Homebrew Story Telling: Your Living World, & Making The Game For The Players You Have
Summary:
Making your Homebrew RPG story can be a daunting task, allow these experienced guests to bestow their wisdom on how to make your world grow and evolve organically.
Description:
A special Panel of Dungeon Masters, including Emily Rose Jacobson (HyperRPG) and Pumpkinberry (Tablestory) discuss building worlds and making them feel alive and organic as players progress through the campaign. Learn how to manage the passage of time, determine villain motivations, learn what game design fundamentals can aid you best in your Tabletop RPG experience, and take this knowledge to your tables at home. This event is generously sponsored by Hero Forge! We'll be giving away a $35 gift code to HeroForge.com to one registered attendee, so be sure to get your tickets and redeem them at the time of the event to be entered in the drawing! Open to residents of the United States and Canada (excluding Quebec) who are 18 years of age or older.
Honesty In Game Design (or, Crunch Isn't Always Bad)
Summary:
This panel is a deep dive into the role of crunch in RPGs, and how to make crunch engaging for players
Description:
Crunch—that is, complicated mechanics that put a lot of numbers on your character sheet—has gotten a bad reputation among indie gaming spaces. But we think that reputation is unfounded, and that if you focus your game design on the gameplay goals you want—and ONLY on the gameplay goals you want—you can make a crunchy game that’s still streamlined and engaging to play. This panel is a deep dive into the role of crunch (both mechanical and narrative) in RPGs, as well as approaches to make crunch engaging in your games, using popular crunchy games as examples for demonstration.
A panel about Improv GMing and the strength of communicating to your players that you're doing it, and how you can use that honesty and communication to create an overall better story.
Avid gamer Elizabeth Corrigan will discuss how role-playing games help with characterization, and TV/movie buff Mary Fan will describe how media teaches story structure.
Description:
Do you ever feel as though your gaming hobby or love of fictional media distracts from your writing time? Elizabeth Corrigan and Mary Fan can feel your pain. Over their careers as authors, though, they have learned that the occasional diversion can make their writing stronger. Avid gamer Elizabeth will discuss how creating characters for tabletop and video role-playing games makes the people she writes about truer-to-life. TV/movie buff Mary will describe the lessons on story structure she has learned from media consumption. In this interactive, one-hour panel, attendees are encouraged to ask questions and share their own experiences.
How Not to be Kidnapped by Cow-Women - Norwegian Fairytales & Folklore for your RPG campaign
Summary:
Tired of boring orcs and goblins? How about cow-tailed women, talking polar bears, and troll eating contests? Get inspiration from Norwegian folklore, from a real Norwegian!
Description:
Looking to find some more variety for your campaign? An actual Norwegian will take you through some of the more interesting folk tales and traditions from Norway. Learn about everything from a new take on trolls, and what lurks in the woods up North, to just how accurately Scandinavian Frozen is. We'll talk about Norwegian history, tell some fairly tales with a modern take, and learn just why it's so important to check if a woman has a tail.
The Unmatched design team offers advice and concrete tips for creating a fun, balanced homebrewed hero for the world’s greatest skirmish game.
Description:
We’ll discuss where to start when designing a new hero, card counts, health, sidekicks, attack/defense values, movement, special abilities, and more. But we’ll also talk about general concepts such as how to evoke the hero’s theme through a pattern of play.
From casual games to Critical Role, online gaming content is increasingly necessary. Let's talk about how to transition your in-person content to an online format, from a TTRPG to a boffer larp.
From casual games to Critical Role, online gaming content is increasingly necessary. Let's talk about how to transition your in-person content to an online format, from a TTRPG to a boffer larp.
Join Eric M. Lang and Michael Shinall as they discuss and answer your questions about Game Design and Development, as well as how your favorite games came to be.