The Independent Insurgency

Episode 27: John Stavropoulos and Jim Sullivan on MonkeyDome

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 22:30:00 GMT

In this design episode, I talk to John Stavropoulos and Jim Sullivan of the Imagination Sweatshop (ISS) and NerdNYC about their new playstormed gamein-a-jiffy for JiffyCon Greenfield June 09, MonkeyDome. MonkeyDome was a vast collaboration including Jim, John, Emily Care Boss (of Black and Green Games), Jason Keeley, Epidiah Ravachol, and Terry Romero. It's a game where you see-saw between incredibly grim and really wacky moments in a post-apocalyptic nightmare, and it's available for free on the ISS website.

WARNING: The Independent Insurgency is an "explicit" podcast.

This episode is 56.2 MB big and 1:01:20 long.

00:59: I interviewed Eppy in the last episode about playstorming and MonkeyDome came up
01:17: What's the game about?
02:46: The game was designed in (almost less than) a week!
08:11: The difference between funny and zany.
10:22: Playable as an ongoing game?
12:06: The mechanics
19:52: What it means to learn a lesson
21:02: Endgame
25:14: The GameBlaster's Tools: The Fuel and the Fire
26:03: World creation and what the characters do in the game
29:02: Other games you came up with?
30:20: Jim mentions a game idea that's a lot like Jason Morningstar's Fiasco (which he talked about on Canon Puncture #66)
31:20: Who did you steal from?
32:07: John is always inspired by Eppy's game Dread
34:00: What had to be dropped that you liked?
34:44: The hardest thing to fix
35:24: Playtesting
36:43: Trial and Terror is the prior game-in-a-Jiffy for JiffyCon game
38:13: Division of labor and editing
43:06: The ISS used a site called A.nnotate which lets you upload a fully-laid-out document that others browse through and comment on
44:06: What the art (by Scott LeMien and John) is used for
47:11: Luke Crane loves John's flow chart
48:05: Why this form factor?
48:41: Marketing
50:21: Branding and credit
51:24: Defining success
53:46: Selling the game
56:58: The next JiffyCon may be paired with MaulCon

The closing song is Skins Don't Cry by The Hub City Stompers

Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

Episode 26: TTMN: Epidiah Ravachol on Playstorming

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 20:29:00 GMT

In this Talk To Me Now episode, I speak with Epidiah Ravachol, writer of the best horror game I know of, Dread about a style of game design which is a combination of playtesting and brainstorming that he and some friends engage in (and, arguably, invented) called playstorming.

This episode is 23.4 MB big and 25:34 long.

00:35: We're at the home of Joshua A. C. Newman
01:34: Playstorming developed between bouts of making hate with Jim Sullivan
02:40: The first game playstormed (kinda) was Time and Temp
03:49: The gamebearer
05:36: Games in a Jiffy for JiffyCon: Trial and Terror and MonkeyDome
09:30: Techniques for successful playstorming?
12:06: What do people get wrong about playstorming?
13:00: The pitfalls of playstorming
14:55: Joshua joins us, opening the door to discussing his game in development, Xenon:
16:06: A list of games that have had some level of playstorming
18:09: Jason Keeley and John Stavropolous are seminal members of the Imagination Sweatshop, the group that they created to do playstorming

The outgoing song on this episode is Fuel by Ani DiFranco from the album Little Plastic Castles.

Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

Episode 25: TTMN: Vincent Baker on Clouds and Boxes

Mon, 4 May 2009 01:41:00 GMT

In this Talk To Me Now episode, I speak with Vincent Baker about his "cloud and box" theory and accompanying diagrams explaining his take on the interactions between fiction and real-world materials. There are a series of posts on his blog about this: How RPG Rules Work; 3 Resolution Systems; Scale, Depth, Clouds, Dice; cloud-to-cloud; A Moment of Judgment; Dice and Cloud, Mix and Match; GM fiat put to work for the good; and Dice & Cloud: a Symmetry.

This is a longer TTMN episode than I intend them to be, usually, but I felt there was enough worthwhile stuff here that going long was ok.

This episode is 53.7 MB big and 58:40 long.

01:36: What clouds and boxes are
02:16: Ben Lehman got excited on Vincent's blog
04:02: The purpose of the diagrams
06:12: The problem with traditional games
10:00: Constructing a diagram via theater of the mind
10:26: The problem with "story games" (he's talked about with me, Joshua A. C. Newman, Emily Care Boss, and Ben, about which he expects to get death threats)
15:34: Where Vincent's interests are at now: rightward-pointing arrows (RPA)
17:30: An example of RPA from Vincent's pirate game Poison'd
22:23: My malformed objections
24:08: The high ground example
30:28: Danger or problem in focusing on RPA?
30:51: The GM's attitude toward play
35:41: A false ending
42:35: The GM's role in Dogs in the Vineyard is similar to what he found when running D&D and what he wrote into Storming the Wizard's Tower
45:14: I'd like to see GMless games that employ RPA
45:52: I played in a GMless game called Salt River that uses a version of Otherkind dice
51:25: Wherein I give up
53:25: Apocalypse World is like super-Poison'd

The outgoing song on this episode is Superhero from the album Dilate.

Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

Episode 24: Julia Ellingboe on Tales of the Fisherman's Wife

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:09:00 GMT

In this episode, I talk to Julia Bond Ellingboe about her forthcoming game, Tales of the Fisherman's Wife. The game is set in medieval Japan and is a GMless game for telling ghost stories. Our discussion includes handmaking books, the difficulty of finding playtesters, and issues of appropriating others' culture.

WARNING: The Independent Insurgency is an "explicit" podcast.

This episode is 53.5 MB big and 58:25 long.

00:43: Set in the Edo period
01:48: The mechanics have you playing War
08:15: The title comes from a famous painting, The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife by Katushika Hokusai
09:11: Why design this game?
11:20: Thematic links between card suits and fiction
12:40: Is this an adult game?
18:15: My prior interview with Carrie Bernstein
19:29: What did you steal from?
20:11: 1001 Nights by Meguey Baker
21:33: What did you have to change from the ashcan?
24:13: What was difficult to fix?
25:36: The trouble with getting playtesters
26:37: JiffyCon and Double Exposure's Dreamation conventions
27:26: Editing the book
28:45: What use, art?
30:36: Getting the game printed (Collective Copies)
31:37: Layout and design challenges
35:19: Form factor
37:27: Marketing the game
38:05: Oh My, a "Sensuality Shop" that Julia would like to market the game in.
39:09: What is success?
44:06: Taking yourself out of the equation
48:43: The cultural sensitivity issues around designing a game about a culture that you're not a part of

The closing song is Tocotta and Droog by The Hub City Stompers

Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

Episode 23: TTMN: Joshua A. C. Newman on Human Contact

Mon, 6 Apr 2009 20:28:00 GMT

This episode is 21.4 MB big and 23:44 long.

In this episode, I speak with Joshua A. C. Newman about the In A Wicked Age... game we've been playing in with Meguey and Vincent Baker. The game was about first contact between two human species at the fictional level. At the gamey level, we were making a real effort to make sure to provide world-fiction details, and we talk about that impulse in this episode.

During the show, we talk about Apocalypse World, Sign in Stranger, shock:, the oracle for Human Contact, The Brilliant Gameologists, and JiffyCon.

The outgoing song on this episode is Subdivision by Ani DiFranco from the album Revelling/Reckoning. I like it for this 'cause it's got interesting synchronies with the topics that get brought up in our game.

Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

Episode 22: Talk To Me Now: Carrie Bernstein on Quitting Gaming

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 05:41:00 GMT

In this episode, I speak with Carrie Bernstein about how she fell away from the roleplaying hobby. We discuss creativity, socialization, and the way the culture views the hobby.

This episode is 18.5 MB big and 20:15 long.

NOTE: This is the first in a new sub-series within The Independent Insurgency that I'm calling "Talk To Me Now." In this series, I'm going to have brief conversations with friends (and sometimes strangers) about things they are interested in or want to say about roleplaying games.

Going forward, these episodes will be marked as TTMN and my other episodes will be marked as Design Episodes (DE).

The outgoing song on this episode (as well as the incoming one for the series) is Talk To Me Now by Ani DiFranco from the album Ani DiFranco.

Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

Tapped out on material

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:23:00 GMT

So right now, I have no material recorded for the show and it's getting to the point where it might be hard for me to keep up a biweekly schedule. I may have to dedicate far more time at cons to doing interviews if I'm going to avoid this in the future.

If you are (or know) an independent game designer within driving distance of Western MA, and you want to be on the show, please let me know. The show's email address is at gmail, and it's indie.insurgent there. You can also just email me if you know my address.

(I should note that I do not do Skype on my show, face-to-face interviews only.)

Episode 21: Luke Crane and Jared Sorensen on FreeMarket

Thu, 15 Jan 2009 00:28:00 GMT

In this episode, I talk to Luke Crane and Jared Sorensen about the game they've designed for Peter Adkison at Hidden City Games, FreeMarket (previously known as "Project Donut"). FreeMarket is a transhumanist science fiction game in which you try to gain prestige ("flow") on a Utopian space station.

Also, I had a cold.

Also, big news on the music front (scan down).

WARNING: The Independent Insurgency is an "explicit" podcast.

This episode is 64.8 MB big and 01:10:46 long.

00:01:08: The origin of the "Project Donut" working title
00:04:00: What's it about?
00:06:20: The primacy of cooperation
00:07:17: Transhumanism
00:07:54: Blade Runner (in case you didn't know)
00:10:13: Jared claims FreeMarket is one of the first real science fiction games (and his explanation for what that means for shock: social science fiction by Joshua A.C. Newman)
00:10:58: What is science fiction?
00:11:13: J.G. Ballard's three pillars of science fiction
00:13:45: How the game works
00:15:30: The game's concept of Flow reminds me of face rank in Extras by Scott Westerfeld
00:15:43: Cory Doctorow
00:17:17: "Deathing" people
00:19:35: Setting is built into the skills, and characters use the same game terms players do
00:20:34: Division of labor
00:21:29: Oldboy
00:23:16: When I played FM, I created a Y.T. gene line for my character (from the book Snow Crash)
00:24:08: Luke ran a game of Jared's game Lacuna for he and Peter
00:25:36: Luke and Jared would have liked to have done the Bella Sara RPG
00:27:28: The influence (or lack thereof) of other games
00:32:07: Rebekah "Spyder" Bennington has done art for FreeMarket
00:33:22: Difficult things to fix
00:37:42: Things they couldn't make work
00:40:17: The fascinating role of death(ing) in the game
00:42:16: Sengoku
00:42:47: The GM is called the "Superuser" and the other players are the "users"
00:44:33: FreeMarket is a no-prep game
00:45:45: How to get playtesters and get them to give you feedback
00:47:30: A RadioLab episode on choice that I babble on about
00:49:17: Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
00:51:03: Darcy Burgess
00:51:54: Playstorming
00:52:03: The purpose and use of art
00:53:49: Pictures of the "white book" for the game are on its site
00:55:46: Slugfest Games put them in touch with their printer
00:56:28: The PDF of the game will be given out for free
00:57:23: Skekses
00:57:32: You'll be able to register as a "colonist" and choose the number of the game you want
00:58:37: The contents of the boxed set
00:59:28: Empire of Dust by KNRPG Productions is another boxed set
00:59:34: Marketing
01:02:50: Jim Munroe, author of Everyone in Silico and the movie Infest Wisely, which were inspirations for FreeMarket
01:03:27: Jared has visions of one day playing the game with Doctorow, William Gibson, Munroe, and Bruce Sterling
01:05:00: George W. Bush as the Manichean president
01:05:09: When will it be out?
01:06:45: The Farm is not happy

I'm super-lucky that Righteous Babe Records gave me permission to play music by Ani DiFranco. I'm going to start doing so for a while, since she's my favorite musician. We're going to start with a song about a corporate entity trying to get you to sell yourself out, a song called The Next Big Thing.

Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

Episode 20: Malcolm Craig on Hot War

Sat, 3 Jan 2009 01:41:00 GMT

In this episode, I talk to Malcolm Craig of Contested Ground Studios about his new game, Hot War. Hot War is set in a post-apocalyptic 1960s London, and is a thematic sequel to Malcolm's earlier game, Cold City. I had played and really enjoyed the game the night before, so I can tell you it's a ton of fun. Also, Malcolm is such a generous person that I frequently had to fight to get us back to talking about his game, rather than mine. He's a great guy and I loved talking with him.

WARNING: The Independent Insurgency is an "explicit" podcast.

This episode is 65.3 MB big and 1:11:18 long.

00:00:59: What Contested Ground Studios is
00:04:29: Twilight 2000 is one of the first games Malcolm played
00:05:16: Hot War was also inspired by British authors like John Wyndham (specifically Day of the Triffids) and J.G. Ballard, and is unlike "cozy catastrophe" books like A Canticle for Leibowitz
00:06:00: Hot War is set after a nuclear (and quasi-occult) war touched off by the Cuban Missile Crisis
00:06:30: The Zone of Alienation, where physical laws don't work properly, is inspired by the film Stalker by Andrei Tarkovsky and the novel upon which it's based, Roadside Picnic, as well as the Chernobyl Disaster
00:08:01: Characters in the game have secret agendas that often come into conflict with their organizations' agendas
00:09:32: A rundown of the game's mechanics
00:13:09: Ani DiFranco's song Letter to a John
00:13:31: We talk about music and politics as influences on game design and life
00:15:13: Malcolm's soundtrack for Cold City is dominated by non-50s music like DJ Krush, DJ Shadow,Fingerthing, and the Joe Acheson Quartet
00:16:10: The soundtrack for a Contenders game Malcolm played set in New Jersey (where I used to live) in 1983 included Blondie, Bauhaus, Talking Heads, The Cure, and The Clash
00:17:41: Malcom needs to visit New Jersey, if only for Dexposure's Dreamation gaming convention
00:18:15: We talk about more music: Nine Inch Nails, Front 242, and Green Day
00:19:11: How Hot War's conflict system works
00:19:55: Malcolm and I both worked the Playcollective booth at Gen Con
00:25:03: Megablockbuster 3:16: Carnage Amongst the Stars handles character death in a cool way
00:26:30: Why design this game?
00:31:09: "The people are not motor-bike-riding leather-clad, crossbow-wielding neo-barbarians"
00:32:46: The prevalence of kilts at gaming cons, Gen Con in particular
00:33:52: Jennifer Rodgers
00:36:17: What other games have you begun to shit out?
00:37:18: Malcolm wrote a game based on the song I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper
00:39:20: The possible third game in this thematic trend would be set in 1920s Constantinople and inspired by the book The Orientalist
00:41:36: The main differences between Hot War and Cold City
00:46:15: Gen Con's t-shirt problems: aggression, passive-aggression, and fascism
00:49:32: Malcolm "nicked mercilessly" from The Mountain Witch, Dogs in the Vineyard, and Covenant
00:53:38: Use of art in the book
00:56:54: The printer for the book is Fidlar Doubleday
00:58:44: Marketing (which Malcolm thinks Evil Hat are particularly good at)
01:02:19: Defining success

Closing song is Thick Ass Stout by Skankin' Pickle which can be found at Podshow's Podsafe Music Network, http://music.podshow.com/
Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

Episode 19: Seth Ben Ezra on Dirty Secrets

Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:25:00 GMT

In this episode, I talk to Seth Ben Ezra of Dark Omen Games about his game, Dirty Secrets. Dirty Secrets is a modern crime/noir/mystery game without the mystery being predetermined. Our conversation touches on many issues surrounding the game, including how it intersects with Seth's religious faith and the roles of race and class in the game and in society. We also talk briefly about Seth's new game, A Flower for Mara.

