This week, Kristian an Tracy follow on from last episode and talk about playtesting your game. When do you start? What does "fail faster" mean? What is most and least valuable about the process, when is it best to participate yourself, and when should you just shut up and watch? Everyone does it differently, but this is a look at the subject with n…

This week, Kristian and Tracy discuss the sometimes (but not always) contradictory goals of creating a game that we think will sell, versus creating the game we want to play. It's a nuanced topic and in our weird industry of creating "experiences," trying to find a balance between these two goals sometimes leads to difficult and risky decisions. Th…

This week, Tracy and Kristian deep dive into the seemingly endless decisions leading up to and during crowdfunding. Tracy discusses the Han Cluster BackerKit campaign in terms of everything from choosing the platform, to deciding on the offering, to setting funding goals, to creating pledge tiers, and much more. There's multiple reasons behind EVER…

This week, Tracy and Kristian Tracy talk about what SHE experienced BEHIND THE SCENES leading up to and during her crowdfunding campaign for Han Cluster, including the breaking out of a full-blown trade war in the middle of the funding period. We pull back the curtain completely on some of the most difficult and stressful aspects of bringing a desi…

Tracy and Kristian finally get into some of the nitty gritty of laying out your book and other products for an audience to consume. Though this is primarily a high level overview of how layout programs (like InDeisgn and Affinity) work and "think," it's also a dense exploration of everything from basic concepts to best-practices as you move from th…

This week, Kristian and Tracy explore some of the roadblocks that can get in the way of our creative selves. These may include the world around us, external pressures, or our own inner demons. We have an honest discussion about what we do to keep going, how our creations themselves can be our voices for change and a advocating for a better world, a…

This week, Tracy and Kristian talk about the strategies and challenges of building your audience, not only for your game, but for you as its creator. We cover some of our own anecdotal experience navigating these tricky waters, emphasizing not the marketing and hype of it, but the benefit of nurturing genuine relationships when you're able. We talk…

This week, Tracy and Kristian take some time to decompress. With Han Cluster's crowdfunding and all the anxiety and excitement that comes with it in full swing, we look back on our big projects with an informal discussion of how they started, how we solved certain problems, and ultimately how they turned into run-away freight trains we could no lon…

This week Tracy and Kristian are joined by Jodi Black, President of Carolina Game Tables and lead editor at Pinnacle Entertainment. We dive into the complex but rewarding world of running your own business (particularly as it applies in the US, since that's what we're familiar with). We talk about the different business entity types from Sole Propr…

This week, Tracy and Kristian are joined by Darrell Hayhurst, creative director at Pinnacle Entertainment, to talk about a fascinating problem in RPG design. How much can you change your world-state during the course of your adventures or campaign? Can it evolve? Or should it remain static. The answer, as always, is, "it depends." There are advanta…

In this episode we cover one of our most requested topics. Tracy and Kristian are joined by Jenn Ellis of Twogether Studios to demystify the art of art direction. We cover a number of different aspects, including how to find artists and get them onboard with your project, the different ways of communicating with them, the options you have when cont…

https://hancluster.comThis week, Tracy and Kristian tackle the daunting topic of organization. First we dive into the challenges of organizing your initial thoughts and ideas about a setting including what to work on first, and how to bounce between different aspects as you develop your world and the the rules that govern it. After that is where th…

This week, Kristian and Tracy talk about the process of defining the setting and the creation of a "setting bible" whatever that may look like for you. Tracy talks about the concept of the "Axes of Conflict" and how they can help you define what's most important about your setting for PCs to engage with. We also touch on this problem in terms of de…

This week, Tracy and Kristian are joined by Tracy's spouse and the other half of Ede Sol Games, Boof Sizemore to talk about one of the most insidious problems you may encounter in doing creative work: doubt (and more specifically, Imposter Syndrome). We're not qualified to approach this therapeutically, so instead we share some very personal storie…

Kristian and Tracy are joined by Dot Moore, writer and producer of the Bite Sized Tales podcast, as well as player and producer of the Resting Glitch Face actual play podcast. In this episode we talk about creating compelling NPCs from the perspective of the RPG designer. How do you write and express characters for your adventures in a way that hel…

