Master Plan

This week, Ryan gets gaming luminary Kenneth Hite on the show. They start by talking about Ken's upcoming book, Adventures Into Darkness, and then go into talking about designers notes, pulling from other games and the continuing evolution of game design. Afterwards, Ryan talks about his experiences playtesting at Go Play NW, helping out with A Penny For My Thoughts & Sea Dracula as well as testing his own game, Know Thyself. Games mentioned: Adventures Into Darkness available soon at Ronin Arts Ken Hite's Dubious Shards Ken Hite's Tarot of Cthulhu: Major Arcana d20 by Wizards of the Coast Dogs in the Vineyard by Lumpley Games Dungeons & Dragons by Wizards of the Coast FASERIP Ghostbusters by West End Games (Wikipedia entry) GUMSHOE by Robin Laws Monte Cook Presents: Iron Heroes The Mountain Witch by Timfire Publishing Mutants & Masterminds by Green Ronin Publishing Sorcerer by Adept Press Spycraft 2.0 by Crafty Games Star Trek Roleplaying Gameby Dechiper Thirty by Wicked Dead Brewing Company

Ryan interviews Matt Snyder and Paul Czege from The Ashcan Front. They talk about what an ashcan is when it comes to a game development, how to better achieve design goals with ashcans, and about what they're trying to accomplish with The Ashcan Front. Afterwards, Ryan talks briefly about his book now available for pre-order, Finis: A Book of Endings to Give People New Beginnings. The Ashcan Front: The Ashcan Front Interview with Paul Czege on Theory From The Closet Interview with Paul Czege on Canon Puncture Finis: Finis: A Book of Endings to Give People New Beginnnings A PDF of Paul Tevis' story, The Tome (700K PDF) Pre-order now at Indie Press Revolution The pre-order includes a signed copy & a PDF. It ends July 18, 2007. Other Mentions: Gaming Podcast Network Game Chef Paul Tevis's podcast, Have Games, Will Travel Running time: 29 minutes, 24 seconds / File size: 11.7 MB Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=11

Ryan comes back from an impromptu hiatus to talk about what he got out of Game Chef and why he thinks others should do such contests. Then he interviews two Game Design Duelists, Adam Rappold and Justin D. Jacobson, about why they decided to duel, how badly the other person will lose, and their response to using musical scale as a mechanic ingredient. Afterwards, he talks about other podcasts talking about game design, theory & publishing. Game Chef: Game Chef My game, Know Thyself The feedback for my game Game Design Duel: Justin throws down the challenge! Graham reveals the duel's ingredients. Adam's notes on his game, "Sweet, Sad, Song" Justin's notes on his game, "MacGuffin" The final games and voting! Design Watch: Canon Puncture Theory From The Closet Voice of the Revolution Other Podcasts Mentioned: 2d6 Feet in a Random Direction The Butcher Block Gamer: The Podcasting Have Games, Will Travel Sons of Kryos Running time: 32 minutes, 00 seconds / File size: 21.9 MB Discuss this episod

Rob Donoghue and Fred Hicks come on the show to talk about an issue they're dealing with while working on the Dresden Files RPG -- working with the shield bracelet and how to mesh mechanical modeling and the feel from the fiction. They get pretty into it about what they're dealing with. Then Ryan talks about Chad Underkoffler's latest project, Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies, and talks about some listener email and his upcoming book. Evil Hat Productions: Evil Hat Productions Dresden Files RPG (In production) Spirit of the Century Don't Rest Your Head FATE: Fantastic Adventures in Tabletop Entertainment (Incidentally, I really like Evil Hat's new website look. Kudos, from one web developer to another.) Design Watch: Chad Underkoffler's Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies entries Email me about thoughts or ideas regarding the pulp minis game for Nils Blantant Plugs: My blog entries about Finis: A Book of Endings to Give People New Beginnings A sample of Finis that shows off Fred's nigh-divine talents. Other M

Ryan interviews Christian Griffen of Berengad Games about his new book, Beast Hunters. They talk about why the game was created, touch on how the game works, then go a bit into how Christian and his wife created it together and some elements that evolved from the original draft. Later, Ryan talk obsessively about Game Chef. Beast Hunters Beast Hunters is currently offering a pre-order deal until March 25th, 2007. For more information on the offer, go to: http://www.berengad.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=18&Itemid=31 You can find more information about Beast Hunters, including links to reviews, at: http://www.berengad.com/ Game Chef To find out more about Game Chef, you can go to: http://www.game-chef.com/ Or for some specific links: The rules of Game Chef: http://www.game-chef.com/rules.shtml Information on the ingredients: http://www.game-chef.com/workshop/comments.php?DiscussionID=40 Group Epsilon/Barnstormers: http://www.game-chef.com/workshop/?CategoryID=5 You

