RPG Design Panelcast

Recorded at Metatopia 2018 Presented by Jay Treat , Mark Richardson . How much do you change your game between tests? Which way do you change it? How do you evaluate playtester feedback and suggestions against your design goals? When do you stop tweaking or abandon a path? Iteration is the key to success not just in a single project but in your design career. Let's talk about how, how to do that b...

Recorded at Metatopia 2018 Presented by DC Participate in a discussion about expanding the narrative fantasies applied to tabletop RPGs. The standard "set" of explored backgrounds and settings are not only old, but also fundamentally structured around a singular perspective. Inspecting the foundation of our fiction allows us to better understand the values or pitfalls of those choices, and how the...

Recorded at Metatopia 2018 Presented by  Isaac Shalev , Gil Hova , Jennifer Graham-Macht . Join us for a roundtable conversation about how to get the best data from your time at the playtesting table. We'll discuss our experiences running playtests, and talk about common mistakes and how to avoid them

Recorded at Metatopia 2018 Presented by Kiva Fecteau, David Beever , Jim Dagg , Kate Beaman-Martinez, Beth Rimmels . Congratulations. You screwed up the courage and got yourself to METATOPIA! Prepare to panic... or not. Talk with fellow participants in small groups to identify your fears and where they come from. You'll probably discover a lot of commonalities. Our workshop leaders have begun to o...

Recorded at Metatopia 2018 Presented by Bradley Hausman. A brief overview of SEC and some state regulations regarding crowdfunding, and other forms of raising capital, and registering your campaign. In this roundtable, feel free to discuss your experiences and how others can learn from them

Recorded at Metatopia 2018 Presented by Sam Saltiel, Brand Robins , Camdon Wright , Eli Eaton Good consent practice requires that consent is enthusiastic and informed. Let's talk about how to encourage a higher level of consent. We will discuss tools you can add at the table, but then we'll explore ways to integrate consent into the foundations of your design.

Recorded at Metatopia 2018 Presented by James D'Amato and Senda Linaugh . Being a guest on podcasts is a fantastic way to promote your game and build your brand. Our moderators will talk about how this might work and things you should know in advance to be a good guest. This will be run as a roundtable discussion.

Recorded at Metatopia 2017 Presented by Joshua Yearsley, Hannah Shaffer and Mark Richardson . Being competent at something just means you've already made all the mistakes, so come learn from ours! We'll discuss some of our own juiciest mistakes and setbacks from our years of games work - maybe even some from projects we've worked on together? - and explore how we used those experiences to grow, im...

Recorded at Metatopia 2017 Presented by Brendan Conway  and Kevin Kulp . When you're designing a game, you often start by picking a kind of genre, or even a particular work, that you'd love to experience as an RPG. But many of the strongest games out there take it beyond just replicating a particular story; they say something new or different. How do you do that, and why should you spend the time...

Recorded at Metatopia 2017 Presented by Peter Hayward . Every game has a shape. Beginning, middle, end, turn structure, round structure, end-game condition, victory condition. Learn about common shapes, the direction that games are evolving, and how to make sure that YOUR game has an appealing and suitable shape for the modern board gamer.

Recorded at Metatopia 2017 Presented by Curt Covert . There are may approaches to game design. Come learn about one specific style focused on stirring the emotions during play as the core design thrust. How does this design style contrast to other approaches? What is its benefit? How can you apply these principles to your own designs? Curt Covert of Smirk & Dagger / Smirk & Laughter discusses. 

Recorded at Metatopia 2017 Presented by  Elsa Henry and Lauren Roy . Fiction writing and game writing are definitely two separate skillsets, but they are complimentary. This panel will feature people who do both, discussing how to develop these skillsets to further both parts of your career, with extra attention to the ways they diverge and how to know which skills to use. Where do these skillsets...

Special Episode Presented by Jason Pitre and Phil Vecchione, In this special episode, Jason and Phil talk about communities and settlements in games. Each of us bring our respective projects to the table to discuss and explore the potential mechanics which model/support these elements of play. Phil presents Hydro Hacker Operatives , his game about heroes who steal water for their communities in a...

