Master Plan #58: Amanda Valentine, Editing and Language Choice

May 6, 2013
Interview | , | Leave a comment

On this episode, I talk with the ever-talented Amanda Valentine, freelance editor who has worked on a number of award-winning RPGs. We decided to have a conversation about editing from the perspective of language: why to choose different words, what that means, how does that impact understanding, etc. And then she becomes the Scarlet Owlbear.

Links:

43:52 / 21.5M

Thanks again to Jason Pitre for his help with post-production.

- Ryan

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Master Plan #57: Editing and Indie Games from Gen Con 2012

February 12, 2013
Convention Panel | , , | Comments Off

At Gen Con 2012, I was on an Industry Insider Guest of Honor panel with Michelle Lyons-McFarland called “Editing and Indie Games.” The description from last year:

Have a game that needs an editor’s touch but don’t know what to ask? Learn what makes a book user-friendly, how organization affects use, & what the unforgivable sins are BEFORE your book is in print.

Michelle and I talk about various aspects of editing and producing a functional text, focused on the small, underfunded shops. We have different takes and different opinions, talk about the differences in various scopes of editing, a bit about working with editors, and so on.

You can find out about Michelle’s company, Play Attention Games, at playattentiongames.com.

50:18 / 23.6MB

- Ryan

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Master Plan #56: Keith Baker on Designing Eberron

August 1, 2012
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The second & final basement tape episodes comes from September 2009: Ryan sat down with Keith Baker, creator of Eberron, to talk about setting design. They discuss various principles, ways to diverge from classic fantasy setups, working in lore, and so on. In particular, it’s interesting because of a setting design constraint: using monster and dungeon lore from Dungeons & Dragons as a core requirement of the setting, while still bringing something new to that subject.

Links:

Shout-out:

- Ryan

31:11 / 14.4M

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