I've shifted our focus more fully into the concrete experience of designing a game. I'm also finding it useful to consider the practitioner's general outlook of "this is how I did it," vs. the observer's or analyst's outlook of "but how does a person do it," without falling into the trap of tossing it back into the observer's lap by saying, "well, you just do it and then you'll see."
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Seminar: Hearts & Minds
SEMINAR
What is this table-top role-playing thing? How does it work, what does it do, what kind of designs do which things? I've got some ideas, and so do you. This is where we talk it over.
Some of my posts here present a concept, game title, or a historical hobby event for discussion in the comments, so join in with a will. You'll also find interviews and conversations. (Soon I'll amend the Hearts & Minds blue button so you can post these things on your own.)
I'm also running what I guess I call "labs," which are organized and prepared at the Patreon. I run them on Mondays using Discord, and anyone pledging there can participate when they feel like it. I post the recordings here the following Monday with ongoing discussion in the comments.
Posted by: Ron Edwards
14 Jan 2019
2 comments
The recent discussion in Actual Play has prompted me to what may be quite a lot of pointed looks at racism in role-playing content. I've made a little video to set local boundaries & standards for all of them, beginning right here. You'll be seeing that link again.
Posted by: Ron Edwards
13 Jan 2019
Games: Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Werewolf: the Apocalypse, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition, Tales of Gargentihr, Submen Rising, Talislanta, AD&D2: Humanoids, The Secret of Bone Hill, Dragonlance, Darkurthe: Legends, Ramlar, Undiscovered, Promised Sands
0 comments
At this point, we needed to do three things at once. First, to make sure we filled in any missing points or caught up with anything Justin wanted to revisit; second, to lay down some important points about design as a process, as I thought we'd maybe strayed into play-theory at the expense of the real topic of "make a game;" and third, to take the time to address any topics as they occurred to either of us as we went along.
Posted by: Ron Edwards
09 Jan 2019
Games: Circle of Hands, Legendary Lives, Werewolf: the Apocalypse, Golden Sky Stories, Swords of the Skull-Takers, Cathedral, The Plant
5 comments
I’m looking now at the whole of fictional character identity. Classically, it’s composed of attributes, race, class, and a range of options concerning gear and spells. Many games have simplified or complicated this framework, and some have approached the idea from different angles, but it’s a simple idea that applies to any story-ish fiction and I don’t expect anyone to have trouble understanding it, or that it may have “hard” vs. “soft” vs. “emergent” parts.
Posted by: Ron Edwards
29 Dec 2018
2 comments
I’m not making any claims about the logic or organization by this point in our talks, rather, I’m hoping Justin isn’t thinking that I’m totally making it up as I go. It's certainly been helpful to me to recognize what pieces I need to pull into their own how we play discussion so they can be treated as understood for a how we design presentation.
Posted by: Ron Edwards
16 Dec 2018
Games: Kinfolk, Ocean, RuneQuest, Ghost/Echo, Sweet Agatha, S/Lay w/Me, Dungeons & Dragons 1977, Sorcerer, Bliss Stage, Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition, Champions, Circle of Hands
0 comments
Justin Nichol and I continue our discussion, or training, regarding game design. This session (in 5 videos) delves into the way we talk / the way we roll. The topic shifts quite logically from whether & when describing things colorfully works, to gaudy and painful consequences of moment-by-moment decision-making.
Posted by: Ron Edwards
09 Dec 2018
Games: Wushu, Tunnels & Trolls, Dogs in the Vineyard, Primetime Adventures, Cyberpunk, Trollbabe, Venus 2041, Sorcerer, Champions, Kinfolk
7 comments
Here's the second session with Justin Nichols as I test my current notions of a Design Curriculum upon him. Last time, we talked about the desireable "reward" cycle of excitement, engagement with the procedures, and inspiration. This time it's about a particular structural rubric you can find attached to this post.
Posted by: Ron Edwards
29 Nov 2018
Games: Kinfolk, Circle of Hands, Ghost/Echo, S/Lay w/Me, Werewolf: the Apocalypse, Zero, Marvel Heroic Roleplaying
0 comments
I cannot as yet summarize or eulogize or otherwise "state" my response to Greg's death. It wasn't that much of a surprise, yet was as hard as they all have been. He was a grandmaster of this activity we do, and he was my friend.
This five-video discussion is more of a celebration of encountering his work, with a little bit of reminiscence occasionally. I don't have much to add except for these:
Posted by: Ron Edwards
26 Nov 2018
Games: Stormbringer, Call of Cthulhu, Hero Wars, HeroQuest, RuneQuest, Pendragon, Fading Suns, Ghostbusters, Legend of the five rings, Circle of Hands, Prince Valiant
7 comments
I've been working up a Design curriculum for role-playing for a long while, so when Justin Nichols approached me for a game design discussion that leaned toward mentoring, I accepted without reservation.
Posted by: Ron Edwards
24 Nov 2018
Games: Kinfolk, Dogs in the Vineyard, Lace and Steel, Vampire: the Masquerade, Werewolf: the Apocalypse, Apocalypse World
0 comments
Hey! Alex cleverly informed Paul and me that he wanted to do an interview after we were trapped in the back seat on the way to Lucca from our apartment (in Viareggio? one of those coastal towns). I can now boast that I was able to unburden my soul to a geisha! Because cosplayers count.
Posted by: Ron Edwards
13 Nov 2018
Games: The Clay That Woke, Sorcerer, Champions
2 comments