Master Plan: The People's Podcast About Game Design

Ryan Macklin

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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: Other Mentions: This episode is sponsored by RPGNow.com.

Running time: 25:45 / File size: 17.7M

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Direct download: masterplan_49.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 8:42 PM

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: This episode is sponsored by RPGNow.com.

Running time: 29:59 / File size: 20.6M

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Direct download: masterplan_48.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:23 AM