RPG Design Panelcast

Episode 229 - Beyond Bright Lights

Recorded at Metatopia 2018

Presented by Jacqueline Bryk, Kate Bullock, Hamish Cameron

"Beyond Bright Lights: Doing Cyberpunk Differently".  Much of cyberpunk focuses on the heroic outcast: the usually white male hacker or delivery person or shadowrunner bent on twisting the system for himself. Most of these stories take place in massive, crowded cities -- so why is it so rare to see any other narrative? Let's talk about how to expand our view of cyberpunk!

Episode 228 - Tabletop Analytics and Feedback

Recorded at Metatopia 2018

Presented by Brian Neff, Kiva Fecteau

Crunching the Cardboard - Tabletop Analytics and Feedback". Playtesting and gathering feedback is the first step. The next step is to figure out what to do with the data you've collected and apply it to your design process productively. We will talk about how to discern which data should change your path and how.

Episode 227 - How to be a Playtester

Recorded at Metatopia 2018

Presented by Kate Bullock, Kelvin Ortega, Jennifer Graham-Macht.

Our panelists talk about how to be good playtesters. Learn how to hear the questions being asked and answer with useful feedback. We all want to give helpful criticism; learn more about how to do that.

Episode 226 - Latinx Design

Recorded at Metatopia 2018

Presented by Brandon Leon-Gambetta, Miguel Angel Espinoza, Mark Diaz Truman, Alejandro Guzman Vendrell, Jennifer Gutterman.

Join us for a celebration of Latinidad and an opportunity to come together as a Latinx community. This panel of Latinx game designers come together to discuss what it is like to write, play in, and run games while Latinx.

Episode 225 - Queer Erasure

Recorded at Metatopia 2018

Presented by Sam Saltiel, Elsa Henry, Avonelle Wing, Eli Eaton.

Queer Erasure: Queerness is not a monolith. Queer game design is not immune to erasure, and by examining the state of currently available and celebrated games (and games) that address queerness, we can explore ways to expand our narratives to include the entire glorious rainbow.

Episode 224 - Being a Full-Timer

Recorded at Metatopia 2018

Presented by Brian Neff, Darren Watts, Cat Tobin. 

There are a lot of people who will say that full-time jobs don't exist in the Gaming Industry. That is wrong. There are tons of ways to make a career out of making games. It involves working long hours and probably being underpaid, but they exist. Here's how to look for them, and how to prepare for them.

Episode 223 - How to Work With Artists

Recorded at Metatopia 2018

Presented by Jack Parra, Lissanne Lake, Scott Bowmanchester

How To Work With Artists: This panel will touch on the process of how to find and approach artists, negotiate the contract, and then successfully work together. It's important that publishers get an artist's-eye-view of things so they can better understand what we do, the process, and the time involved and plan projects accordingly.

Episode 222 - Marketing is More Than Social Media

Recorded at Metatopia 2018

Presented by Melissa Lewis-Gentry, Beth Rimmels, Christopher Tang.

Marketing Is More Than Social Media. While social media is an important tool for marketers to use, many companies confuse it for the whole breadth of a marketing. Hear expert marketing professionals talk about what marketing departments should be doing for game publishing companies.

Episode 221 - The Joy of Honobono

Recorded at Metatopia 2018

Presented by presented by Rach Shelkey, Jacqueline Bryk.

Honobono games. Heartwarming games. Pastoral games. Roleplaying games that focus on finding excitement in mundane situations and reinforcing positive emotion spaces go by several different labels. How do you design for uplifting gameplay? What impact do these games have on players? Our panelists will explore RPGs and mechanics that help players explore those warm fuzzy feelings.

Episode 220 - Stage Gate Development

Recorded at Metatopia 2018

Presented by Randy Lubin.

A Stage Gate Approach to Game Development:  A stage gate approach involves developing multiple ideas in parallel, starting with one sentence pitches. Each round of the design process advances to a higher fidelity pitch, rule set, or playtest and each round you cull a subset of the potential games. It's a highly effective method for generating a breadth of ideas, overcoming design anxiety, and developing with confidence

Episode 219 - DrivethruRPG

Recorded at Metatopia 2018

Presented by Christopher Tang

"Getting Started With DriveThruRPG". Let's talk about how to interact with DriveThruRPG, some of the nitty gritty process but also the general principles to bear in mind and some of the things many people do not know like the details of the OGL, basic copyright law, the availability of Community Content programs, etc. Also taking audience questions liberally since I expect there will be those. We will also cover some of the ways the site has changed in the last year (mostly GDPR changes).

Episode 218 - Marketing 201

Recorded at Metatopia 2018

Presented by Juliet Meyer, Raymond Bruels

Marketing 201: Creating Content around Your Brand/Product. You've got a brand/product and you've got all the social media channels and a website. Great. Now what? Learn how to create consistent content for your brand/product that will resonate with your audience. This class covers Twitch streaming, social post scheduling/generation, as well as some ideas for rich media creation, and how to go about creating content for your brand/product using tools you already have! Bring your phone to this seminar

Episode 217 - Marketing 101

Recorded at Metatopia 2018

Presented by Juliet Meyer, Raymond Bruels

Marketing 101: Creating a Basic Marketing Plan. This is a basic course in marketing your brand and/or your product and helping you know the difference between the two in terms of tone and voice. Which social media platform is best for you? How should you measure success? Do I need a website/Facebook/Instagram/Telegram Channel/Sub-Reddit and what are those things? What are the different ways to market? What is my target demographic? How can you build an audience for your brand/product?

