Master Plan

After the beach sabbatical that was Have Master, Will Plan #1, Ryan goes back to his series of designers talking about their experiences working with other games. This week, he talks with John Wick about his now-in-preorder game, Houses of the Blooded. Along with talking about where various parts of the game were inspired, John drops a bit of insight into some other games and shares some stories where he's collaborated with and contributed to other designers. Then Ryan talks briefly about the part he really thinks is cool, which is what John's doing with the Limited Edition of Houses of the Blooded, particularly the Graphics Pack. John Wick & Houses of the Blooded: Wicked Dead Brewing Company Houses of the Blooded (offical site) Pre-order Houses of the Blooded (Indie Press Revolution) Pre-order Houses of the Blooded Limited Edition (Indie Press Revolution) John Wick's blog entries for Houses of the Blooded (LiveJournal) Running time: 29:29 / File size: 20.3 MB Discuss this episode on the forums: http

Have Master, Will Plan #1 with Paul Tevis, part 2 0:34 This episode is the second part of a conversation between Ryan Macklin and Paul Tevis at the second Nerdly Beach Party. Pick up the first half over on Have Games, Will Travel. 1:19 If you like this show, check out RPGPodcasts.com. 1:28 Ryan and Paul talk about Project Cowbell, their attempt to recapture their convention gaming roots, and how that play style differs from what they've been doing recently. 8:10 - Sprigboarding off the idea of making clear what parts of a design are important, Paul and Ryan talk about how they address the issue of modular design in A Penny For My Thoughts. 17:08 - Finally coming around to the original premise for this episode, Paul and Ryan talk about how publication is not the end-point, what they mean by development, and their collaboration style. 29:31 - And that's it from the Nerdly Beach Party 2. A big thanks to Albert, Nancy, and Josh for organizing it! Running time: 30:50 / File size: 21.2 MB Discuss this episode on

Master Plan #27: Designing from Other Games 1, Willow Palecek Ryan kicks off this new series on designers discussing their experiences designing from other games by talking to new publisher Willow Palecek. She's recently published Awesome Adventures, her derivative of Evil Hat's FATE system. They talk for a bit about why she started with FATE, the reasons behind some of her design choices, and what sort of issues she's faces in playtesting those choices. After that, Ryan mentions a couple other podcasts where you can hear him talk and April's Sponsor Quote. Willow Palecek & Awesome Adventures: Awesome Adventures (Lulu.com) FATE: Fantastic Adventures in Tabletop Entertainment by Evil Hat Productions Spirit of the Century by Evil Hat Productions Open Gaming License (Wikipedia) Places where Ryan won't shut up: Dreamation 2008 Indie Design Roundtable, part 1 (Sons of Kryos, non-direct link) Canon Puncture 32 Other mentions: d20 by Wizards of the Coast GURPS by Steve Jackson Games Running time: 27:00 / Fi

Ryan talks with Jennifer Rodgers, artist & colorist, about what a game designer should expect to know and should expect to find out in talking with an artist such as herself. They get a bit in-depth about her specific process, and she talks about some of the things she's learned over her time working with clients. Afterward, Ryan mentions BoardGamePodcasts.com, follows up on some comments made about episode 25, and thanks his awesome listeners for supporting him, criticizing him and in general being there to listen. Jennifer Rodgers: Dictionary of Mu by Judd Karlman Mortal Coil by Galileo Games Shadow of Yesterday by CRN Games Primetime Adventures by Dog-eared Designs Dresden Files RPG by Evil Hat Productions Other mentions: White Wolf Endgame Oakland BoardGamePodcasts.com My journal Running time: 29:25 / File size: 20.2 MB Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=29

Ryan takes another solo episode to talk about the part of game books we rarely talk about -- the text of the book separated from the game. He talked about the purposes of a game text, how a game text starts and ends a conversation with the reader, and some examples of games that do and don't do this effectively (even though as they're they aren't poor). Along with the issues, he tries to bring it home with some potential, if broad, solutions. Then Ryan talks about the show's first sponsor. Mentions: Don't Rest Your Head by Evil Hat Productions GURPS by Steve Jackson Games Dungeons & Dragons by Wizards of the Coast Burning Empires by Luke Crane Ashcan Front Running time: 24:26 / File size: 16.8 MB Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=28