Recorded at Metatopia 2017 Presented by James D'Amato , Jim McClure , Laura Simpson . It is tempting to pour money into marketing a crowdfunding project. We'll discuss strategies you can use that take your project further without breaking your marketing budget.

Recorded at Metatopia 2017 Presented by Michelle Lyons , Danielle Lauzon , Pete Petrusha , Maury Brown , Cam Banks . It's relatively easy to make a game in this day and age. Making a business is harder. How much effort do you want to put into bringing a game to market/getting some revenue for your work? What are your options? How will you know what you want until you do it? Come join us for a pane...

Recorded at Metatopia 2017 Presented by  Jason Walters , Brennan Taylor , James Dagg . We'll talk about how to accept that your game will never be perfect and how to know when it's ready to publish anyway.

Recorded at Metatopia 2017 Presented by Phil Vecchione , Will Hindmarch , Beth Rimmels . Designing the "For GMs" Section of your RPG" . GMing sections of RPGs are often a collection of rules, advice, etc, but they are not always effective. In addition, there is a host of great, generic GMing advice in both blog and podcast form, that no longer needs to be included in an RPG. What can we, as game d...

Recorded at Metatopia 2017 Presented by Jason Pitre , Jim Crocker , Jason Walters . Congratulations on producing your game! Now, you have to decide how you want to sell it. This panel will talk about all of the different ways you can sell games and the costs associated with each of them. We will help you pick which options are best for you, based on your product and priorities.  

Recorded at Metatopia 2017 Presented by Jason Pitre, Matthias Bonnici and Will Hindmarch . Producing a book involves communication and negotiation between the layout professional, writers, editors, and art-directors. In this panel, we will talk about how to establish structures that work for everyone, and point out some ways to keep your layout gal happy.  The presentation used for this panel is h...

Special Episode Presented by Jason Pitre, Anna Meade , Sarah 'Doombringer' Richardson , and Eloy Lasanta .    In this special episode, most the panelists from the previous gencon panel get together to answer questions posed by attendees.  The questions on offer are...  Q1: I've got a game, it's playtested: how do I get to market? Q2: Outside of the mechanical or thematic design of the game, which...

Recorded at GenCon 2018 Presented by Jason Pitre , Anna Meade , Jerry Grayson , Eloy Lasanta , and Sarah "Doombringer" Richardson.  This panel serves as a welcome introduction to the twin fields of roleplaying game design, and publishing. It features a long discussion on how and why we design games, how games have to be about something, and how we can practically turn our ideas into products. This...

Recorded at Metaopia 2017 Presented by Whitney Delaglio , Brand Robins Sexy Times in-game can be serious business, but it doesn't have to be! Join us for a discussion about using artwork and tone to encourage fun and playful exploration of intimacy in games. This episode coincides with the release of the kickstarter for Prism! Check it out here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2026929256/pris...

Recorded at Metatopia 2017 Presented by Gil Hova .  "Player in Three Persons - Studying the Theme/Mechanism Join of Board Games". "This game is so immersive!" "This theme is pasted on!" "Should designers start with theme or mechanism?" Lots of board game fans like to debate theme and mechanism. This panel is a technical deep-dive into the fascinating join of theme and mechanism of a commercial boa...

Recorded at Metatopia 2017 Presented by  Jack Parra , Leslie Casilli , Lissanne Lake "The Artist's Process: Game Illustration From Start To Finish." presented by Jack Parra, Leslie Casilli, Lissanne Lake. Our panelists go over the process they go through when creating a finished illustration, and the different approaches they take. This panel is about helping artists of all levels improve. 

Recorded at Metatopia 2017 Presented by Tim Hutchings and Evan Torner. Criticism and Feedback: How to Talk about that Game You Just Played. How do we talk about games in a productive, useful way? The panel will discuss methods and tools for giving useful, critical feedback for the game play experience. We will introduce critical methods from the creative arts and inclusivity-promoting discussion t...