NOTE: This episode was shot in a hotel room where the air conditioning kept popping on and off. Hopefully it's not too distracting. Sorry!

This episode is 63.6 MB big and 1:09:25 long.

00:00:57: Dirty Secrets is a "detective crime noir" game, similar in tone to the works of Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald, and Dashiell Hammett, but it's set in "your home, last week," and thus also bears similarity to the movie Brick or the show Veronica Mars
00:02:05: Robin Laws covers similar ground with his GUMSHOE rules system in a somewhat more traditional way (with a gamemaster and pre-plotting, for example)
00:03:03: Fred Hicks describes the game as having one player and many GMs
00:05:46: Situation generation
00:07:40: Scene framing
00:10:10: Conflicts use liar's dice and has a back-and-forth similar to Dogs in the Vineyard
00:12:05: Structuring the session
00:14:18: I make reference to the HBO TV series The Wire which is, in the context of this interview, absolutely obligatory
00:16:50: The crime grid
00:22:08: "When Ron Edwards in [The] Sorcerer's Soul talks about relationship maps and drawing them out of detective novels, he's using Ross Macdonald novels as an example."
00:26:31: Seth blames John Tynes and Greg Stolze, and their game Unknown Armies (which was pitched as James Ellroy meets Tim Powers, for his designing Dirty Secrets
00:27:58: The darkness of Ellroy's books and the perhaps-surprising implications for Seth as a Christian
00:30:56: The place that Dirty Secrets has vis a vis Seth's other games, Legends of Alyria and Mara
00:32:28: Ben Lehman describes Alyria as something C.S. Lewis would have written if he'd grown up playing Final Fantasy VII, but Seth sees it as the "intersection of Tolkein and Gene Wolfe"
00:35:41: An obligatory Chinatown reference
00:40:04: Seth loves In A Wicked Age..., and feels that Grey Ranks, Steal Away Jordan, and Dogs in the Vineyard are really "about stuff"
00:42:08: The demographics system, the racial implications, and my issues with it
00:47:14: Challenging design issues
00:47:32: Seth was inspired by the The IÃ! IÃ! Phâiles by Christoph Boeckle, which reminds me of Kat and Michael Miller's Serial Homicide Unit
00:49:22: How many times was the game played before you published?
00:55:51: Anything you'd change in the book as published?
00:57:49: Defining success
01:00:18: A bit about Flowers for Mara, Seth's Jeepform game.

Closing song is Toccata and Droog by the Hub City Stompers
Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

Episode 18: Luke Crane on Mouse Guard RPG

Tue, 25 Nov 2008 23:12:00 GMT

In this episode, I talk to Luke Crane of the Burning Wheel Headquarters, about their RPG adaptation of the comic book Mouse Guard. I'm really happy with how this interview went; it's one of the best I've put out so far. Luke has some really interesting things to say about the use of art and the way layout and editing work. We also get to talk a bit about how the HQ is constructed and who does what.

NOTE: This was obviously recorded before the release of the Magic Burner, but it's funny to listen to Luke toy with me.

This episode is 64.5 MB big and 1 hour and 10 minutes long.

00:59: The MGRPG will be based on the Burning Wheel system
01:25: Like Burning Empires, MGRPG is an evolution of the BW rules
02:18: Differences include: changes in how you can use dice, advancement, and the way rewards work
02:43: I tried the game at Ubercon
03:05: Mouse Guard is a comic written by David Petersen Published by Archaia Studios Press, which is owned by Mark Smylie who wrote the comic book Artesia and published the Origins-Award-winning Artesia: Adventures in the Known World roleplaying game
03:55: Part of a tradition of fantasy about mice, which includes The Wind in the Willows, Redwall, (parts of) the Narnia series
05:04: Kid friendly?
07:09: MGRPG is "essential Burning Wheel," a version of the rules is as stripped-down as BW can get and still be BW
08:08: The game has tons of new and previously-unpublished Petersen art
09:56: The new ubiquity of the enmity clause: Twists and Conditions
10:51: Conditions (hungry, angry, tired, injured, and sick) are the new damage track
13:31: The new way advancement works
14:47: Versioning through new games rather than re-releasing games
18:34: Why did you design this game?
19:37: Clinton R. Nixon made BWHQ aware of Mouse Guard; he had tried an earlier adaptation, Tiny Triangles
22:07: Other designs that arose from creating MGRPG?
26:51: Anything you had to drop?
27:58: How Traits work in MGRPG
30:24: GM turn and player turn
34:36: The most useful feedback received from playtesters
36:26: The hardest thing to fix
38:14: Choosing a printer
43:07: How are you using art?
48:40: Layout/design challenges
54:16: Marketing
56:05: Playing the game with Dave
58:10: Defining success
59:27: Magic Burner?
59:53: A peek behind the curtain at BWHQ

Closing song is Jenny Whiskey by the Hub City Stompers
Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

Episode 17: Judd Karlman on Dictionary of Mu

Mon, 6 Oct 2008 02:36:00 GMT

In this episode, I talk to Judd Karlman, about his game The Dictionary of Mu. We talk a lot about the purpose of setting books, what constitutes game design, and even discuss the possibility of Mu for FATE. I'm really proud of the quality of this conversation, and I want Judd to design more fucking games so I can do more interviews with him.

This episode is 60 MB big and 1 hour and 5 minutes long.

01:17: Dictionary of Mu: A supplement for Ron Edwards's Sorcerer
01:36: A combination of Conan, Kull, Barsoom and the Bible
02:25: The Kim Stanley Robinson Mars trilogy inspired me to want to do a parkour game set on Mars
03:29: Mako of the Conan movie and Avatar: The Last Airbender
06:31: Settings that do what Judd likes settings to do include: Legend of the Five Rings (1st Edition), Midnight (original hardcover), and Exalted
07:12: Rules differences between Mu and Sorcerer
08:19: Judd's dad made a kill puppies for satan character with Mu
11:19: In a lot of ways, Mu is really a supplement for Sorcerer & Sword
13:11: Luke Crane and Ron encouraged Judd to bring the game to print.
13:54: Charnel Gods also came out of the Sorcerer mini-supplement project
16:35: Giving money to Joshua A.C. Newman for layout consultancy was a big impetus to me to complete
16:49: Rich Forest was Judd's editor for Mu and Jennifer Rodgers did the art.
17:10: Why did you make Mu?
21:55: The shock: solar system game we want to play some day
25:37: Don Corchran played Mu with Judd
27:38: The most useful feedback
30:07: The editing process
31:34: Thor Olavsrud talked about editing on an episode of the Theory from the Closet podcast
34:05: Use of art in the book
35:56: Keith Senkowski nearly called Judd a pussy
39:09: Choosing a printer (he uses Lightning Source now).
41:21: The economics of a print run and the sales flow
44:20: Marketing (having a podcast like Sons of Kryos "doesn't hurt")
47:14: "If I could change ANYthing...."
50:20: Defining success
57:33: The big announcement: Dictionary of Mu and FATE?