Being Valentine's Day, Ryan sits down with designer Emily Care Boss to talk about her romantic role-playing games Breaking the Ice, Shooting the Moon and the upcoming Under My Skin. While the topic begins with the typical "trials and tribulations" question, this one about designing romantic RPGs, they cover quite a few other insightful topics: discovering what your game is really about through playing it and seeing others play it, being unexpectedly pigeonholed, and her experience with another role-playing culture. Emily Care Boss: Black & Green Games Breaking the Ice Shooting the Moon Under My Skin (still in development) Sign In Stranger (still in development) Other Mentions: Durham 3 podcast InterCon H, where Emily will be running Under My Skin Jeepform My journal/design blog Sex & Sorcery by Ron Edwards Sons of Kyros podcast Sorcerer by Ron Edwards Running time: 28:43 / File size: 19.8 MB Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=27

Following up on the the last show, Ryan finishes up his interview with Daniel Solis. They talk about something Daniel has said in the past, "A Cover is a Promise." Daniel discusses what that means, what some of the covers he has done seeks to promise to the browser and his method for designing those covers and communicating those promises. Afterwards, Ryan mentions a few RPGs that might be timely to play, given that Valentine's Day is around the corner, and ends the show by talking about the upcoming Los Angeles convention, OrcCon. Daniel Solis' website Covers Daniel has worked on: Reign by Greg Stolze Lacuna Part I by Jared Sorensen Wilderness of Mirrors by John Wick (Cover, from danielsolis.com) Other covered mentioned: Mob Justice by Contested Ground Studios Nobilis by R. Sean Borgstrom (Wikipedia) Octane by Jared Sorensen Spirit of the Century by Evil Hat Productions Romantic RPG mentions: Shooting the Moon by Emily Care Boss Breaking the Ice by Emily Care Boss It Was A Mutual Decision by Adept Press

Hours before leaving home for Dreamation, Ryan puts together a short episode of Master Plan. Daniel Perez from The Gamer Traveler and The Digital Front podcasts mentioned on the Master Plan forum that he wished I had published the anecdotes that Daniel Solis told me. Ask and ye shall receive! Note: this podcast has been quickly edited and posted up, so it will sound different from most other podcasts. Running time: 5:50 / File size: 4.1 MB

For his first podcast of 2008, Ryan talks with Daniel Solis, layout designers for such games as Lacuna, Reign, Wilderness of Mirrors and the upcoming Houses of the Blooded. As part one of their interview, they talk about questions a designer should be able to answer or keep in mind when talking to someone about doing layout for their game. Daniel goes into his list of Hard, Firm and Soft Questions, and goes into detail as to how the answers to those questions helps help layout a project. Daniel Solis' website Projects Daniel has worked on: Jared Sorensen's Lacuna Greg Stozle's Reign John Wick's Wilderness of Mirrors and Houses of the Blooded (in production) Other mentions: Best Friends by Gregor Hutton/Box Ninja Dreamation 2008 Warhammer 40,000 RPG by Games Workshop/Black Industries Running time: 28:35 / File size: 19.6 MB Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=25

After making his brief comment about first drafts on Master Plan #19, Ryan decides to unpack his thoughts on the subject by talking about what he has to deal with. He touches on forms of procrastination that feel like work, dealing with judging himself against the finished works of others, "sexy" and "unsexy" writing, some things other writers have said that help him when he's struggling, and embracing intentionally-bad writing. Mentions: Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamont (Amazon link) Canon Puncture Chad Underkoffler's Swashbucklers of the Seven Skies posts on his blog Daniel Solis' Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple posts on his blog John Wick's Houses of the Blooded posts on his blog Joshua BishopRoby's on "How to Write an RPG Ken Burnside's Minimus Master Mines design collective My bad writing experiment My own Mythender Draft Zero Unknown Armies by Atlas Games Running time: 23:24 / File size: 16.2 MB Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/for

On this anniversary episode of Master Plan, Ryan puts out an interview with Luke Crane he did at GenCon earlier in the year. They talk about the scene framing and pacing mechanics (or Disposition mechanics) in Burning Empires, partly sparked because Ryan didn't completely understand them when he and his group played it. Luke goes into detail about how he came up with various design goals and elements in that part of Burning Empires and also gives some insight in how to play the game. Warning: There's a lot of profanity in this episode, and due to technical problems the interview has some severe audio degradations from 21:16 to 28:48. Luke Crane: Burning Empires Burning Wheel Project Donut Other Mentions: My Life With Master by Half-Meme Press With Great Power by Incarnadine Press Primetime Adventures by Dog-eared Designs Polaris by These Are Our Games Running time: 30:09 / File size: 20.7MB Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=23

