Fri, 19 June 2009
Ryan sits down for another episode, this one kicking off a series about pacing mechanics. To start off, he talked about there being some broad, different types of pacing mechanics, and focuses on one in particular: the "refresh scale" mechanics -- those that happen then resources are expended in order to regain them. This idea traces back to old school D&D, but people have done interesting things with it since -- including the recent edition of D&D and Dirty Secrets. To end, he talks a touch about a pitfall with designing these mechanics that he ran into when working on Mythender and urges others to consider avoiding.
Games Mentioned:
Running time: 25:45 / File size: 17.7M Discuss this episode on the forums |
Thu, 4 June 2009
On this episode, Ryan sits down with Chad Underkoffler about designing setting (and, in some respects, writing in general) with his latest release, Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies. They touch on how the setting for this setting-rich book was conceived, fleshed out, and trimmed down to aim the right information at the play group. Afterward, Ryan tells you to check out Paul Tevis' A Penny For My Thoughts, because he's frankly damned proud of the work and thinks it makes for a great case study for one school of thought in design.
Chad Underkoffler: Other Mentions:
Running time: 29:59 / File size: 20.6M Discuss this episode on the forums |
Tue, 12 May 2009
After an unintended hiatus, Ryan's back with an episode about something near and dear to his heart -- thinking about the tangible qualities that mechanics have. He talks about how people should be looking at what their mechanics are causing players to do with their hands, because it's in that space where some people are better able to connect with the game. After giving an overview of the idea, he discusses four games and how they use this idea in their mechanical design.
Games Mentioned:
Running time: 26:40 / File size: 18.4M Discuss this episode on the forums |
Wed, 25 March 2009
On this episode, we continue the discussion with Josh Roby about making epic-scale games, with the third of three points: respect, from the point of view of a game respecting its own epic conceit and NPCs respecting epic-scale PCs. Josh also gives an interesting answer to Ryan asking about how his previous master plan is coming along. Afterward, Ryan talks about "the power of names" -- exploring an idea that the names we give terms in our games have a dramatic impact to how well they're understood, illustrated by two counter-examples he's recently come across in other games and one in Mythender.
Josh Roby:
Running time: 21:44 / File size: 15.0M Discuss this episode on the forums |
Fri, 13 March 2009
This week, Ryan talks with Josh Roby about designing games that support & address epic-scale play -- that is, games that have a grand, dramatic scope as a main part of their premise. The interview ran long, as they covered three points they felt were core by contrasting Josh's new game in playtest, Agora: how shall we live?, with Ryan’s current project, Mythender. In this half, they talk about the scope & pacing of the game, and how their two very different games support their own sense of "epic" with those tools. Afterward, Ryan talks about Daniel Solis's cover creation videos and War Pig Radio.
Josh Roby:
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Sat, 28 February 2009
Still in the post-Dreamation afterglow, Ryan responds to a question asked by friend of the show Remi Treuer, where he asks to hear more about Ryan's playtest process in light of seeing it in action at Dreamation. What he comes up with is something he calls his "Rules of Playtesting" -- things he calls "Rules" because he has to constantly, consciously remember to apply them rather than things that come easy.
The five rules he mentions: The Rule of Consideration, The Rule of Conceit, The Rule of Frontloading, The Rule of the Drawing Board, and The Rule of Keeping My Mouth Shut. Afterward, Ryan gives you some Sponsor Quote action, with an anectode that will at most amuse five people. Good times. Remi Treuer:
Running time: 24:21 / File size: 16.8M Discuss this episode on the forums: http://masterplanpodcast.net/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=47 |
Wed, 11 February 2009
Right before heading off on a bi-coastal convention adventure, Ryan serves up the second half of the interview with Crafty Games. In this half, they talk about collaborating as a team and their main hurdles in revisiting their system & making Fantasy Craft & Mastercraft -- along with, naturally, their own personal master plans. Afterward, Ryan tells you that he'll be at OrcCon and Dreamation this month, and gives a shameless plea to donate to the show.
Crafty Games: Running time: 21:29 / File size: 14.8M Discuss this episode on the forums: http://masterplanpodcast.net/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=46 |
Mon, 19 January 2009
Ryan starts 2009 off with the first of a two-part interview with Alex Flagg, Scott Gearin & Patrick Kapera from Crafty Games. They talk about their upcoming product, Fantasy Craft, and how they retooled their award-nominated Spycraft system both for streamlining the rules (for their new Mastercraft base system) and for working with a different genre. After the first part concludes, Ryan talks about a game & a content that has hit his radar, and figures it's worth other people knowing about.
Crafty Games: Other mentions:
Running time: 25:19 / File size: 17.4M Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=45 |
Thu, 25 December 2008
To truly close out 2008, Ryan records one last show on Christmas Day. Inspired by a post from Rob Bohl (of the Independent Insurgency podcast), Ryan talks about more thoughts on advancement: as a way to flesh out a character post-creation, as a world-changing element rather than a character-changing one, as a ritual for marking points in time, and as a way to keep the game feeling fresh from a tactile perspective. They're short thoughts on this solo episode, but ones worth noting. Afterwards, he talks about some podcasts he's been on recently, the fact that he's now a part of the Dresden Files RPG team, and the game design book he's working on. Finally, you're treated to a unique sponsor quote. Happy holidays, Masterminds. Links:
Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=44 Direct download: masterplan_41.mp3
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Tue, 9 December 2008
On this year-end episode of Master Plan, Ryan publishes an interview he did with Luke Crane back at GenCon. They talk (or as much as one can talk when it's 8am & ones voice is completely shot) about thoughts on building advancements systems in games. Luke shares his thoughts on the subject with his building of Burning Wheel, and they drift to related topics like Failure & Reward Cycles. Luke, frankly, has a lot of interesting stuff to say, provided you don't mind the profanity & poor audio quality.
Also, it's the second anniversary of Master Plan. It's been two good years. Here's to a third. Luke Crane:
Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=43 |
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Master Plan The People's Podcast About Game Design
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