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In: Podcast Episode
With: 27 Comments

News: I will be attending ComicPalooza this year, sharing a table with Diana Botsford. I’ll be running some demos of Base Raiders as well – stay tuned for details. Firewall, the newest Eclipse Phase book is out and Caleb and I both wrote for it. We also have more Raillery videos, like Bodyball and more Darkest Dungeon goodness!

Synopsis: Tom, Caleb, and I first discuss the recent political controversy over the Indiana RFRA law and how it connects to Gen Con. After getting politics out of the way, we move on to old school gaming – in particular the style of dungeon crawling RPGs that first appeared in the 1970s. Back in the first days of gaming, there were few conventions in what a RPG should and should not be. We talk about what we like and dislike about the old school. Plus there’s a letter from Tom, shout outs, and anecdotes!

Shout Outs

Song: Deeper Dungeons by The Swill

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:30:09 — 62.1MB)

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In: Game Designer Workshop, Panel discussion
With: 3 Comments

bp-cover-webNews: Please support our latest Kickstarter, Boiling Point! It’s a brand new adventure for Base Raiders and stretch goals will include a death trap focused supplement by Caleb!

Ross Payton (Base Raiders, Zombies of the World) and Caleb Stokes (No Security: Horror Scenarios in the Great Depression) talk about their podcast, RPPR Game Designer’s Workshop. See how the experiment to document the creation of an RPG system from scratch to publication in real time is going so far. Both creators will discuss game design in general as well the projects they are currently working on. Questions about the podcast, game design and anything else are welcomed from the audience.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:02:24 — 42.9MB)

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In: Panel discussion
With: 24 Comments

Rob Boyle (Eclipse Phase), Ross Payton (Baseraiders), and Caleb Stokes (No Security) discuss using the basics of economic theory to make RPG settings more unique, immersive, and fun for your players.

Designers can talk forever about economies of narrative control and the finances of the RPG industry, but what about the economic structure of your setting? Most RPGs largely ignore the topic, but the basic tenets of economic theory are a great way to immerse players in a story and create conflict. A materialist outlook can make any setting unique and generate numerous plot hooks. This panel is here to show you how. Rob Boyle (lead designer for Eclipse Phase), Ross Payton (author of BaseRaiders: Superpowered Dungeon Crawling), and Caleb Stokes (author of No Security: Horror Scenarios in the Great Depression) will discuss using economics to engage players.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:02:28 — 28.6MB)

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