This week, Kristian and Tracy talk about the benefits of surrounding yourself with people who can support you in realizing your creative vision, a brain trust. Brain trusts can provide creative support, but they can also provide emotional support, and even financial support when considering the outlay and risks associated with creating and marketin…

This week Kristian and Tracy are joined by Chris Hussey, a prolific RPG podcaster, writer, and media producer to discuss the balance between the freedom of sandbox play, and the satisfaction of completing a more guided story. This problem is a deceptively challenging one from the designer's perspective, and we explore it from different angles while…

This week, Tracy and Kristian discuss the impossible-to-define goal of what makes a creative work "interesting." Sometimes we can get lost in the "rules," or fixated on inspirations we want to duplicate, or we even get too wrapped up in what we think our audience wants, and in doing so we make choices that favor the safe road, only to find what we'…

Kristian and Tracy are joined by the creative director of Pinnacle Entertainment (Savage Worlds), Darrell Hayhurst, as we discuss the "precious" nature of ideas, and trying to break through the "logjam" in our minds that prevent us from coming up with more. We talk about ways to tap into a broader pool of solutions to problems, different concepts, …

In this episode, Kristian and Tracy talk about both the need for, and the techniques surrounding creating a "quest engine" for your RPG game or setting--or the reasons the heroes are there in the first place. This includes discussion of "quest-giving" organizations and people, creating and utilizing meaningful elements that drive the story forward,…

This week, Kristian and Tracy welcome back guest Brandon Verhalen of Star Anvil Studios to talk about the value of commissioning art for your project. Whether you use it to help visualize your world and inspire you in the concept phase, or to communicate the look, feel, actions, and even mechanics of your setting to your audience, art can play a va…

This week, Kristian and Tracy go on an in depth exploration of what compels us to create the things we do, why we share them, and how and why we keep going when things get difficult. For many, these are very personal questions. We talk about the sense of accomplishment, the compulsion to inspire others, craftsmanship, our vulnerability as creators,…

This week, Tracy and Kristian welcome Brandon Verhalen of Star Anvil Studios to talk about the sticky wicket of licensing existing IPs for your role playing game. Brandon is the publisher of the Secret World RPG, based on the video game by Funcom, and he has a wealth of wisdom and advice, including the benefits of licensing, how to pursue license-h…

This week Tracy and Kristian delve into the dense subject of RPG game systems, how a system can fundamentally affect the feeling of a setting, choosing one that's right for your game, and even touching on the challenges of creating your own. We also explore some of the ins and outs of licensing different game systems for your project. See the notes…

In this episode, Kristian and Tracy are joined by Jennifer Sutcliffe, Kristian's partner and the other half of the Immaterial Plane, to talk about a fascinating problem inherent to RPGs: the unlikely marriage of technical and creative writing. What are the differences? Why do we need both, and how can they compliment each other and meld together in…

In this episode Kristian and Tracy talk about finding inspiration for your game, setting, adventures, characters and themes. More importantly though, where do you find inspiration for yourSELF? How do you get past the roadblocks and setbacks you encounter in the creative process and inspire yourself to keep trying and moving ahead? Finally, how do …

In this episode, Kristian and Tracy tackle one of the trickiest questions the designer of a new setting must answer: What do the PCs DO? Establishing what the "iconic adventure" is for your setting informs almost every choice you make in the world's development, and it can mean the difference between a game people are inspired to pick up and play a…

This week we talk about where to start with the creative process. The difference between writing for yourself or your group, writing for other people to run, and writing for established publishers. We relate our own experiences and challenges at all three levels, and hope to give some encouragement to people along the way. Join our discord!: https:…

In this first episode of Designing Problems, we talk about who we are, what we've done, and what the Designing Problems podcast is all about. We also touch on some of the challenges of the creative and production process, especially in the RPG space. Join our discord!: https://discord.gg/Bc9dvuzZYJBy Tracy Sizemore