Ryan brings the first of many guests on the show. This week, he talks with Chad Underkoffler of Atomic Sock Monkey Press about his Prose Descriptive Qualities (PDQ) system, specifically about the strange way damage is handled and what he went through to create and revise it. Chad Underkoffler's Games: Atomic Sock Money Press PDQ Core Rules -- Free Download Dead Inside Monkey Ninja Pirate Robot Deluxe Monkey Ninja Pirate Robot the RPG Truth & Justice The Zorcerer of Zo Games Mentioned During Interview: Ars Magica, Fifth Edition by Atlas Games (Later edition than referenced on the show) Castle Falkenstein by R.Talsorian Games FUDGE by Grey Ghost Press Go Fish (Wikipedia entry) GURPS by Steve Jackson Games Marvel Super Heroes by TSR (Wikipedia entry) Over the Edge by Atlas Games Poker (Wikipedia entry) Risus: The Anything RPG by S. John Ross Unknown Armies by Atlas Games Other Mentions During Interview: Spider-Man (Wikipedia entry) World's Finest -- Batman &

Ryan talks about the questions he's come up with to help guide him when designing game mechanics.  He talked about the current problem he's having with his game and offers an idea to folks still trying to get their mechanics ideas off the ground.Games mentioned: Burning Empires by Luke Crane Dogs in the Vineyard by Lumpley Games Don't Rest Your Head by Evil Hat Productions Dungeons & Dragons by Wizards of the Coast GURPS by Steve Jackson Games Hero System by Hero Games Mortal Coil by Galileo Games Design Watch: John Wick's "House of the Blooded" entries on his LiveJournal The BibliOdyssey RPG Design Challenge Other mentions: Designing Dresden by Rob Donoghue & Fred Hicks My November 2006 Master Plan Web Column, where I answer the Three Questions Special thanks to my friends Gregory & Skye for doing some voice work for the show. Running time: 11 minutes, 24 seconds - Ryan

While both struggling with problems lately writing and designing and helping a friend who is going through the same thing, Ryan decides to talk about writer's block & designer's block.  He goes into what being blocked has been for him and the various ways he's dealt with it. Mentions: The Butcher Block -- a podcast about all things Jim ButcherThe Show with Ze Frank, 7/11/2006 (Note: video with some explicit language)Wil Wheaton's Blog, 12/31/2006 Running time: 19 minutes, 21 seconds - Ryan

Inspired by some of the comments he received about the first show, Ryan talks about playtesting. He goes into some embarassing moments where he failed as a designer in dealing with playtesters, and talks about a couple general ways of going about playtesting.Games & Companies mentioned: Crafty Games GURPS by Steve Jackson Games Luke Crane The Zorceror of Zo by Atomic Sock Monkey Press My own Damned Anonymous, still in development. You can find out more on the Master Plan web column. Other mentions: The Butcher Block -- a podcast about all things Jim Butcher Remember, only three days left before the pre-order for The Zorcerer of Zo closes, and with that, the free PDF offer!- Ryan

Ryan introduces himself and the podcast, then moves on to getting peeks into various designers' heads. Design articles mentioned: Burning Empires From Inception to Finished Product by Thor Olavsrud Designing Dresden by Rob Donoghue & Fred Hicks My own Master Plan web column Games mentioned: Burning Empires by Luke Crane Dogs in the Vineyard by Lumpley Games The Dresden Files RPG by Evil Hat Productions FATE: Fantastic Adventures in Tabletop Entertainment by Evil Hat Productions Legend of the Five Rings Collectible Card Game by Alderac Entertainment Group Magic: the Gathering by Wizard of the Coast Memoir '44 by Days of Wonder Ninja Burger RPG 2nd Edition by aetheral Forge Questers of the Middle Realms by Silver Branch Games Spirit of the Century by Evil Hat Productions Truth & Justice by Atomic Sock Monkey Press The Zorceror of Zo by Atomic Sock Monkey Press Other mentions: Eric Burns' review of The Zorcerer of Zo Jim Butcher's Dresden Files novel s