RPG Design Panelcast

Recorded at Metatopia 2023 Presented by Taylor Hubler and Nicholas Ambrose Join our experts for a conversation looking at how to physically design, package, and ship games. We want to make sure that every copy that is printed makes it into the hands of a player, but games can get damaged in transit, or be passed up by game stores due to a physical design misstep. Part one will be going over physical design, layout considerations, and what retailers like to see in a product on their shelves. Part two will be going over why product gets damaged in transit, best packaging practices for distribution, and how avant garde physical design can make shipping difficult. Q and A, as well as workshop elements will be present in this panel.

Recorded at Metatopia 2024 Presented by Avonelle Wing and Nicholas Ambrose So, what is "the three-tier system"? What's a consolidator? Hobby? Mass-market? Specialty? Once you have a design that seems viable, there are a lot of steps between here and retail success. Bring your questions, and we'll try to answer them after a brief overview of possible paths forward.

Recorded at Metatopia 2023 Presented by Avonelle Wing, Curt Covert, and Alex Cutler You've read game design blogs and Facebook groups. You've delved into conventional wisdom. You did your homework. A game should be replayable. You should set your funding goal as 1/5 of your overall costs to fund fast. A prototype should be a single sheet of paper and some markers. A prototype needs to be full production value. Publish it yourself and sell it out of your bedroom; order fulfillment is easy. All of these things might be true, and they could still be the thing that sinks your ship. Our experts talk about the ways accurate advice can still be wrong for you.

Recorded at Metatopia 2023 Presented by Meguey Baker, Vincent Baker An introduction to PbtA from a designer's point of view. How and why Apocalypse World works the way it does, what your game can take from it, and how and why your own game should work differently. Highlighting PbtA's conversation model, with an emphasis on consent and communication, and PbtA's model of fiction, with an emphasis on adapting it to your own game's needs.

Recorded at Metatopia 2023 Presented by Cam Banks and Amanda Valentine Licensed RPGs are a minefield of conflicting interests, stakeholders, and opinions. With the assumption that you've done the hardest part of securing a license, actually designing, developing, and producing the game is often much harder than expected. We'll talk about the process of faithfully adapting someone else's work to a new game project.

Recorded at Metatopia 2023 Presented by Sydney Engelstein and Geoffrey Engelstein Sydney has taken close to a thousand pitches for Indie Game Studios. Geoff has taught game design and helped designers improve their prototypes for over a decade. Between them they see the same issues with designs over and over again, particularly with newer designers. In this seminar, they will share with you the top things that are wrong with your game, based on this hard won experience. They guess there's a slight chance you've avoided a few of these issues, but probably not. And let's face it - you won't know unless you attend.   NOTE: An insufficiently edited version of this panel was posted earlier, but this is the corrected version for your enjoyment.

Recorded at Metatopia 2023 Presented by Meguey Baker and Vincent Baker We've been creating and publishing our own games for almost 25 years. How, why, and what does it take? Why self-publish instead of shopping your work around? How do you plot your own course, build your own audience, and measure your own success? This is about being you, the designer, making your games, owning the fruits of your labor, and keeping both your drive and your passion while holding down your day job and maintaining your relationships.

Recorded at Metatopia 2023 Presented by Jason Pitre Producing books is a challenge at the best of times, and the printing landscape has changed radically since the pandemic. The panel speakers will explain the process for finding companies to work with you, choosing your print specifications, and other secrets of the trade.

Recorded at Metatopia 2023 Presented by Cam Banks and Amanda Valentine You've had a successful Kickstarter, you've been hired by a game publisher, you've released your work on Itch or DriveThru. You've done it! But now what? We're here to discuss the aftermath, the fallout, and how to survive that and stay doing what you love to do.

Teaching how to be a Game Master in tabletop RPGs is explored in this podcast. The speakers discuss learning through play, strategies for community building and coaching potential game runners, creating a Game Master workshop, incentivizing a play style in GMing, continuous learning for successful GMs, enhancing gaming with technology, and the results of a workshop aimed at teaching people to run a game.