game design

BXP 2×14–You’re Not Punk and I’m Telling Everyone

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Do you like my new mohawk? I just got it done at the mohawk store. Check out my patches. Oh no, did you find out I’m not actually punk? Please don’t tell anyone! Listen to this episode—the first in our Genre Exploration series—about PUNK GAMES, instead! We talk about the history of punk as a genre, it’s subgenera and trappings, and also how to design a setting and system to feel punk as hell.

Patreon supporters get an EXTENDED CUT of this episode, featuring: Rai Almost Got Banned, Craft Sodas, Steven Universe is Punk as F*ck, and more!

[ Bonus Experience: the Patreon! | Bonus Experience: the Swag! ]

BXP 2×08–Cast of Characters: Morality and Other Inconveniences

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Annnd we’re back! Sorry about that everyone. Margaret disappeared into some sort of, uh, mimosa portal? To the brunch dimension? We asked your friend and ours Chris S. to lend his editing expertise for the next few episodes until we can extract Margaret.

But enough about that! Today we’re wrapping up our player characters discussion with a dive into Morality Systems (and things that are sort of like Morality Systems). It’s not just D&D alignment! Thankfully. I mean. D&D alignment is fine.It’s all right. But morality stats are neither required nor perfect. Let us tell you why!

[ Bonus Experience: the Patreon! | Bonus Experience: the Swag! ]

BXP 2×05–Hack D&D 5e, with Kitty from DnDestiny!

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Kitty of the wildly popular DnDestiny project is here to talk to us all about hacking 5th ed. D&D! What do you keep in mind when designing new classes? How do you stop yourself from reinventing the wheel? What should you do when porting D&D into new genres? And so much more! Like… seriously, a lot more. Kitty really knows her stuff.

Patrons can find Margaret’s extended cut of this episode on our Patreon, featuring a whole extra 30 minutes of us dicking around, debating how D&D views encounters, talking about how much Vancian magic sux, and trying to convince Monica to start playing Destiny and/or Rai and Kitty to start playing Borderlands.

[ Bonus Experience: the Patreon! | Bonus Experience: the Swag! ]

BXP 2×01–Ken Spencer of Why Not Games!

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Once upon a time, we interviewed Ken Spencer of Why Not Games. That fateful interview was plagued with sound issues, lag, dropped connections, and every conceivable guest-recording horror.

BUT it’s a new year and a new season of Bonus Experience, and Ken Spencer is back to give us the interview that never was! Join us for an exploration of Rocket Age‘s Imperial Jupiter, a discussion of Adult Words Permissions, and unfortunate dragon design choices. We actually had so much to catch up on, not everything made it into this episode—check our Patreon for Margaret’s director’s cut.

This week’s sponsors: Cut to the Chase on Kickstarter, and West Virginia’s 1d4con!

[ Bonus Experience: the Patreon! | Bonus Experience: the Swag! ]

Bonus Experience 21: Tone, Scope, and Scale

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Have you ever rejected joke character concepts for your grimdark gothic fantasy? Disappointed a ranger by never once setting foot outside the campaign’s urban setting? Grappled with how to keep your players from rewriting the laws of the universe when all they needed to do was kill a few giants? Get a grip on your game’s direction—think about its tone, scope, and scale!

Also for your consideration: overconfident ADHD brains, what is a Dungeons and Dragons game even SUPPOSED to feel like?, and giving in to the Gurren Lagann option.

And hey! Get you some of our Classy New Merchandise! Find them at bxpcast.com/bxpswag!

Bonus Experience 20: Steal Like a Designer

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We’re here with a bonus Bonus Experience to get back on schedule after the holiday!

Ask a creative individual where they get all their ideas from, and they’ll likely either stall or roll their eyes. Wanna know the real way to come up with new things? You steal from the old things, of course. Monica and Rai are here, in this fresh new year of 20CrimeTeen, to teach you how to steal like a game designer. And how to not, like, commit theft. We’re all having fun here but don’t actually do that.

Also invoked: Fighty Guy and Nature Friend, Vampire: the Costume Party, fanfic as praxis, and how to properly close a Target store.

Bonus Experience 19: Failing Forward

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We mention it enough that we figured it was high time we explain just what the hell we’re talking about when we recommend FAILING FORWARD. What is it? Why do it? How can you fail forward in games with a terrible flat distribution and binary difficulty (coughD&Dcough)? Monica’s here with the math, Rai’s here with… is that the click wheel on a fidget cube? Good lord, why would play with that while the mic is live?

Also on the table: Just a Couple of Bi Disasters, “Dude, Where’s My Bard?”, and Gritty Squeezin’s™

Bonus Experience 18: DINOSAUR PRINCESSES! with Dana and Hamish Cameron

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Do you crave that just-woke-up-Saturday-morning-and-all-the-good-cartoons-are-on feeling? Are Fruity Pebz still your favorite cereal? Do you need a handy excuse to purchase more scented markers and glitter crayons? Good! Because today we interview Dana and Hamish Cameron about their upcoming game, DINOSAUR PRINCESSES.

Also discussed: Other elemental expressions of hockey, Train-Dinosaur Prosecuting Attorney Princess, Monica’s crazy noise hour, Lady Razorface (and other stellar names).

Bonus Experience 14: Interview! With Sandy Pug Games

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We’ve got a special guest today: Liam Ginty, of Sandy Pug Games! We talk at length about his new game, Americana, but especially: inclusivity in notoriously exclusive settings, getting everyone at the table on board with a tragic backstory in the form of Your Dead Friend, and (most importantly) gay orc greasers in the fantasy 50s.

Back Americana on Kickstarter!