Closing song is Leave Me the Fuck Alone by the Hub City Stompers
Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

PS: Thanks to Rich Rodgers of The Canon Puncture show for help with a niggling Audacity problem.

Episode 16: Judd Karlman on Robert Bohl on Misspent Youth

Sun, 10 Aug 2008 16:54:00 GMT

In this episode, Judd Karlman, writer of The Dictionary of Mu and my
guest on my first episode, was kind enough to interview me about my
game, Misspent Youth. Misspent Youth's tagline is "Teenage rebellion in a
fucked-up future" and is a game about friendship and standing up to
authority. It's coming out in ashcan form at Gen Con 2008 and it's the
ashcan edition that we talk about here. It was a pleasure to talk to Judd,
who is my oldest friend and someone I'm very glad to know. I'm grateful
to him for doing me the honor of allowing me to piggyback on his renown
for my self-aggrandizement.

This episode is 54.8 MB big and 59:45 long.

00:59: Jennifer Rodgers did the cover art for the game and Joshua A.C. Newman (writer of shock: social science fiction et al.) provided layout consultancy.
01:56: The Adobe website has a lot of good tutorials to learn the InDesign layout program.
02:11: I stole layout ideas from the seminal punk 'zine, Maximumrocknroll.
03:01: Tell me about the game
04:10: Clockwork Orange (film or book) meets Avatar: The Last Airbender meets Ocean's 11 (2001)
04:24: Why did you design it?
05:06: A problematic game of Cybergeneration at Dreamation 2006 helped birth MY
06:28: Covert Generation, a game somewhat similar to Misspent Youth, came out at Gen Con 06 and got me nervous!
07:49: Other designs, such as Obvious Monstrosities--the werewolf game--that arose from the process
09:43: The very first playtest, with Andrew Morris (designer of the free RPG Unistat), and the crappy version of the rules
11:00: Misspent Youth's system is a version of craps that is easier than the one that crackheads play
11:47: Who I stole from: My Life with Master, Dogs in the Vineyard, FATE, World of Darkness, Burning Wheel, The Shadow of Yesterday, and Cybergeneration
14:20: Judd, Joshua, Andrew, Tony Lower-Basch (designer of Capes), and I played in a seminal-for-me game of My Life with Master which Michael S. Miller (designer of With Great Power) GMed
15:00: What got dropped in the design
17:17: Joshua Roby's game, Full Light, Full Steam inspired some now-gone mechanics after I listened to an episode with him of Master Plan
18:50: carry: a game about war by Nathan Paoletta
20:32: Primetime Adventures
20:34: The hardest thing to fix
28:10: The most useful feedback
30:42: Epidiah Ravachol (designer of Dread) and Nathan helped me with a thorny design issue.
32:06: Mickey Shulz (of the Geek Girls Rule blog and podcast) ran the one game that was run without ever having played it with me and found helpful problems
34:27: The Ashcan Front
37:30: The editing process (Tom Mazorlig and Adam Dray)
40:52: Use of art in the book
46:25: The game is being printed by Publishers' Graphics.
49:31: How do you define success?
50:42: Nathan's game Annalise
52:55: What if you can't get to Gen Con? How do you get a copy?

Closing song is Letting You by Nine Inch Nails, from the freely-available album The Slip

Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

Episode 014: Ben Lehman on XXXXtreme Street Luge

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 05:12:00 GMT

In this episode I talk with Ben Lehman of These Are Our Games (aka
TAO games). We touch on his game about the lives of microcelebrity
extreme athletes, XXXXtreme Street Luge, while conducting a wider-
ranging discussion about microcelebrity of another kind, playtesting,
ashcanning, and "what's wrong with the indie game design community,
and what's always been wrong with the indie game design community."
Warning, this one gets a mite prickly.

This episode is 56.5 MB big and 1:01:43 long.

01:43: Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy
02:12: Joshua AC Newman
02:52: The $3 (negotiable) price point
03:21: The free pdf of the game
03:47: Carl Rigney gave away copies at Endgame for Free RPG Day
04:45: Rachel found In a Wicked Age... at Greenfield Games while at JiffyCon on Free RPG Day
05:23: Tell us about the game
06:16: "Look vaguely like Vin Diesel!"
06:23: Pull quote by Elizabeth Shoemaker, who's coming out with It's Complicated quite soon
06:34: New quote, attributed to Joshua and Ralph Mazza
07:11: Ashcans aren't playtested
07:53: Dogs in the Vineyard is a game about Vincent Baker's issues and adolescence
08:27: Polaris about is Ben dealing with issues around activism and burnout
09:14: Bliss Stage is about sex and relationships
10:22: The kill puppies for satan reference in XXXXSL
14:21: The question that XXXXSL is investigating
15:28: Story Games
15:51: Ben's problems with Jason Morningstar's and Clinton R. Nixon's problems with fame
17:43: Ben is working with Anna Kreider on Thou Art But a Warrior (about which more in Episode 12
20:13: Luke Crane
22:41: "Playtesting is somewhat overrated"
24:49: What Ben doesn't like about Playstorming
27:08: Tony Dowler and Ben's snags in making a new race for How to Host a Dungeon
29:18: Primetime Adventures's series creation reminds me of playstorming
30:23: XXXXSL's lineage: The Pool > Inspectres > Universalis > PTA
33:03: Paul Czege of The Ashcan Front
33:34: A game written for Game Chef 2008 is going to be released as an ashcan this year
34:39: What Ben doesn't like about ashcans
36:49: Ben has been playing a lot of Shooting the Moon by Emily Care Boss, Don't Rest Your Head by Fred Hicks, and carry. a game about war. by Nathan Paoletta
38:04: Ben chickens out
40:51: Ashcans and the Sacred Cow Defense League
42:47: The Cockzilla cover for Misspent Youth and its SCDL
47:25: Taking turns in the bullshit phase of XXXXSL
50:36: Defining success for XXXXSL
52:04: The origin of XXXXSL
55:05: Summarizing Ben's prescription for a healthy hobby
57:29: XXXXSL's "amazingly good illustration of Vin Diesel" by Shreyas Sampat
58:40: A reading of the game's ad for 1001 Nights by Meguey Baker

Closing song is Sissyfit by the Hub City Stompers
Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

A break in schedule, probably

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 13:52:00 GMT

Hey folks,

I don't ordinarily do this for my show (I have this silly pride in not breaking the fourth wall), but at the moment I don't have any shows banked that I can use and things are a little hectic, finishing up my game (Misspent Youth). If you're a game designer and you wanna do an interview and you're reasonably close to NJ (I only do face-to-face interviews for the show), maybe you can help me avoid missing Thursday's show-coming-out-failure.

Anyway, it might be a little while for my next show(s), but I promise I'll get back on the stick.

Episode 013: Jason Morningstar on Grey Ranks

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:14:00 GMT

In this episode, I talk with Jason Morningstar of Bully Pulpit Games

about Grey Ranks. Grey Ranks is a game about the 1944
Warsaw Uprising against the Nazis in World War II (not to be confused
with the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising). In the game, you play teenage kids
(roughly the equivalent of the Boy Scouts) to fight (to ultimate futility)
to defeat the Nazis. I get very verbally fumbly at the end, discussing the
status issue. Hope you enjoy the show.

