Have Games, Will Travel #108

Have Master, Will Plan #1 with Ryan Macklin, part 1 0:34 - A few weeks ago, at the second Nerdly Beach Party, I recorded a conversation with Ryan Macklin (of the Master Plan podcast) that we've both decided to release. 2:10 - This show is part of the Gaming Broadcast Network. 2:16 - There's a bit of silliness at the beginning, including Ryan naming me Mastermind of the Year for 2007, but eventually we get around to talking about the Nerdly Beach Party 2. 11:20 - Ryan talks about his experience with playing 1001 Nights, and we spin off on the idea of revisiting games and single-session play. 16:57 - Ryan waxes nostalgic about Unknown Armies, and we talk about goal-oriented play and design. 23:27 - I talk about my group's Burning Empires game, the way we use interstitial scenes, and how we sometimes move the emphasis off of conflict. 34:42 - One of the things I've learned in that game is that you should never have a Duel of Wits that you're not willing to lose. Embracing that possibility, however, can generate great drama. 39:29 - While both Ryan and I really enjoy games like Burning Empires and their goal-oriented style, we also really enjoy A Penny For My Thoughts, which like 1001 Nights, is not a strongly goal-oriented game. We talk about what it is about these more collaborative storytelling games that grabs us, what we've learned about playing them, and how that can leak out into games like Dirty Secrets. 47:46 There are more great gaming podcasts at RPGPodcasts.com. 47:52 If you want to hear more about Project Cowbell, design ideas, and our thoughts on publishing, check out part 2 of this conversation over on the Master Plan feed. --PaulDiscuss this episode in the HG,WT forum