Podcast - Game Level Learn

Player choice in online roleplaying game design.

The “sweet spot” for player choice.

Some thoughts on the power of player choice.

For all the resources you could ever want on this topic, check out Kathleen Mercury’s teaching support page here.

Cover image from: [https://geekandsundry.com/craft-custom-holidays-for-your-rpg-campaign/]

Cover Image from: [http://www.startrek.com/article/john-putch-tngs-mordock-mendon-more]

Games we discussed in this episode include:

Call of Cthulhu

Arkham Horror

Eldrich Horror

Arkham Horror the Card Game

Forbidden Sky

Nyctophobia

Gloomhaven

Traveller

Burning Wheel

Fate

Dungeons and Dragons

Star Trek RPG

Star Wars RPG

EVE Online

World of Warcraft

DDO

Pandemic

Betrayal at House on the Hill

Cover Image from: [https://www.dvsgaming.org/battle-for-azeroth-the-burning-of-teldrassil/]

One of the greatest books on the history of the tabletop roleplaying hobby is by Jon Peterson. It is called Playing At The World. 

Empire of Imagination is a biography of one of Dungeons&Dragons' founders, Gary Gygax.

The basic rules set to Dungeons & Dragons that Jon mentioned in the episode.

The Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game Tracy's been getting into of late. One of the great classics.

One of my enduring classics - Rolemaster.

The World of Darkness setting for those into contemporary supernatural/monster stories.

Jon's favorite RPG these days is Numenera. It's character creation system will be discussed in episodes to come.

We discussed our great experience playing Hillfolk, which you can check out at the link.

Jon recommends the following three roleplaying games (RPGs): HARP, The Quiet Year and Numenera.

If you'd like to support this work, here are links to my two books for HARP: HARP Loot (about, well, loot), and HARP Folkways, about building meaningful, realistic cultures for game settings.

Tracy recommends these great games: Fiasco, Dread and Dungeons&Dragons, 5th edition.

Your HOMEWORK!

Find a Con or a Meetup near you and visit. Play some games from earlier in the season or just explore and learn.

Create a character in some RPG system, or create yourself in the unforgivingly honest Time Lords.

Play a game solo, like Arkham Horror: The Card Game.

Listen to some podcasts, like How We Roll or Godsfall.

Read a book about games and gaming, like Greg Toppo's "The Game Believes In You," (the actual title...not the one I made up from whole cloth in the episode..., Jane McGonigal's "Reality Is Broken," Aaron Dignan's "Game Frame,"  "Second Person," or my own offering "Level Up Your Classroom."

Some of the games we discussed in this episode include:

Arcadia Quest

Descent

Dungeons&Dragons: The Legends of Drizzt

Legends of Andor

Mice&Mystics

Pathfinder: The Adventure Card Game

TIME Stories

...and no podcast would be complete if Tracy and Jon didn't talk about their favorite MMOs, Dungeons&Dragons Online and World of Warcraft.

Games mentioned in this episode:

Resistance

Secret Hitler

Addresses:

Jon Cassie - joncassie at gmail dot com

Tracy Wazenegger - tlwazenegger at gmail com

Cover image: [https://boardgamegeek.com/image/2250469/spyfall?size=large]

Small World is one of the best of all gateway games. Worth playing, in other worlds, to start to get a sense of the contemporary board game hobby, even if you never use it as a tool of game-based learning.

Games Discussed in this Episode:

Monopoly

Sorry

Risk

Vinci - you can find a copy of this for about $40 on eBay.

1960: The Making of the President - recently republished by GMT Games.

Cover art from: https://boardgamegeek.com/image/428843/small-world?size=original