This episode is 52.8 MB big and 57:35 long.

00:56: Camp Nerdly
01:07: What itâs about
03:12: The arc of success and failure in the game
04:29: The grid, a map of mental states of characters
06:11: The scene/chapter structure
06:27: In A Wicked Age...
08:50: Historical games and the "getting it wrong" factor
09:15: Anna Kreider
11:33: Radio Lightning
14:02: The Things Held Dear mechanic
16:21: How the conflict system works
19:21: Character death
20:06: The reputation the game has as being dismal
21:49: Why did you design this game?
22:34: Mid-Atlantic Convention Expo
22:46: Luke Crane
26:06: Influences on the game (The Mountain Witch, Shab al-Hiri Roach, My Life With Master)
28:55: How many times was it played before publication?
29:41: The most valuable feedback received
31:18: The hardest thing to fix
31:28: Bill White (designer of Ganakagok)
32:38: What doesn't work?
33:12: A peek inside the structure of Bully Pulpit Games
33:37: Printed by Publishers' Graphics
34:05: Jason says Alphagraphics (aka RPI) are good now (Joshua AC Newman mentioned them in an earlier episode)
35:28: Jason's podcast, The Durham 3
35:50: How Jeff Bent's art is used in the book
38:08: Scott McCloud
39:10: Layout issues
40:02: Form factor & Lulu
42:03: Marketing
42:39: Defining success
44:09: How profit-sharing works in an indie press company
46:58: The Story Game Names Project
47:22: That whole "status" thing
50:52: Anything else to say?

Closing song is Little Julie Swastiska by the Hub City Stompers
Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

Episode 012: Anna Kreider on Thou Art But A Warrior

Thu, 29 May 2008 17:04:00 GMT

In this episode, I speak with Anna Kreider about her supplement for
Ben Lehman's game Polaris, Thou Art But A Warrior. Thou Art But a
Warrior is a game where your Muslim knights seek (ultimately, in good

Polaris style, in vain) to fend off Christian crusaders. We recorded this on
the first night of Camp Nerdly 2 in the woods of Triangle, VA. Hope you
enjoy it.

This episode is 77.9 MB big and 56:45 long.

01:11: Began as an entry in a setting design contest
01:40: The game is about the Reconquista
03:04: The doomsday clock
05:14: How the game works
05:45: In A Wicked Age
09:46: Ways TABAW is different from Polaris
11:28: Structure of interlocking stories, like Crash
14:14: One-shot game rules
15:51: Why did you design the game?
17:58: Wrestling with the label of "game designer"
20:07: Any games arise from the design process?
20:59: Game Chef
22:01: The way the Discord mechanic works
24:38: Troubleshooting the Discord mechanic
26:52: Anything you had to get rid of that you wish you didn't?
29:29: Steal Away Jordan by Julia Ellingboe (of Stone Baby Games)
30:59: How many times has the game been played?
31:14: "Knife-fight"
34:00: The most helpful feedback you got from playtesters
36:55: Picking a printer (Pandora Press)
37:56: Lulu
38:25: IPR
39:16: How is art used in the book?
40:56: Joshua AC Newman
41:23: What form factor, and why?
42:41: Marketing the game
44:02: Emily Care Boss
44:50: Gen Con and The Forge booth
45:16: Defining success for the game
46:35: Personal religious beliefs and how they intersect with the game
50:13: Anything else to say?
52:17: Master Mines

Closing song is Latina Rose by the Hub City Stompers
Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

Episode 011: Kat & Michael Miller on Serial

Thu, 15 May 2008 02:38:00 GMT

In this episode I talk with Kat and Michael Miller about their upcoming
game, Serial. Serial, which will be published by Incarnadine Press, is a
game based on true crime investigations of serial killers. The game is
careful to focus most of the interest on the victims of these crimes rather
than the cops or the killer. In fact, no one plays the killer. It's an exciting
and interesting game that I enjoyed playing.

This episode is 80.9 MB big and 58:55 long.

01:14: "A game about the horrors of serial murder."
02:30: The Forensic Files and City Confidential TV shows
03:50: Dreamation (A convention from Double Exposure)
06:03: An overview of how Serial works
09:42: The chains of evidence system
13:10: Rules, re-summarized
16:20: "Not really" a GM in the game
17:07: Design goals replicating fiction?
18:04: The Boston Strangler
18:47: The BTK Killer
19:43: Killers in Serial aren't "cool, sexy outsiders" (from Vincent Baker on Episode 10)
21:49: What happens if you run out of victims?
22:34: Serial attempts to make an experience that is unique to roleplaying rather than emulative of another genre
23:22: Serial is a one-shot game
23:45: Compassion fatigue
25:02: Serial will be presented as a CD with included reference material
25:46: Russell Collins is doing the music for Serial
27:48: With Great Power
28:34: Serial is "done in one" gaming (from Michael O'Sullivan on Episode 9)
29:25: Unofficial estimated cost of Serial
30:06: Sons of Kryos thread including discussion of audio delivery of RPG rules
32:15: Why design this game?
33:25: Any other designs arise out of Serial?
35:20: The Czege Principle (named after Paul Czege)
37:18: Who did you steal from the most?
38:02: Acts of Evil by Paul Czege
38:38: My Life with Master
38:53: InSpectres
39:15: Michael's game, Discernment, in the No Press Anthology
39:22: Division of labor in the design process
40:56: Lessons learned from playtesting
43:17: Anything you had to drop that you wish you didn't?
45:59: The hardest thing to fix
46:34: Don Corchran
48:34: How to press CDs, the new frontier
51:48: "This is Not a Pipe"
51:52: Two definitions of success for Serial
53:52: Spirit of the Century
55:20: Illusionism
55:44: Planned (hoped-for) release date

Closing song is Skinhead Boi by the Hub City Stompers
Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

Episode 010: Vincent Baker on kill puppies for satan

Fri, 2 May 2008 01:14:00 GMT

In this episode, I interview Vincent Baker of Lumpley Games about his
first published roleplaying game, kill puppies for satan. This was kind of a
silly one, as many of the questions I'd ordinarily ask a little weird in this
context. You'll see.

This episode is 01:01:48 long and 84.8 MB big.

01:36: What is kill puppies for satan?
02:39: "It is extremely mean to Vampire: The Masquerade."
03:33: Obligatory Forge reference
04:57: Conpulsion in Edinburgh and the kpfs resurgence
05:31: Malcolm Craig (of Contested Ground Studios)
05:45: kpfs 2nd edition?
05:35: Ralph Steadman
06:36: How does the game work mechanically?
10:03: A bunch of different kinds of NPCs
11:25: Meguey Baker (of Night Sky Games)
12:11: A parody of gamers or a certain kind of game?
12:44: Alas, now the 23rd hit on Google
12:57: kpfs hate mail site
16:27: Trying to get back to mechanics, conflict or tasky?
18:17: How indie is kpfs?
20:45: Why did you design the game?
22:59: The Lumpley Principle
27:58: kpfs is also self-parody
28:17: Comparing Vampire and Ars Magica
30:13: A reading from kpfs: A character sheet for a vampire
34:30: Playtesting? Fuck no!
34:51: The evil hamster wheel, a mechanic which coincidentally worked fine
38:52: kpfs saves lives
42:17: kpfs and the Columbine Massacre
42:40: The kpfs gun rules
43:32: Why Vincent doesn't run the game anymore
45:54: The DNA that kpfs shares with Poison'd
47:11: Angry threads sell games
48:33: Ron Edwards: "You make games about the morality of people you don't think are moral."
50:33: Is kpfs a success?

