Production Tools

This is it. Our fiftieth episode marks the end of our long conversation about designing tabletop RPGs (and everything else we spilled over into). This episode addresses audience questions, the past, and the future. What do you do when you're done and the thing you've been working on leaves the workshop? Let's talk about it. Thank you for joining us on this journey, for reals. It means a lot to us. But we're not done! New miniseries under the Design Games banner are on the way. So weigh in on the show, share your own work, and let us know what you'd like to hear next by visiting our G+ Community. Our next miniseries is based on a question we get rather a lot: a request to do a deeper dive into a few particular games. Which games do you want us to look at? Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Our supporters get access to special patron-only episodes (with one more coming this week!). Every dollar helps. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

You need funding. You might give your game away for free, but you didn't make it for free. Your time and work have value. How does that translate to cost and how does your product help fund itself and the next thing you want to make? Nathan is sharing a living document about all this, too: "Notes on Independent Publishing." Get in there and share your questions on this topic, if you like. We're also seeking some final questions and topics to explore as we wind down the show's run. Got questions? Weigh in on the show, share your own work, and let us know what you want us to talk about next, by visiting our G+ Community, for example. And hurry! We're soon to wrap up this series. (Our next miniseries is based on a question we get rather a lot, so these questions really do make a difference in what we cover.) Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Let's talk about some of the software that we—Nathan and Will—use for production purposes like layout and graphic design. More importantly, let's talk about how that impacts our game designs and workflow across the board. We're also seeking new questions and topics to explore as we wind down the show's run. Got questions? Weigh in on the show, share your own work, and let us know what you want us to talk about next, by visiting our G+ Community or writing in via Nathan's website. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

As you're proceeding into production of your game, ask yourself: What can I do myself? When should I ask for help? What would I say to externalize my vision to a hire? What you do yourself, what you expand your skills to accomplish, and when you hire experts — these are parts of the spheres of production. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

What form does your RPG take? Is it a book? A deck of cards? A poster or mousepad or business card? Are you sure? Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Let's talk about another means of delivering random results and packaging information for players in your tabletop roleplaying and story games: cards. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Look around. Get your bearings. Take a look back at what's working and what you've learned, then move forward with the knowledge. That's what we're doing, this time. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

You've got a lot of notes, you've got rules and systems, maybe you've been writing for yourself. How do you start writing all of that out for other people in addition to yourself? Let's talk. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Say a thing. Say it again. A design isn’t right the first time, so we revise and restate and iterate. Let’s talk about that. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Do you know about the Game Chef design competition? This time we talk about our experiences with Game Chef and what we know of its history and influence on games and designers. Design Games is made possible by our supporters at Patreon, where you can back NDP and Will right now. Every dollar helps. What do you think? Weigh in on the show, your own work, and what you want us to talk about next, by searching for our G+ Community. Music is “Dances and Dames” by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/