Master Plan

Master Plan #29: Designing from Other Games 2, John Wick

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Thu, 8 May 2008 23:01:00 GMT

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://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=32

Master Plan #28: Have Master, Will Plan 1, part 2

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 17:02:00 GMT

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 the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=31

Master Plan #27: Designing from Other Games 1, Willow Palecek

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:44:00 GMT

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:

Other mentions:

Running time: 27:00 / File size: 18.6 MB

Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=30

Master Plan #26: Jennifer Rodgers on Working With Artists

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 02:05:00 GMT

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:

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

Master Plan #25: Good Games, Poor Texts

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 02:53:00 GMT

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

Master Plan #24: Emily Care Boss on Romantic RPGs

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 04:29:00 GMT

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

Master Plan #23: Daniel Solis, Part 2 on "A Cover is a Promise"

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Wed, 6 Feb 2008 03:38:00 GMT

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:

Romantic RPG mentions:

OrcCon website
Games I'm running at OrcCon

Running time: 25:28 / File size: 17.6 MB

Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=26

Master Plan #22A: Interview with Daniel Solis, Part 1A on Soft Question Anecdotes

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 07:25:00 GMT

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

Master Plan #22: Daniel Solis, Part 1 on Layout Questions

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 03:28:00 GMT

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

Master Plan #21: First Drafts

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 02:05:00 GMT

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:

Running time: 23:24 / File size: 16.2 MB

Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=24

Master Plan #20: Scene Framing and Pacing Mechanics with Luke Crane

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 04:58:00 GMT

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:

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

Master Plan #19: Busting GM Assumptions with Ben Lehman

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 03:22:00 GMT

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:

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: 19.3 MB

Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=22

Master Plan #18: Emergent Play

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 09:40:00 GMT

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?DiscussionID=21

Master Plan #17: Joshua BishopRoby on Playtesting

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 03:12:00 GMT

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

Contact Ryan about ordering an ashcan copy of Know Thyself: MasterPlan@hmfy.com.

Other Mentions:

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

Master Plan #16: Personal Experiences with Card Production on Know Thyself

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Thu, 27 Sep 2007 16:18:00 GMT

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:

Other mentions:

Running time: 28:29 / File size: 20.0 MB

Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=19

Master Plan #15: Leonard Balsera on the FATE Fractal

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 19:05:00 GMT

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 setting
Burning Empires by Luke Crane
Dogs in the Vineyard by Lumpley Games
GURPS by Steve Jackson Games
Over the Edge by Atlas Games
PDQ by Atomic Sock Monkey Press
The Storytelling System by White Wolf

My blog entry where I ask for any questions about the card production for Know Thyself: http://macklinr.livejournal.com/561019.html

Running time: 27:48 / File size: 19.7 MB

Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=18

Master Plan #14: Cool Revisited

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Tue, 4 Sep 2007 19:48:00 GMT

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

Master Plan #13: The Siren Call of Cool

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 03:59:00 GMT

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

Games Mentioned

Other Mentions

Running time: 27:48 / File size: 20.3 MB

Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=16

Master Plan #12: Interview with Bully Pulpit Games

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 06:01:00 GMT

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

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 about role-playing games and other games, all freely available on the Internet.
Forum post about finding me at GenCon, which includes some of the podcaster panels, the Ashcan Front, and the Gaming Podcasting Party on Saturday night.
Goblin: The Gaming Broadcast Network
Have Games, Will Travel
The Voice of the Revolution

Running time: 29:37 / File size: 20.3 MB

Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=14

Master Plan #11: Master Mines round table #1

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Fri, 13 Jul 2007 04:40:00 GMT

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

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):

Other mentions:

Running time: 29 minutes, 02 seconds / File size: 27.2 MB

Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=13

Master Plan #10: Interview with Ken Hite, Playtesting at Go Play NW

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 03:31:00 GMT

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
Truth & Justice by Atomic Sock Monkey Press
Vampire: The Requiem by White Wolf Publishing
Requiem Chronicler's Guide by White Wolf Publishing
Wild Talents by Arc Dream Publishing
World of Darkness by White Wolf Publishing
Unknown Armies by Atlas Games

Other mentions:

Playtesting at Go Play NW:

Go Play NW
A Penny For My Thoughts by Paul Tevis @ Master Mines
Know Thyself by Ryan Macklin @ Master Mines
Sea Dracula by Jake Richmond & Nick Smith (link to PDF)
Talk about Sea Dracula
Go Play NW aftermath including Sea Dracula talk
Photos of us playing Sea Dracula (I'm the guy in the gray sweatshirt)

Plugs & Bumps:

Running time: 30 minutes, 16 seconds / File size: 21.2 MB

Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=12

Master Plan #9: Interview with Ashcan Front

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 02:50:00 GMT

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:

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:

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

Master Plan #8: Game Chef and Game Design Duel

masterplan@hmfy.com — Tue, 29 May 2007 15:15:00 GMT

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 Design Duel:

Design Watch:

Other Podcasts Mentioned:

Running time: 32 minutes, 00 seconds / File size: 21.9 MB

Discuss this episode on the forums: http://www.hmfy.com/masterplan/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=9

Master Plan #7: Interview with Evil Hat Productions, Shield Bracelet Woes

masterplan@hmfy.com — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 03:55:00 GMT

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:

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 Mentions:

Running time: 23 minutes, 41 seconds / File size: 21.6 MB

Comment on the episode

Master Plan #6: Interview with Christian Griffen

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 03:42:00 GMT

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 can find my various posts for "Enlightenment" there.

Check it out!

Running time: 22 minutes, 59 seconds / File size: 21.0 MB

- Ryan

Master Plan #5: Interview with Chad Underkoffler -- Wacky Damage in PDQ

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 15:48:00 GMT

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:

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 & Superman animated story (Wikipedia entry)

Design Watch:

The BibliOdyssey RPG Design Challenge
Grey Ranks by Bully Pulpit Games
The Voice of the Revolution -- Brennan Taylor's bits on game design

Confession:

Other Games Mentioned:

carry. a game about war. by Hamsterprophet Productions
Mortal Coil by Galileo Games
The Shab-al-Hiri Roach by Bully Pulpit Games

Upcoming Conventions:

Endgame Minicon -- April 7th, 2007 / Oakland, California
Conquest Sacramento -- April 13th-15th, 2007 / Sacramento, California

Podcasts Mentioned:

Miscellaneous Mentions:

iPod by Apple

Running time: 24 minutes, 39 seconds / File size: 22.5 MB

Comment on the episode

- Ryan

Master Plan #4: Questioning Mechanics

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 18:33:00 GMT

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:

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

Master Plan Audio #3: Designer's Block

RyanMacklin@gmail.com — Tue, 9 Jan 2007 16:46:00 GMT

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 Butcher
The 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

Master Plan Audio #2: Playtesting

MasterPlan@hmfy.com — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 23:16:00 GMT

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

Master Plan Audio #1: Podcast Intro

MasterPlan@hmfy.com — Sun, 10 Dec 2006 22:57:00 GMT

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:

I encourage everyone to take a look at The Zorceror of Zo. I mention it on my blog at: http://macklinr.livejournal.com/486134.html

- Ryan