RPG Design Panelcast

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? 

Episode 295: Integrating the Natural World

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Jeeyon Shim, Meguey Baker, Jason Morningstar.

 

Understanding the natural world as an active participant in games and design shifts our engagement with environmental justice and enriches every aspect of our work. Join this panel of game designers with backgrounds as adventure guides, outdoor educators, and naturalists as they discuss the various ways integrating the natural world positively impacts their design and community work in games. Attendees will learn tools to understand the more-than-human community around them in ways they can weave into their own participation in games, whether as players, designers, or organizers.

Episode 294: Applying Education Theory in Games

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Gabriel de los Angeles, Sen-Foong Lim, Brian Quinones.

Using concepts from education theory is a natural and obvious way to improve game design practices. Our panelists will talk about how to apply an understanding of how people learn and engage in play to your design process to create more immersive, satisfying designs.

Episode 293: Publishing in Asia

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Jason Morningstar, Sungil Kim, Taka'aki Ayukata, Steve Segedy.

Asian game markets are booming! Come meet two publishers who are actively licensing and translating English-language properties for their own countries and beyond. Join us for an informal conversation with and between publishers from Japan and Korea. 

Episode 292: Fulfillment to Latin America

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Alastor Guzman, Sergio Ake.

 

"How To Include Latin America In Your Kickstarter Fulfillment"  Latin American gamers are often excluded in Kickstarts due to.  high shipping prices, tax and unfamiliarity with the market. In this panel, we'll talk about how to include them in your fulfillment estimates and make it worthwhile for all involved.

Episode 291: Play With Your Food

Recorded at Metatopia 2020 Online

Presented by Anne Ratchat, Sharang Biswas, Bronwyn Sperling, Kristen Roberts.

 

Food is fundamental to survival and yet serves as so much more, building communities and relationships, serving as an artistic expression, connecting us to ideals and memories. We will explore our diverse relationship with food, cooking, and eating and, in turn, show how such simple acts can be very powerful mechanics in games, most notably LARP.

Episode 290: Tactile Games

Recorded at Metatopia 2020 Online

Presented by Avraham Yosef Baez, Bronwyn Sperling, Emily Care Boss

 

Role-playing games that integrate tactile components and mechanics allow our other senses to engage in play. Although COVID put a pause on many games that offer tactile experiences, join our conversation about what we are excited to have in the future. This panel will discuss how these little touches (see what we did there?) help enhance the game experience, how could they hurt it, and what considerations should be thought of when designing a game with tactile components. Whether it is sewing, stacking, smelling, or sounds, come join us and sigh about what we long to get back to. 

Episode 289: The Intersection of Roleplaying and Medicine

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Rach Shelkey, Jacqueline Bryk, Sidney Icarus, Jen Dixon.

Has the current global health crisis inspired a new game idea? Considering writing a game about healthcare workers? Join our panelists as they discuss what role playing games can learn from the field of medicine and how to thoughtfully address the medical profession in your designs. Questions encouraged!

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 286: Consulting 101

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by J Li, Jessica Hammer

Consulting 101: Selling Game Design As a Service for $5K - $250K: . Want to sell game design as a service to large institutions? This panel will walk you through the practical details of the consulting pitch and sales process. Topics include how to get started, finding clients, crafting proposals, asking for money, sales strategy, execution deliverables, and long-term business development. 

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 284: Don't Kickstart Your Game

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Nicole Cutler, Avonelle Wing.

It seems a little unpopular to tell new designers "don't kickstart your game"; Kickstarter is an invaluable tool. There are so many encouraging blogs and podcasts that talk optimistically about how accessible it is to crowdfund your own game. but there's not a lot that talk in depth about the logistics, liabilities and potential pitfalls. Before making the decision to launch a campaign, we want to give potential new creators a realistic look behind the curtain to see what they're diving into.

Episode 283: Distribution and your Boardgame

Recorded at Metatopia 2020 Online

Presented by Scott Morris, Mike Paschal.

Are you a designer and want to know how your game gets distributed? Are you self publishing and want to know more about Distribution? Are you crazy enough to actually ask a Distributor anything? Join us as Scott Morris from GTS and Mike Paschal from PHD discuss the U.S.'s 3-Tier system and answer questions. 

Episode 282: Canada is not a Northern Suburb of the USA

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Jason Pitre, Sen-Foong Lim, Nicole Winchester, Christoph Sapinsky.

For Canadian game designers and pros, it's pretty common to get lumped in with U.S. designers. After all, it's all North America, right? The cultural differences between the two countries often gets lost, especially when discussing the elements that inform game design and aesthetics. Our panelists will talk about the specific parts of their Canadian experience that affect their game development work. 

Episode 281: The Human Heart

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by Vee Hendro, Hayley Gordon.

All RPGs engage our emotions, and some are made with feels first in mind. We discuss the ethics and how-to of emotional storytelling and RPG design. From buy-in to agency and safety, how can we make anguish and yearning an enjoyable experience? Brought to you by Storybrewers, Australia.

Episode 280: No Gods, No Masters, No GMs

Recorded at Metatopia Online 2020

Presented by A.C., Jay Dragon, and Viditya Voleti.

Being a GM is hard; like, really hard. Having nobody willing to fill that role has been the downfall of many a game group. But there is an alternative! GM-less roleplaying games are getting more and more popular, and this panel is here to discuss why.