RPG Design Panelcast

Episode 320: Resonant Theming for Greater Emotional Impact in Board Game Design

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Sarah Shipp, Kathleen Mercury, Eric Slauson.

How do designers get their themes to reverberate across the hobby? By adding depth, shape, and clarity to their themes. Let's talk about how to avoid muddy themes and create games that sing.

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 318: Transformative Larping

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Chance Feldstein, Erika Skirpan, Jessica Comstock, Jon Cole.

Generally, "transformative" games teach skills, facilitate personal insights or shadow work, or otherwise have a significant impact on your non-gaming life. What makes a LARP game transformative without sacrificing fun and other important elements?

Episode 317: Different Traditions of Indie Publishing

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Jason Pitre, Fiona Geist, Darren Watts, Viditya Voleti.

Indie game publishing is a strange craft and the design communities approach the process differently. In this panel, we will explore the similarities and divergences in publishing approaches from a Story Game, Sworddream, Trad and OSR perspectives. Let's share our knowledge and get weird.

Episode 316: How to Make and Sell RPG Adventures

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Graham Walmsley, Christopher McGlothlin, Darren Watts, Lynne Hardy, Alex Helms.

It's almost a truism that it's very hard to make RPG adventures, scenarios and modules that will sell unless you're talking about the very biggest games. Is that really true? Let's share some tricks and tips on this panel!

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 314: Forged in the Dark Designs

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Charles Simon, Justin Ford, Pamela Punzalan, Erik Bernhardt, Nychelle Schneider.

Forged in the Dark designers share their secrets! A diverse panel of up-and-coming indie designers inspired to create by Blades in the Dark who have variously playtested, engaged with fellow Forged in The Dark fans, and kickstarted projects comes together to discuss their inspirations, design challenges, and successes.

Episode 313: Should Games Make You Feel Bad?

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Tam Myaing, Doug Levandowski, Roberta Taylor, Jessica Creane.

 

As designers we strive to make games "fun", but they can also be a vehicle for other emotions, such as fear, sadness, disgust, shame, etc. From Brenda Romero's Train to Marc Gertz's Imperial, we will explore several games that intentionally or unintentionally make you feel bad

Episode 312 - Economics and Trade as Design Elements

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Jason Pitre, Rob Donoghue, Emily Dresner, Kenneth Hite

The 100 GP Pearl: Economics and Trade as Design Elements. Economics and trade have long been foundational elements of game design, from the hyperinflation of dungeon pillaging to the free traders of Traveller. In this panel, we discuss how these aspects can be used as the foundation for game mechanics and procedures. Don't make me quote the rules of acquisition at you

Episode 311: New Editions

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Russell Collins, Brennan Taylor, Meguey Baker, Greg Stolze.

Was your game imperfect when it was released? Has it changed over time? Have you? We'll explore why (and how) you can update your game for the 2nd, or 3rd, or 4th, edition

Episode 310: Asymmetric Roleplaying Game Design

Recorded at Metatopia 2020

Presented by Jason Pitre, Spencer Campbell, Sasha Moros, Ben Robbins, Caroline Hobbs.

Role playing games have a long history of asymmetrical rules, beginning with the establishment of the Dungeon Master in the very beginning and continuing to games such as Kingdom. Role playing games have explored countless different ways of allocating authority, and modern asymmetrical boardgames (Root, Vast, etc) have showed some new approaches worth considering. In this panel, we will dig into potential ways to approach asymmetrical design.

Episode 309: Getting your First RPG Published

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Jason Walters, Moe Poplar, Darren Watts, April Walsh, Jonathan Lavallee.

Publishing your first RPG can be difficult, how do you know when enough play testing is enough? What feedback should you listen to? How do you get your game ready for print? All these questions, and more, will be answered in this comprehensive advice panel. 

Episode 308: Games Are Art

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Curt Covert, Julie Ahern.

Games Are Art: Designing Through An Artist's Lens. When you think of art, you think of music, theater, painting, sculpting, writing, film. And at the heart of each is an artist, who uses their talents, creativity, skill and intelligence to craft something that never existed before, with the intent of sharing a vision, a feeling, a message, a sense of discovery or connection. The games we create are no less an art form, and we designers no less than artists. What we craft brings people together for a shared experience and has the ability to do more than challenge us mentally, pass the time or entertain, but to connect emotionally with people. Let us view game design through an artistic lens, to look past the mathematical underpinnings, and dive into what makes games a uniquely human endeavor.

