game design – Page 16 – Role Playing Public Radio

RPPR Episode 64: Adventures in Adventuring

On: October 8, 2011

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Synopsis: Adventure design for long term campaigns is different than designing for a one shot scenario. Keeping up with the entirety of a complex ruleset is impossible for a campaign so you must determine what rules to keep track of and what to ignore. Adventures have to be geared to specific player characters. You can’t keep adding on new elements into the campaign. Instead, you must provide closure for the plot elements you do introduce. We discuss all of these topics and more. Furthermore, Tom has a new letter, shout outs and more.

Shout outs:

Com Truise: Ultra chillax 80s style electronic music. Check out the ultimate 80s cyberpunk music video.
I Sell the Dead: Grave robbers sell corpses to doctors. Undead appear. Hilarity ensues.
Shadow of a Dead Star: Sci-fi horror novel delving into the depravities of the cybernetics black market.
Adventures of Pete and Pete: One of the great shows made by Nickelodeon in the 90s.
Z.N.A: Zombie survival horror novella. Worth the 99 cents to a zombie fan.
Delilah Dirk: High adventure webcomic with incredible art.
Monster Pulse: Kids with monsters fight an evil government conspiracy.
Hark A Vagrant: A print edition of one of the funniest webcomics of all time.

Song: League of Extraordinary Adventurers by Sounda

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:23:32 — 57.4MB)

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RPPR Episode 63: Stylish Substance

On: September 19, 2011

In: Podcast Episode

With: 9 Comments

Ad: Critical Miss magazine edited by Jonny Nexus.

Synopsis: Adventure design is a complex topic so we’d thought we would delve into it once again. In this episode, Tom and I discuss the difference between good design choices and style choices. While good design is applicable to any genre of RPG scenario, it is possible to make choices in creating an adventure that only work under certain circumstances. The choice to emphasize one aspect of a game over another isn’t necessarily right or wrong. It’s a style choice. Hack and slash versus political intrigue? Style. Dungeon crawling versus mass battles? Style. Tom also has a new letter entailing the virtues of various cinematic firearms.

Shout outs:

Americus: A graphic novel about a student dealing with a book banning. Excellent writing and art.
Island of the Fishmen: Bizarre Italian horror flick about fishmen.
Cthulhu Dark: An ultra rules light RPG of Cthulhu inspired insanity.
Messiah of Evil: Public domain 1970s Lovecraftian zombie horror film
Bastion: Amazing indie RPG with unique setting, art and music
Cargo: The most Eclipse Phase-ish sci fi movie I’ve seen in a while
Seven Minutes in Heaven: Hilariously awkward interviews. Check out Elijah Wood’s interview.

Song: PonPonPon De Floor mashup (special request from Caleb)

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:30:19 — 62.0MB)

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Eclipse Phase panel at Gencon 2011

On: August 10, 2011

In: Panel discussion

With: 5 Comments

I recorded a panel discussion of Eclipse Phase designers Rob Boyle and Adam Jury as they discussed their current plans for the transhuman sci-fi horror RPG. In this discussion, they go over planned releases, their business model and the themes behind Eclipse Phase. If you’re curious about what’s in store for Firewall and the rest of transhumanity, this would be a good listen.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:23 — 22.6MB)

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game design (Page 16)