Closing song is Bridge Over Troubled Squatter by the Hub City Stompers

Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

Episode 009: Michael O'Sullivan on Criminal Element

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 04:03:00 GMT

In this episode, I talk to Michael O'Sullivan of Full Motor Productions
about his heist game, Criminal Element (whose development version is
currently available as a free download). This is the first show I've done
from my home and I was very grateful to Michael for coming up to see
me and talking with me about his game.

This episode is 1:03:51 long and 87.7 MB big.

01:16: CE is a heist movie game that came out of the 24 Hour RPG Design contest
01:38: Scott McLeod
02:20: Phil Reed's vs. Monsters and Fred Hicks's PACE
05:00: Tell us about the (blackjack-based) system
05:48: Ron Edwards compared the system to Over the Edge
07:00: Vices, personal weaknesses that create opposition for the crew or
the mission
07:22: Betting on your hand with Drama Points
08:35: The Director's (GM's) currency: Meltdown Points, freaking out
according to your Vice
11:00: Meltdown Points and Tension
11:44: Meltdown and Drama: player currency, not character currency
12:30: Flashbacking
13:02: Obligatory Judd Karlman reference
14:30: Heist (Heat) vs. Caper (Ocean's Eleven)
17:28: How the mechanics model the drama of these flicks
18:05: Heist creation before character creation
19:35: Why did you want to design a game?
19:43: Obligatory Forge reference
20:01: The Mountain Witch, Dictionary of Mu, Universalis, Dust Devils,
and Sorcerer
20:27: Why did you design this game?
22:29: The spoiler mechanic
23:44: Other games that came out of CE?
24:32: Ray Winninger's Underground
24:55: Shock:
26:52: Warren Ellis, The Authority, Planetary
27:49: Who did you steal from?
28:25: Obligatory Spirit of the Century reference
30:00: Mozambique Drill
30:29: What got dropped from the game?
31:07: Game Chef
33:21: Playtester feedback
33:56: Intent, Initiation, Execution, and Effect (IIEE)
34:30: Obligatory Dreamation/DexCon (Double Exposure, LLC.) reference
35:09: Star C. Foster Charity Auction funding a scholarship for Star's high
school
35:38: Slouching Towards Bedlam interactive fiction game by Star and
Daniel Ravipinto
36:35: Obligatory Vincent Baker reference
36:54: The Sons of Kryos
38:59: Ashcanning CE? Ryan Macklin
39:06: Misspent Youth
39:44: Know Thyself
40:23: The hardest thing to fix
43:18: The nascent production process of Criminal Element
46:28: Cthulhutech
46:56: How will art be used in the book?
50:16: Paying for/compensating models
51:17: Marketing the game
54:49: What is success for Criminal Element?
56:43: One shot or ongoing?
57:24: Luke, Emily, and Tobias Wrigstad (of Jeepform) at the Indie Game
Designer's Roundtable

Closing music is Everytime by the Hub City Stompers
Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

Episode 008: Brennan Taylor on Mortal Coil

Thu, 3 Apr 2008 18:32:00 GMT

In this episode, I speak with Brennan Taylor of Galileo Games about his game,
Mortal Coil. As Brennan is also a co-owner of Indie Press Revolution, we also discuss a
bit about how that business works and what implications there are for him as a client and
owner of IPR.

This episode is 78.2 MB big and 56:55 long.

01:08: Tell us about the game
02:09: Originally a World of Darkness hack
03:51: Why this title?
04:04: The CRPG, Darklands
04:36: The title, Nine Inch Nails, and horror
06:02: The grungy exuberance of Flaming Taft
06:37: Magic that feels magical
07:52: The Price of introducing magical facts
09:11: "I'm a Neil Gaiman fan"
09:31: The bidding system in the game
09:38: A stronger GM than many indie players are used to
10:27: Polaris
11:36: Players' major powers to introduce facts
12:37: Problems in the game
13:29: Second edition
14:54: Who did you steal from the most?
15:02: Primetime Adventures
16:12: Things you had to let go of
17:15: The fruits of playtesting
17:49: The NYC RPG Playtest group with Thor Olavsrud, Mayuran, et al.
18:16: Judd Karlman
20:44: The new game, How We Came To Live Here
22:49: The hardest thing to fix
24:38: Making an economy work
24:25: (Lack of) game balance in Mortal Coil
27:00: Deciding what printer to use
27:31: Alphagraphics, buy-outers of RPI
28:16: Costs of production
30:00: Indie Press Revolution
34:16: How do you use art? Jennifer Rodgers
34:40: Bulldogs!
36:27: Clinton R. Nixon, Dresden Files RPG
37:58: The trifecta of cock, Mortal Coil, The Dictionary of Mu, and It Was a Mutual Decision
38:14: Keith Senkowski
39:29: Layout
41:26: What doesn't work in the book?
45:46: Why this form factor?
46:10: Dogs in the Vineyard and Burning Wheel
46:50: The new Star Wars game
47:06: Fred and Rob of Evil Hat
47:59: Marketing
49:24: Paul Tevis, the other half of The Voice of the Revolution
56:10: DexCon and Dreamation (Double Exposure)
51:33: Defining success for Mortal Coil
53:56: How Mortal Coil saved my life

Closing music is WTFIU? by the Hub City Stompers
Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

Episode 007: Rob Donoghue and Fred Hicks on Spirit of the Century (plus a little Dresden Files)

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 17:48:00 GMT

On this show I interviewed Rob Donoghue and Fred Hicks of Evil Hat

Productions about Spirit of the Century. We also touch on some
previewey stuff for the Dresden Files RPG as well.

This episode is 93 MB big and 1:07:40 long.

00:01:47: What Spirit of the Century is

00:02:22: A public beta for The Dresden Files RPG

00:02:54: FUDGE > FATE > Spirit of the Century > The Dresden Files RPG

00:04:49: Grey Ghost Games

00:05:15: A quick rundown of FATE, FUDGE dice

00:05:53: The Shadow of Yesterday

00:07:19: The skill pyramid, and the reasons for it

00:07:58: Skills in The Dresden Files RPG

00:08:23: Harry Dresden's player min-maxed him

00:08:51: Musashi

00:09:47: Aspects

00:10:00: Amber and Amber Diceless RPG

00:13:01: Seventh Sea

00:13:25: Trollbabe

00:16:01: The compel mechanic

00:16:25: Leonard Balsera

00:17:02: The Dresden Files RPG: Supernaturals driven by their nature by low refresh

00:19:38: Gateway between hippy and trad

00:20:07: Declarations

00:21:00: "The really hippy stuff is the GM advice"

00:24:00: The traditional stuff in the game

00:24:48: Marvel Superheroes RPG

00:25:22: Don't Rest Your Head

00:26:04: Reign and True20

00:27:11: Stunts in The Dresden Files RPG

00:29:26: Stuff in Spirit of the Century as published that does not work

00:31:13: Companions Reloaded in Spirit of the Season

00:31:44: "We suck at playtesting!"

