RPG Design Panelcast

Recorded at Metatopia 2019 Presented by Jason Pitre, Cat Tobin, Amanda Valentine, Lauren McMannon, Camdon Wright. Everyone should have a chance to create and publish games. Unfortunately, there are many structural barriers keeping unrepresented voices from coming to the table. In this roundtable discussion, our panelists discuss ways that established publishers can support new voices through information, promotion, funding, and education.

Recorded at Metatopia 2019 Presented by Peter Hayward, Gil Hova More Than Just Victory Points: Alternative Approaches to Win Conditions.  "Most victory points" is the default victory condition for most board games, and why shouldn't they be? They solve most problems you encounter while designing - balance, investment, rewarding people for doing what you want them to be. Well, unfortunately, most everyone has worked out the same thing, and now the market is flooded with Victory Point win conditions. Want to make your game stand out? Try something else.

Recorded at Metatopia 2019 Presented by Jason Walters, Jeff Stormer, Christopher Badell. Your game's ready for Kickstarter! So how much will you be asking for? What's the absolute minimum you need to get your game made? What is the floor number for success? How will you handle unexpected levels of success? Let's get practical about your numbers.

Recorded at Metatopia 2019 Presented by Kenneth Hite A METATOPIA tradition - Kenneth Hite rambling about game design. In this case the notion of scope: How big should your setting be? How can you design a setting to contain multiple core game activities, and should you? As always, Ken has notions and questions, and hopes you have more of both as we explore Bigness (and un-Bigness) in games.

Recorded at Metatopia 2019 Presented by Geoffrey Engelstein  "Turn, Turn, Turn" presented by Geoffrey Engelstein. The 'turn' is a fundamental concept for games of all types, and there are a wide variety of approaches the designer can take to structure them. The structure chosen has a major impact on the play experience, and should be carefully considered. This talk is a deep dive into turn options both common and rare, and discusses what each brings to the table.

Recorded at Metatopia 2019 Presented by Meguey Baker & Jason Pitre. Publishing your game doesn't need to be daunting. There's work involved, but with a diverse tool box and a clear understanding of your publishing goals, publishing might be more attainable than you imagine.

Recorded at Metatopia 2019 Presented by Mary Georgescu, Sharang Biswas, Brianna Shuttleworth. Can we get nitty gritty with players and talk about science? Can we as designers build science into our games in fun ways that do not lend themselves to sci- fiction but a truer representation and reflection of our current or past understandings of the way our universe, our earth works? We will be talking about how we designed Starry Messenger, The Moon Stares at Us in Shame, and Magischola with science in mind and their usage and representations of science.

Recorded at Metatopia 2019 Presented by Meguey Baker, Caleb Stokes, Clark Valentine, Edward LaValley. Teenagers bring innovation, creativity and hard questions to the game table. Our panelists will talk about how to hold space for everything that makes gaming with them magical.

Recorded at Metatopia 2019 Presented by Christopher O'Neill, Adriel Wilson, Cat Tobin, Misha Bushyager. Role playing as a HOBBY continues to evolve and mature. Has role-playing now gotten big enough to be considered a MEDIUM? Join us for a lively and passionate discussion on the concept that role-playing has become more than just games, but a medium - a channel for communication, information, and entertainment. In this panel, we will look at whether role-playing is a medium, and if so, what that means for our hobby. The panelists all represent different aspects of designing and publishing role playing games and bring diverse and interesting points of view around the topic.

Join game designer Darren Watts, known for his expertise in superhero RPGs, and law professor Betsy Rosenblatt, who has crafted procedural mystery games. They dive into the intricacies of crafting engaging mysteries in tabletop RPGs. The duo discusses the balance between procedurally generated and authored mysteries, offers tips on utilizing the three-clue rule, and shares techniques for building tension with hidden deadlines. Their insights will help GMs guide players through thrilling investigations without giving away too much.