As the first episode in a series about busting assumptions in game design, Ryan talks with Ben Lehman about assumptions regarding game masters (or GMs). Ben has written three games that each deal with GM distribution differently: Polaris, which has no GM; Bliss Stage, which has a typical GM; and The Drifter's Escape, which has many GMs and one PC. Bringing these various experiences to the table, they unpack various assumptions and various design pitfalls. Afterwards, Ryan shares some random bits of advice he's found himself telling people lately. Ben's Games: Bliss Stage The Drifter's Escape Polaris Other Games Mentioned: Ambe Diceless (Wikipedia article) Breaking the Ice by Black & Green Games Capes by Muse of Fire Games Grey Ranks by Bully Pulpit Games Nobilis (Wikipedia article) The Shab-al-Hiri Roach by Bully Pulpit Games Universalis by Ramshead Publishing Other Mentions: Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life by Anne Lamont (Amazon link) Story Games Running time: 28:14 / File size:

Ryan returns from nearly a month off to talk about a topic he's very passionate about: Emergent Play (or Emergent Behavior in Play). That is play that emerges from the people engaging and interactive with the text, but isn't a direct result of the instructions of the text. He goes into some examples to illustrate the idea from different vantage points: the board game Diplomacy, Call of Cthulhu, Paul Tevis' A Penny For My Thoughts, his own Know Thyself, and Beast Hunters. While he only scratched the surface, he looks forward to returning to this topic again. Mentions: A Penny For My Thoughts by Paul Tevis (link to Master Mines site) Know Thyself by Ryan Macklin Beast Hunters by Berengad Games Call of Cthulhu by Chaosium, Inc. Diplomacy by Avalon Hill The Domino Challenge post on Story Games Endgame Master Mines Canon Puncture podcast The Voice of the Revolution podcast Running time: 24:58 / File size: 17.1 MB Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?Discussion

Ryan talks with Joshua BishopRoby of Kallisti Press about beta playtesting -- getting the game your working on playtested by people outside of your table. They talk about his current project that's in beta playtest, Sons of Liberty. Speaking both generally and using Sons of Liberty as an example, Joshua discusses what a "beta playtest" is, the issues in getting people to playtest, what he's looking for in feedback, and other playtesting topics. Ryan then talks about what he sees as the benefits, as a game designer, of playtesting someone else's game. Sons of Liberty -- Beta Playtest until October 31st, 2007 Sons of Liberty page Kallisti Press main page Full Light, Full Steam Have Games, Will Travel episode with Joshua BishopRoby Contact Ryan about ordering an ashcan copy of Know Thyself: MasterPlan@hmfy.com. Other Mentions: Story Games The Forge Running time: 23:56 / File size: 16.4 MB Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=20

Ryan talks about doing the physical card production for his recent ashcan game, Know Thyself. As he ended up doing most of the production himself, he has a lot to say about the various steps in the process. He talks about the process after designing the cards: physically printing the cards, having the cards cut, collating the decks, etc., sharing with everyone the little problems and little successes he had in the process. After discussing that, Joshua BishopRoby pops on briefly to call upon all good patriots to playtest Sons of Liberty. Know Thyself: Ashcan page List of cards Scans of the actual, physical cards: Six different fronts (JPG, 136K) & two different backs (JPG, 111K) Single card sheet, including guide lines & what changes I would make to the sheet in the future. (JPG, 212K) Sons of Liberty: Official Site Have Games, Will Travel episode with Joshua BishopRoby Other mentions: My Interview with Bully Pulpit Games about the Shab-al-Hiri Roach Alphagraphics Cheapass Games Fiskars paper tri