00:32:20: Stress tracks, problems with them

00:34:42: How The Dresden Files RPG fixes stress track problems

00:36:38: Stuff that didn't make it in to Spirit of the Century

00:36:59: The lost dogfighting rules

00:39:19: Clinton R. Nixon on parallel and perpendicular actions

00:41:03: Editioning through new products

00:42:27: Wherein Rob tries to find something Fred hasn't said already elsewhere about the publishing process

00:43:56: Clinton's game, Paladin

00:45:03: iStockphoto and Dover Publications clip art

00:46:56: Why this form factor?

00:47:21: Skill trappings in The Dresden Files RPG

00:47:56: Aberrant and Trinity

00:49:08: Form factor of The Dresden Files RPG

00:49:00: Jennifer Rodgers is doing art in The Dresden Files RPG

00:49:48: Robot from the future, Chad Underkoffler, writing setting in The Dresden Files RPG

00:50:10: My Newark in the Dresdenverse thingie

00:50:51: How do you do marketing? (HAHAHAHAH)

00:54:20: FATAL, an example of a game with its marketing built right in

00:55:11: Dealing with the problematic elements of the pulp genre

00:56:10: Harry Chapin

00:57:15: The point of Spirit of the Century

00:59:26: Bruce Baugh's New Horizons, a socially-conscious Spirit of the Century supplement

00:59:45: Is Spirit of the Century a success?

01:04:09: The secret origins of The Grey Ghost, Jet Black, Max Silver, and Sally Slick

Closing music is Skins Don't Cry by The Hub City Stompers.

Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

Episode 006: Joshua AC Newman on Shock:

Thu, 6 Mar 2008 22:19:00 GMT

In this episode, I interview Joshua AC Newman on his game, Shock: Social Science Fiction. Joshua's a great graphic designer, so in addition to the interesting things he has to say about his game and the design process, he's particularly instructive with regard to the production phase of putting your game out there.

This episode is 91.4 MB big and 01:06:34 long.

02:00: What Shock: is and does

02:45: Alvin Toffler's concept of the future shock (the inspiration for the game's title)

04:12: Issues (as they connect to shocks)

05:09: Resources for shocks and issues

06:26: Beaming ads into your skull bones

07:25: "The world ends a lot."

08:38: GMless

11:55: The ideal number of people to play

12:10: Minutiae

13:21: Ending soliloquy

14:52: Protagonist and antagonist

15:18: Praxes

15:47: How conflicts work and orthogonal stakes

16:18: Story goals

17:54: The way minutiae affect things

19:08: Playing audience

21:04: "This is the first science fiction game!"

23:55: Why did you design this game?

25:02: Philip K. Dick (in case you didn't know)

26:00: Criticisms of Shock: 1.0, Ron Edwards

27:06: Stuff that had to get edited out

27:28: Ubiquitous Primetime Adventures shout-out

28:50: Most useful feedback from playtesters, Thor Olavsrud

29:35: Vincent Baker

30:53: The hardest thing to fix (writing)

34:50: Deciding what printer to use, Fidlar Doubleday Digital Printing and Publishers' Graphics

38:42: Give yourself a month to get something published

39:38: Ben Lehman

40:00: The Forge

44:29: Costs of production

46:35: IPR

47:31: Graphic design/layout challenges

48:34: Emily Care Boss

50:49: Order of operations for layout vs. editing

52:08: Form factor considerations

52:57: Golden rectangle

54:29: Contact by Carl Sagan

57:10: Success

Closing music is Chatterbox by The Hub City Stompers.

Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

Episode 005: Epidiah Ravachol on Dread

Sun, 24 Feb 2008 21:55:00 GMT

In this episode, I speak with Epidiah Ravachol of The Impossible Dream about Dread.

This episode is 57.5 MB big and 1:02:52 long.

Notes:

02:02: About the game

02:05: Jenga

10:36: Jenga and horror

12:10: Nervousness about running the game

13:08: When your character's out

17:04: Jenga skill

17:29: Multiple sessions

19:15: "I won a freakin' Ennie!"

20:48: Piratecat

22: Sitting with the bigwigs at the Ennies (Robin D. Laws, Brennan Taylor of Indie Press Revolution)

22:52: Goodman Games

23:18: Atomic Sock Monkey Press

24:12: Playstorming at the Imagination Sweatshop

25:15: Kate's Joint in the Lower East Side

29:21: Emily Care Boss on the Fair Game Blog talking about playstorming Sign In Stranger

31:33: Time & Temp at the Imagination Sweatshop

34:02: Voyagers! TV show

37:04: Spirit of the Century has great advice on running a mystery

38:06: Deprotagonizing and horror

41:23: Most useful feedback from playtesters

44:09: What printer to use?

46:28: shock:

47:02: Marketing

47:49: Vegan implications of game publication

52:13: Actual play post from the Adventures in the Land of 1000 Kings session mentioned

57:35: War Eternal, Eppy's story-gamey Warhammer-like game

58:20: Wasabi tamari popcorn recipe

Closing music is Tocatta and Droog by The Hub City Stompers.

Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

Episode 004: Meguey Baker on 1001 Nights

Sun, 3 Feb 2008 05:20:00 GMT

In this interview, I spoke to Meguey Baker of Night Sky Games on about her game 1001 Nights ( http://www.nightskygames.com/ ).

Some background, in case you didn't know: The Arabian Nights ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Book_of_One_Thousand_and_One_Nights ).

I'm trying a new time-stamped show notes thing. I don't know how long my patience will hold out for this, but it's worth a shot I figger.

This show is 1:02:11 long and 56.9 MB big.

00:58 -- About the game,

03:25 -- Priorities and the "fake" character

08:03 -- Genesis of the game

08:25 -- Ralph Mazza's Universalis: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/ramshead/

09:15 -- The requisite Primetime Adventures mention: http://www.dog-eared-designs.com/games.html

10:36 -- 1KN & Iraq & Afghanistan

11:10 -- Setting drifting

13:12 -- Games that came from this game?

15:15 -- Joshua A.C. Newman ( http://glyphpress.com/talk/ ) and Ben Lehman ( http://www.tao-games.com/ )

16:07 -- A ruleset you can memorize

17:41 -- Who did you steal from most?

17:48 -- H.J. Ford ( http://www.victorianweb.org/art/illustration/ford/index.html )

18:16 -- Otherkind ( http://web.archive.org/web/20041209151419/http://www.septemberquestion.org/lumpley/other.html )

18:53 -- What got left behind

20:17 -- Sinbad movies ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_7th_Voyage_of_Sinbad )

20:55 -- Playtesting

21:30 -- Emily Care Boss ( http://www.blackgreengames.com/ )

21:12 -- Writing what you're actually doing

22:27 -- Judd Karlman ( http://judd-sonofbert.livejournal.com/ )

23:59 -- The hardest thing to fix

24:46 -- Rules drifting

29:12 -- How art is used in the book

29:19 -- Coloured Fairy Books ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Lang%27s_Fairy_Books )

31:43 -- Primitive by Kevin Allen Jr. ( http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/product.php?productid=16198&cat=0&page=1 )

31:54 -- Poison'd ( http://goplaynow.org/?p=14 )

32:11 -- Choosing a shape for the book

34:20 -- "The Wrong Heads on the Wrong Bodies" ( http://books.google.com/books?id=2c2ujuioL38C&pg=PA250&lpg=PA250&dq=%22the+wrong+heads+on+the+wrong+bodies%22+fairy&source=web&ots=Ta1POA-NCk&sig=BpN7c6hc8lTYBn_shEiYUHggniY#PPA251,M1 )

36:44 -- Marketing the game

37:10 -- My Life With Master by Paul Czege ( http://www.halfmeme.com/master.html )

37:44 -- The Forge ( http://indie-rpgs.com/ )

38:26 -- What is success for 1001 Nights?

