RPG Design Panelcast

Recorded at Metatopia 2019 Presented by Ryan O'Grady, Kenneth Hite, Brennan Taylor. There's something satisfying about taking ownership of a piece of the world as a player and watching it flourish (or not). There have been various approaches to this over the years (Ars Magica, MIcroscope, The Quiet Year, even D&D!) Let's discuss what player involvement of world building really means and different approaches for incorporating it into traditional RPGs.

Recorded at Metatopia 2019 Presented by Stras Acimovic, John LeBoeuf-Little. Blades in the Dark has led to a new generation of game designs such as Scum and Villainy, Band of Blades, and Mutants in the Night. In this panel, we dig into the toolset and what sets it apart from similar design traditions. What are the core principles behind designing games Forged in the Dark? Where can we grow and diverge from the core?

Recorded at Metatopia 2019 Presented by Darren Watts, Stephen Dewey, Paul Stefko. There are many different mechanics for tracking time and progress in games, and our panel speakers will explore all of them in depth. From countdown clocks and stress tracks, to flickering candles and Jenga towers, there's a lot to explore in this family of mechanics.

Recorded at Metatopia 2019 Presented by Emily Escovar, Chris O'Neill. Our panelists will walk you through the basics of turning your game design hobby into a business. We'll talk about the most cost-efficient ways to register an LLC, open a business bank account, file a trademark and keep track of your expenses for tax season.

Recorded at Metatopia 2019 Presented by Heather O'Neill, Tim Rodriguez, Jennifer Graham-Macht. You are an individual using your hard earned money to invest in your game project. Do you self-publish, Kickstart or attend that convention? You are an indie tabletop company, so you have some budget to work with. What's your next project? Which big conventions do you attend? We will address costs specific to the tabletop gaming industry (self-publishing, Kickstarter, conventions, marketing, etc.) and ways to make decisions on what will benefit you or your company.

Recorded at Metatopia 2019 Presented by Brian Turtle, Peter Hayward, Avonelle Wing. I fell into games almost by accident back in 1994 when some friends and I created a game called "The Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon". We started Endless Games shortly thereafter and the game found a home in the mass market before we knew it. In the 20+ years since, we've been navigating the toy industry and gaming landscape in both mass and specialty. That said, the hobby side of the industry is still somewhat uncharted territory for us. Join us for a discussion of the differences between mass market and hobby sales and what works where.

Recorded at Metatopia 2019 Presented by Kate Bullock, Camdon Wright, Bronwyn Sperling. Want to learn how to create safety tools that fit your game and are baked into the mechanics instead of just adding pre-established tools on top? This panel dives into the creative and mechanical process of understanding safety and support and integrating it into your ttrpg designs.

Recorded at Metatopia 2019 Presented by Jason Pitre, Misha Bushyager, James Mendez Hodes. Some of the best games deal with heavy topics and challenging subject matter. Creators who look to design or publish games addressing sensitive subject matter need to do due diligence to reduce the chance their work could do harm. In this panel, we will discuss how creators can ethically do the legwork and research to tackle issues of race, sexuality, identity, and trauma.

Recorded at Metatopia 2019 Presented by Jason Morningstar, Jacqueline Bryk and Alastor Guzman.  Failure is baked into any creative discipline, but we rarely discuss it. In this panel we'll discuss our most noteworthy failures and the role failure plays in our process. The goal is to normalize failure and to learn from the occasionally dramatic mistakes of others. It may be funny, it may be sad, but it will definitely be interesting.

Recorded at Metatopia 2019 Presented by Shoshanna Kessock, Brian Neff, Doug Levandowski, and Sean Jaffe. Echoes of the late 20th century are all around us in 2019, especially in pop culture and media. Stranger Things, IT, and Bandersnatch have tapped into a rich vein of nostalgia that has entranced audience and permeated our time. Gaming, especially tabletop gaming, has been depicted as a vital part of 80s culture. In return, game creators are tapping into both the renewed interest in the hobby, and the evocation of nostalgia for this time period. In this panel we'll be exploring this recursive relationship with creators from Kids on Bikes and Rememorex. We’ll talk role playing and nostalgia, how to evoke an authentic sense of a time period, and what has drawn us as creators back to the past.