Ryan sits down with Leonard Balsera of Evil Hat Productions and talks about a design concept central to the FATE -- the system used by Spirit of the Century and the upcoming Dresden Files RPG -- called the Fractal. They talk about this concept that treats elements larger and smaller than characters, like planets & possessions, the same way as characters are treated mechanically. Leonard also gives us a bit of an update on the Dresden Files RPG. FATE & The Fractal: FATE: Fantastic Adventures in Tabletop Entertainment Spirit of the Century Dresden Files RPG Fred's post on RPGnet & his blog entry on the Fractal. FATE Yahoo Group, where you can get Rob's macro-level rules for FATE 2.0 Wikipedia entry on fractals Jason Morningstar's Sight & Sound Game Design Challenge: Main contest page My entry, "Only the Guilty Run" (requires a Story Games login, which is totally free) Jared Sorensen's entry, "1000 Words" (requires a Story Games login) Other Games Mentioned: Birthright, the classic AD&D se

While editing another episode, Ryan gets an audio comment from Paul Tevis about the last episode, The Siren Song of Cool, along with some questions. He takes a stab at addressing those comments and answering those questions, after thanking some of the folks he got to meet at GenCon. Mentions: Have Games, Will Travel #100 Theory From The Closet My interview with Clyde on Theory From The Closet Ashcan Front Pulp Gamer GenCon 2007 Podcaster Panels Burning Empires Steal Away Jordan A Penny For My Thoughts (on the Master Mines design blog) Dungeons & Dragons Running time: 23:27 / File size: 16.5 MB Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=17

Ryan tries his new format out with an episode talking about the Siren Call of Cool. He talks about how he's had to deal with problems around cool ideas he's had and thought he had with Know Thyself, and how the sort of problems you might have to deal with when it comes the confidence in your design and dealing with playtesters and people you talk with about your game. He apologizes for the roughness in the editing, but he had to push this out before leaving for GenCon. Know Thyself Master Mines posts Card Deck Ashcan Front Game Chef Some notes for my next idea, "Flood: Apocryphal Roleplaying" Games Mentioned Spirit of the Century PDQ Core Rules Truth & Justice Zorcerer of Zo Dead Inside Questers of the Middle Realms Ninja Burger RPG 2nd ed. Beast Hunters Hero's Banner Agon Polaris Full Light, Full Steam Other Mentions Finis Battlestar Galactica (wikipedia) Go Play Northwest Endgame Minicon Nerdly Beach Party Have Games, Will Travel Sons of Kryos Theory from the Closet Running time: 27:48 / File size:

Ryan talks with Jason Morningstar & Steve Segedy of Bully Pulpit Games, about The Shab-al-Hiri Roach and the design & production issues with making a role-playing game that involves a custom deck of cards. Ryan also talks about changes he's planning on making with the format of Master Plan, brings back his Design Watch segment for a brief moment and talks about how to find two things: him at GenCon and other podcasts on the Internet. Bully Pulpit Games Interview Bully Pulpit Games The Shab-al-Hiri Roach Grey Ranks The Roach Returns Mad Irishman Productions Alphagraphics Lulu All these games should be available at GenCon at The Forge Booth/Indie Press Revolution (booth #1739). Design Watch Daniel Solis' single-blog-post summary of Do: Pilgrims of the Flying Temple All of his blog posts tags as "Do" Stargate SG-1 (Wikipedia) Dogs in the Vineyard Buddhism (Wikipedia) Dear Abby (Wikipedia) Avatar: The Last Airbender (Wikipedia) Other Mentions RPGPodcasts.com -- A directory of audio and video shows abou

Mike Sugarbaker & Paul Tevis sit down with Ryan at Go Play Northwest on Saturday evening and talk about the design collective they've put together. Paul & Ryan talk about playtesting at the convention, and all three talk about how they've set up the collective and what they've been getting out of it. Master Mines The website The mission statement & rules A Penny for my Thoughts by Paul Tevis Know Thyself by Ryan Macklin Outside Men by Mike Sugarbaker Kingdom of Nothing by Jeff Himmelman Master Mines members podcasts: Mike Sugarbaker: OgreCave Audio Report Paul Tevis: (ENnie Award nominated) Have Games, Will Travel & The Voice of the Revolution Daniel M. Perez: The Gamer Traveler Jeff Himmelman: Gamer: The Podcasting Chris Perrin/commondialog: Canon Puncture and, of course, my own Master Plan Other design collectives (all on WordPress): Secret Wars HQ Unicron Splitting the Party Other mentions: Finis: A Book of Endings to Give People New Beginnings Think and Grow Rich by Napolean Hill (