39:00 -- Nathan Paoletta's Carry: A Game About War ( http://www.hamsterprophetproductions.com/wordpress/?page_id=25 )

41:03 -- Shreyas Sampat ( http://swingpad.com/shreyas/blog/ )

43:18 -- Choosing a printer, Collective Copies ( http://www.collectivecopies.com/cchome.html )

44:20 -- Fred Hicks on different ways to get your game printed ( http://drivingblind.livejournal.com/315530.html )

46:57 -- Three other games?

47:39 -- #1: Twist

49:32 -- #2: Miss Schiffer's School for Young Ladies of Quality

49:48 -- Reverse Engineer Challenge ( http://www.kevinallenjr.com/reverseengineer/reversed.html )

50:24 -- Gibson Girls ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_girl )

52:42 -- Committee For the Exploration of Mysteries ( http://ericjboyddesigns.com/The_Committee.aspx )

53:36 -- #3: Intertwined ( scary and hawt! )

54:24 -- Jeepform ( http://jeepen.org/ )

54:54 -- The Fountain ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fountain_%28film%29 ) Darren Aronofsky ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darren_Aronofsky )

55:30 -- The Time Traveler's Wife ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Time_Traveler%27s_Wife )

56:25 -- Frotteurism ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frotteurism )

Music by The Hub City Stompers: http://www.hubcitystompers.com/

Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

Episode 003: Julia Bond Ellingboe on Steal Away Jordan

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 22:30:00 GMT

In this episode, I interviewed Julia Bond Ellingboe about her game Steal Away Jordan.

This episode is 59:07 minutes long and 54.1 MB big

Links!

Stone Baby Games (Julia's company): http://www.stone-baby.com/
The Imagination Sweatshop (playstorming): http://imaginationsweatshop.com/?page_id=10
Buffy RPG: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buffyverse_role-playing_games
Primetime Adventures: http://www.dog-eared-designs.com/games.html
Fairy Meat: http://www.kenzerco.com/index.php?cPath=34_63
Lumpley Games (Vincent's Baker): http://www.lumpley.com/games/
Ron Edwards' Sorcerer: http://www.sorcerer-rpg.com/
Yahtzee: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahtzee
Spelman College: http://www.spelman.edu/

The episode ends with the Hub City Stompers song WHOLOTTAMULATTO: http://www.hubcitystompers.com/lyrics/wholottamulatto.html

Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

The Independent Insurgency Episode 002: Vincent Baker on In a Wicked Age...

Wed, 9 Jan 2008 17:10:00 GMT

In this episode, I talk with Vincent Baker of Lumpley Games about his upcoming game, In a Wicked Age, which will be released at Dreamation 2008, in late January. I was so excited, I couldn't wait for my preproscribed deadline this Saturday.

The show is 01:10:38 long and 64.6 MB big.

Links:

Lumpley Games (Vincent's company): http://www.lumpley.com/games/
- There you will find links for In a Wicked Age..., Dogs in the Vineyard, Poison'd, Mechaton, and kill puppies for satan.
Dreamation 2008: http://www.dexposure.com/d2008.html
Conan: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conan_the_Barbarian
Tanith Lee: http://www.tanithlee.com/
- Tales From The Flat Earth: http://www.enotes.com/salem-lit/tales-from-flat-earth
Jack Vance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Vance
- Lyonesse: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyonesse
Drew Baker: http://www.drewbaker.com/
Joshua A.C. Newman:
- Joshua A.C. Newman Design: http://joshuanewmandesign.com/
- The Glyphpress http://glyphpress.com/
Cheap & Cheesy Fantasy Game (via the waybackmachine): http://web.archive.org/web/20050909010740/http://www.septemberquestion.org/lumpley/cnc.html
Clinton R. Nixon:
- CRN Games: http://crngames.com/
- The Fantasy Oracle generator for AG&G/IaWA: http://crngames.com/oracle
Grey Ranks: http://www.bullypulpitgames.com/games/index.php?game=grey_ranks
Play Collective: http://playcollective.org/
Ashcan Front: http://ashcanfront.net/
Ron Edwards' Sorcerer: http://www.sorcerer-rpg.com/
Black and Green Games (Emily Care Boss): http://www.blackgreengames.com/
Tony Dowler: http://tony.dowler.com/
Troels's fixes for IaWA: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?topic=25173.0
Judd Karlman:
- Livejournal: http://judd-sonofbert.livejournal.com/
- Paka's Thread Games: http://www.bobgoat.com/mu/
Durham 3 (Jason Morningstar, Clinton R. Nixon, Remi Treur): http://www.durham3.com/
Agon (John Harper): http://www.agon-rpg.com/
Night Sky Games's 1001 Nights (Meguey Baker): http://www.nightskygames.com/
Collective Copies: http://www.collectivecopies.com/cchome.html
TAO Games (Ben Lehman): http://www.tao-games.com/
Lulu: http://lulu.com/
The Forge RPG Bookshelf: http://bookshelf.indie-rpgs.com/
RPGNow: http://www.rpgnow.com/
Anna Kreider: http://wundergeek.blogspot.com/
Ed Heil: http://esotericmurmurs.blogspot.com/
My Life with Master (Paul Czege): http://www.halfmeme.com/master.html
Ars Magica: http://www.atlas-games.com/arsmagica/

Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/

The Independent Insurgency Episode 001: Judd Karlman on 1st Quest

Sun, 30 Dec 2007 02:40:00 GMT

This is my first show, and Judd Karlman (designer of Dictionary of Mu and a member of the Sons of Kryos podcast) came on to talk about his Young Adult fantasy hack of The Shadows of Yesterday, entitled 1st Quest.

Judd's awesome and so is this episode. I'm so glad he's on the first one.

This episode is 48.3 MB big and 00:52:46 long. Here are the relevant show notes:

Hub City Stompers: http://hubcitystompers.com
The Dictionary of Mu: http://www.bobgoat.com/mu/
The Sons of Kryos: http://www.sonsofkryos.com/
Birthright: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthright_%28campaign_setting%29
Rob Donoghue (Evil Hat Games): http://evilhat.com/
Days of Wonder: http://www.daysofwonder.com/
The Shadow of Yesterday: http://crngames.com/the_shadow_of_yesterday/
Keith Senkowski: http://www.bobgoat.com/
Ralph Mazza (Ramshead Publishing): http://www.indie-rpgs.com/ramshead/
Sorcerer: http://www.sorcerer-rpg.com/
Philip Pullman: http://www.philip-pullman.com/
Thor Oluvsrud and Luke Crane (Burning Wheel): http://burningwheel.org/
Thor Oluvsrud (blog): http://urdwell.blogspot.com/
FATE RPG: http://faterpg.com/
Wraith: The Oblivion: http://www.white-wolf.com/Games/Pages/Wraithhome.html
The Riddle of Steel: http://www.theriddleofsteel.net/
Ron Edwards (Adept Press): http://www.adept-press.com/
The Forge playtesting forum: http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forum/index.php?board=62.0
Aaron Kuder: http://www.comicspace.com/aaronkuder/ and http://dancingdoorguy.deviantart.com/
Riddle of Blood Yahoo Group: http://games.groups.yahoo.com/group/TRoB/

Logo courtesy of Daniel Solis: http://danielsolis.com/