Design Doc
72 episodes - English - Latest episode: 19 days ago - ★★★★★ - 25 ratingsCome along with Hannah and Evan in a living documentation of the game design process, from the first spark of an idea, to every disastrous surprise. It’s not an instruction manual, but a travel guide, with lots of unexpected stops along the way.
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Episodes
Playtesting Progress Part 2: The Spinning Mountain
February 21, 2019 17:17 - 48 minutesAfter playtesting Questlandia's new kingdom and character creation, it's time to test some scenes! Bartholomew the anxious city planner and Quincy the cast out justice-bringer will have to make some hard choices. Choices that begin with a cat and end with a geological anomaly. Intro/Outro theme music - by Pat King
Playtesting Progress Part 1: Knotty Business
January 31, 2019 16:01 - 53 minutesWelcome to Kingdom Knot, where our people keep vigil over the void at the edge of the world. Something has emerged from that void—a creature for which we have no words, of which we have no memory. For now, we will call it...a "cat." Music credits: Design Doc Intro/Outro theme written by Pat King Also featuring New Ages 1 by Little Dog, Big Ears
Make-Believe History
January 11, 2019 00:18 - 52 minutesAlanna Shaffer joins us to talk about how, even when telling made-up stories, we can be aware of biases in the way we talk about history. Whose stories get told? Whose get left behind? And what's our responsibility to our fictional worlds? Mentioned reading: Charity and Sylvia by Rachel Hope Cleves The New Map of Empire: How Britain Imagined America before Independence by Max Edelson The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller by Carlo Ginzburg Independence Lost: ...
Whoops, It's a Dystopia
December 12, 2018 18:41 - 37 minutesWhy are our worlds turning out horrible? After playtesting at Metatopia, we talk about how the framing for worldbuilding can exaggerate societies to cartoonish levels. Maybe we can learn from the original Questlandia?
It's Trans Awareness Week (Mini Bonus Ep)
November 19, 2018 16:44 - 5 minutesIt's Trans Awareness Week. A short bonus episode about trans allyship, education, and creating better gaming spaces. Trans Awareness Week: https://www.glaad.org/transweek The Trans Language Primer : https://www.translanguageprimer.com/
Games Are Political
November 06, 2018 15:18 - 35 minutesWe talk about acknowledging—and embracing—the inherent politics of game design. Intro music credit. New Ages 1 from Little Big Dog Ears. http://opsound.org/artist/littledogbigears/ http://opsound.org/info/license/
Retreat Forward
October 04, 2018 17:23 - 37 minutesIn September we met for a mini Questlandia retreat. We talked about how our intentions for the game have shifted in the current political landscape and introduced an unfolding guidebook that will sit at the center of play.
Making Things in Hard Times
August 17, 2018 18:49 - 35 minutesHow do you keep making things when life throws the unexpected your way? We're learning what that looks like now.
Social Dynamics at the Table
July 13, 2018 17:09 - 42 minutesA good GM can step up to manage social dynamics at the table. But in Questlandia 2, there is no GM, so the rules we write need to do that work. How can we keep the excitement and ideas flowing without leaving quieter players out of the fun?
You Can Kill a King, but You Can't Make a Marinara
June 18, 2018 14:22 - 47 minutesWhat happens if a player achieves their big character goal in the very first scene of the game? We found out.
Romancing the Wall
May 18, 2018 20:33 - 39 minutesWith no GM, players in Questlandia 2 are responsible for framing their own scene types. As a result they animate objects, make holy voyages, and befriend a sentient wall.
The Worst Ideas We've Had so Far
April 23, 2018 20:17 - 42 minutesGood games are often built on an avalanche of bad ideas. We talk about the worst ideas we've had so far, and how to turn them into something useful.
Deadline Motivated
March 23, 2018 18:38 - 39 minutesWe talk about deadlines, and the whooshing noise they make as they go by.
Mosslickers
March 04, 2018 21:56 - 39 minutesThe first playtest that takes us all the way through character creation. Meet beasts of burden, puppeteers, and the queens who inhabit Mosslicker Alley.
The Symbol Reader
February 16, 2018 21:03 - 44 minutesWe experiment with a customized alethiometer to explore stories and build new worlds.
Collaboration
January 25, 2018 18:32 - 48 minutesThe Make Big Things team talks about making games as a cooperative.
The First Playtest
December 28, 2017 19:40 - 43 minutesWith one playtest down, we talk about what went right, what went wrong, and what we'd like to change.
Preparing the Playtest
December 16, 2017 00:39 - 46 minutesWe attempt to put theory into practice as we prep for Questlandia's first playtest.
Plumb Bobs
November 29, 2017 17:15 - 41 minutesWhat makes for a good RPG toolkit? We explore dice, cards, dactylomancy, and some of the weirder tactile tools you can bring to the table.
Worldbuilding
November 14, 2017 21:27 - 50 minutesHow we built worlds in the original Questlandia, and what's to come.
Welcome To Questlandia!
October 17, 2017 15:04 - 39 minutesHannah and Evan embark on a journey to redesign their first roleplaying game. Welcome to Design Doc, our year-long experiment in transparent design! Social media https://twitter.com/designdocpod [email protected]