Episode 216 - Appoaching Allyship from an Intersectional Perspective

Recorded at Metatopia 2018

Presented by Julia Ellingboe and Brand Robins.

Approaching Allyship from a Genuinely Intersectional Perspective. There's no formal roadmap to being a "good" ally. It's easy to scratch the surface and stop moving, because you've challenged your own paradigm. That's not enough. Let's brainstorm tools and tactics for guiding allies towards functional engagement.

Episode 215 - Truth, Survival, and Empowerment in Darker Narratives

Recorded at Metatopia 2018

Presented by Mabel Harper, Avonelle Wing, Misha Bushyager, and Eli Eaton.

A discussion about why some people, specifically members of minority groups, might feel drawn to darker games and survival narratives, and how fiction of this nature both describes reality and can also provide answers, empowerment, and revolutionary verve in a world that is hostile to racial, sexual, ethnic, and gender minorities

Episode 214 - Kickstarter in 2019

Recorded at Metatopia 2018

Presented by Chandler Copenhaver, Steve Segedy and Christopher Batarlis.

Kickstarter today is a different animal than it was a year or five years ago. Let's talk about the things you need to know if you're launching a campaign next year.

Episode 213 - Eat, Drink, and be Merry

Recorded at Metatopia 2018

Presented by Kristen Roberts and Jennifer Gutterman

Eat, Drink & Be Merry: Developing Cultural Touchstones for Immersive World Building".  Building dynamic worlds for your game is not just about swords, guns and magic. Much of what gives our world it's depth and richness is rooted in environment and evolving cultural traditions. Using examples like native cuisines, holidays, and slang terminology, this workshop will focus on how to develop setting-specific cultural touchstones that are relatable for your audience without being derivative or anachronistic. Incorporating these details into your game design not only creates a more immersive environment for your players, but also helps to build community and bring people together in real life. Join our workshop, bring your setting concepts, and learn about how to add and emphasize these important socio-cultural concepts in your world building and game design

Episode 212 - How to be an Ally

Recorded at BreakoutCon 2019

Presented by Anne Ratchat, Misha Bushyager, James Mendez Hodes, Eli Eaton & Jonaya Kemper with moderation by Jason Pitre

Knowing how to support people is always difficult. When considering different backgrounds and identities, good intentions can backfire. This panel will introduce what to consider when being an ally and some ways to assist in a productive manner.

EDITOR's NOTE: The audio recorder stopped recording 2/3rds of the way into this panel, but the content here is still quite valuable. Enjoy!

Episode 211 - Diversity at the Table

Recorded at Breakout 2019

Presented by Daniel Kwan, Agatha Cheng, Amar, Kienna S. and James Mendez Hodes with moderation by Daniel Kwan.

How do we make our games and tables more inclusive? How do we make our stories more interesting and diverse? Join the Asians Represent! podcast crew as they discuss and answer these questions.

Episode 210 - What's Off Limits for Games?

Recorded at Breakout 2019

Presented by Nicole Winchester, Mo Turkington, Misha Bushyager, Sharang Biswas & Jonaya Kemper with moderation by Jason Pitre

Different individuals, communities, countries, and cultures have different ideas about what LARPs and roleplaying games should and should not address, and as gaming communities interact on and offline these ideas often come into conflict. What is acceptable in a game, and who gets to make that decision? How do we have productive and compassionate conversations about these issues? Are there things that games are not equipped to address, or are we limiting games by limiting their subjects?

Episode 209 - Let Go of the Reins

Recorded at BreakoutCon 2019

Presented by Tracy Gibbons, James D'Amato, Bianca Zelda, Daniel Kwan with moderation by Victoria Rogers

You don't need to prep for hours to run a fun game that everyone will enjoy. GMing doesn't have to be a daunting experience. This panel will talk about ways to let go of the reins and give everyone at the table a chance to collaborate and create the story together.

Episode 208 - GM Masterclass

Recorded at BreakoutCon 2019

Presented by Chris Spivey, Robin Laws, James Mendez Hodes, with moderation by Corey Reid

Bring your thorniest GMing problems to our doughty panel, in a Q & A event focused on practical solutions to dilemmas both classic and new

Episode 207 - Online Games

Recorded at BreakoutCon 2019

Presented by Stephanie Bryant, Harlan Guthrie, Jo Fallak with moderation by Jennifer Adcock

An overview and discussion of virtual tabletops for playing tabletop games online, remotely as well as with an at-table device. Features to expect, different playstyles, etc.

Episode 206 - Running Convention Games

Recorded at Breakout 2019

Presented by Camdon Wright, Angela Murray and Chris Spivey, with moderation by Senda Linaugh

Let’s face it, some games are just better for cons than others! This panel of experts will discuss what makes a game a good pick for a con. What kind of mechanics work best? What kind of stories? How do you stay on time? How do you invest your players quickly in your game? All this and your questions!

Episode 205 - Larp 101

Recorded at BreakoutCon 2019

Presented by Anne Ratchet Nicole Winchester, Moyra Turkington and Jonaya Kemper

Have you always wanted to play LARPs at Breakout or out in the ‘real world’? Or are you wary of LARP and want your questions answered about this embodied form of play? Come on by to learn more about the different kinds of LARP, how to decide if a LARP is for you, how to tell if a LARP is safer space and more! We’ll also discuss our experiences with LARP as creators and players, offer examples of LARP from ‘black-box’ indie larps to rustic boffer campaigns to elaborate ‘blockbuster’ adventures, and talk about some LARPs you can play (or buy) at Breakout!