Episode 307: Contract Literacy 101

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Eric Whalen, Rob Hebert, Steven Long, Debbie Moynihan.

"Contract Literacy 101: Whereas & Therefore & Beyond" The majority of game designers will need to sign at least one contract prior to completing their game. This panel will improve your literacy and familiarity with the structure of contracts, as well as explain some of the standard contract terms you ought to be prepared to encounter. The information should be relevant to designers, artists, and publishers alike.

Episode 306: Art Direction Case Study

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Jason Morningstar, Jabari Weathers, Brennen Reece. 

Art Direction: From Designer to Director to Artist. A game designer, an art director, and an artist who recently worked on a project together will talk about the project (Bully Pulpit Games' "Dead House") from each of their perspectives - how they collaborated and communicated and perceived both the brief and the final output. 

Episode 305 : Lowering the Barrier to Entry to Trad RPGs

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Will Sobel, Beth Rimmels.

For better or worse, traditional RPGs have a reputation for crunch and complication that can be scary for new players. How can designers and publishers make their games less imposing both in substance and appearance? 

Episode 304 - Pitch Perfect

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Curt Covert, Melissa Lewis-Gentry, Jason Walters, Isaac Vega.

How do you present a game to playtesters without biasing them, but getting what you want from the test? How do you present that same game to a publisher differently? How do you present the game to fans at a show to get them excited enough to buy it? Some things will be identical, others will be custom-tailored to the audience and what they care about (or what you want from it). And there are multiple versions of each.

Episode 303: New Tools for Old Hands

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Olivia Montoya, Donna Prior, Avonelle Wing.

 

Discord. Itch. Twitch. If you blinked and suddenly your peers sound like they’re talking about new horsemen of a very minor apocalypse, we’re here to help you catch up. There are a plethora of new(ash) platforms available to empower your gaming experiences. Avie’s here as our token dinosaur, while Donna and Olivia bring the knowledge

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 301: Games, Gamefeel and Umami

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by James Wallis, Cat Tobin, Kieron Gillen, Jacob Jaskov.

We all know how certain games feel in play and how they make us feel, but as designers and critics we don't have a set of words to describe it. Do we need an experiential vocabulary of play, and what would one look like?

Episode 300: Crafting Game Mechanics to Support Player Agency

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Jacob Segal, Justin Ford, Ian Hart.

Systems like Forged in the Dark are designed with mechanics that deliberately support player agency. When paired with external safety tools, these agency-focused mechanics are intended to foster safer play culture and richer experiences. Our panelists will discuss what we mean by "player agency" and what these mechanics look like and how they work.

Episode 299: NPCs as a Design Elements

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Jason Pitre, Zedeck Siew, Sinta Posadas.

Non-player characters are vital to tabletop and live action roleplaying games. They provide companionship, contrast, resources, information, and dramatic conflict with the players. They are the avatars of the setting, and the best tools that a GM has at their disposal. In this panel, we discuss how games can be designed using NPCs as a key mechanism of play. 

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 297: Accessible Core Mechanics and Horror

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Anne Ratchat, Spider Perry, Misha Bushyager, Mids Meinberg, Pamela Punzalan.

For all the merits of the genre, it is not an exaggerated statement to say that horror is the least accessible genres in analog gaming. Between mechanics that require physical ability, the habitual use of monsters whose descriptions sound uncomfortably close to home, and the widespread misunderstanding of how mental health and mental illnesses work, a large swath of players are alienated before the game even begins. In this panel, we will use the recurrent inaccessible themes in horror to explore how one can build a more accessible game from the core mechanics out. 

Episode 296: RPGs for Therapy

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Heather O'Neill, Timothy Grant, Brian Quinones, Jack Berkenstock.

This panel of game designers and therapists will discuss their journey to design RPGs for use in therapy as well as the overall benefit of using roleplaying games as a therapeutic tool. What games have they used in the past? What worked, what didn't? How did they modify games for therapy sessions?