it yourself?