If you're a professional game designer, please stand up


Alpha Release 1 General Discussion

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Dark Archive

I'm curious who's a professional rpg game designer here on the boards and your opinion on the Pathfinder RPG - AR1.

So if you are, make yourself heard! Especially if you have any d20 cred (i.e., published a d20 supp).


joela wrote:

I'm curious who's a professional rpg game designer here on the boards and your opinion on the Pathfinder RPG - AR1.

So if you are, make yourself heard! Especially if you have any d20 cred (i.e., published a d20 supp).

Well, I design games, but for a very limited audience. Though I only ever get paid in pizza and soda.

:)


Well, I do editing work occasionally for a small game company, and I am helping on a d20 game right now. I have not had a chance to read through all of it yet, but I find parts of it quite interesting.

Stephen Miller
Ancient Gamer and Curmudgeon.

Sovereign Court

Author here of D20 D&D 3.5 supplement, Secrets of Pact Magic.
Some thought:
-- play testing is vital
-- different players offer different kinds of feedback ( this is when rules lawyers and power gamers are notably useful)
-- balancing until you find that sweet spot can be a lot of work
-- massaging a project for 18 months does wonders
-- listen to others but let a vision guide you
-- pay attention to how players assume a rule works from first glance.
-- stay focused thematically and mechanically
-- give players and readers choices, cos almost everybody loves choices, and the more meaningful choices the more investment in the character
-- mnimize the math
-- when in doubt make a rule optional in a sidebar
-- have an index, or two
-- d&d 3.5 is a wonderful system but it has several deep flaws that a designer should seek to minimize in impact
-- more but I need to start my day

Right now I trust the process that Paizo is engaging in to develop PF rpg


I am not a professional game designer any more, but I did work for White Wolf as a freelancer for a while back in the old days, particularly on Mage and Street Fighter. :)

My bibliography, for the curious.

-The Gneech

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 16, 2012 Top 32

I suppose I'm technically a professional game designer. I've written a half-dozen or so articles for Dragon Magazine - the real, print version - and back in the day, I even had a third-party splatbook published.

That was before WotC got all corporate, and I thought it would be cool to work for them some day. Since then, I've lost a lot of my motivation to pursue freelance work. But then again, it would be kind of cool to work for Paizo some day. Hmm...

Dark Archive

I've done some contribution articles for Columbia Games, and even got a contributor credit on HarnManor ... does that count? I have very short entry on Pen & Paper games ...

Dark Archive

John Robey wrote:


My bibliography, for the curious.

Nice. Any takes on the Pathfinder RPG?

Scarab Sages

I freelanced on Privateer Press' Iron Kingdoms setting stuff. The IKCG and IKWG as well as a bunch of No Quarter Magazine Articles.


Rone Barton here.

Gaming credits: Dragon, GM Gems, Blight Elves: Architects of Despair and the upcoming Blighted Bestiary along with a good few other projects I'm not sure if I'm allowed to mention yet. When I'm not saving the world one freelance RPG writing project at a time I'm thinking about how utterly overjoyed I am that Pathfinder is sticking with 3.5ish.

They're bringing in some heavy subscription numbers as it is, and think of how many great new subscription products they have out now compared to a few months ago. I think Paizo will do quite well for themselves. I actually envy their corporate strength.


For my d20 Cred-- I freelanced a bunch of stuff for Goodman Games (converting DDCs from D&D to C&C). I also published two short products: the Fatal Flaws disadvantage system for D&D and the "Amazing One-Sheet Dungeon". Much more of my work, however has been in the Indy game field, especially with my own label, Basic Action Games (www.bashrpg.com we make rules-lite cinematic style games for the Superhero, Fantasy, & Sci-Fi genres).

As for Pathfinder, I am pretty positive about it. I hope that it will stream-line just a bit more (get rid of the iterative attacks, etc). I am really liking some of their "fixes" though-- especially the new grapple rules!


joela wrote:
John Robey wrote:


My bibliography, for the curious.

Nice. Any takes on the Pathfinder RPG?

Lots! I've been posting all over the board. :) (See threads with "Gneech" in the title for starters.)

I'm in the "fix 3.5 headaches, then make it backwards-compatible" camp, generally, lobbying for simplicity when possible.

I'm sure Paizo will make a great game no matter how it ends up ... I'm just hoping it ends up in the way I would prefer, as I'm more likely to actually use it then. ;)

The fact that I made a Sword and Sorcery conversion of SWSE will probably show you roughly where my mind is at.

-The Gneech

The Exchange RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8

I'm an academic who wakes up each day thinking 'I should drop everything and become a professional game designer'.

Liberty's Edge

I'm Jeff Ibach. My Wife Dawn had about a half-dozen Dragon Magazine articles under the title of "Miscellaneous Mishaps" a few years back. We also together wrote AEG's Toolbox and won the 2003 Silver ENnie for best supplement. I've also fiddled with:

Contributing author and d20 mechanics editing and proofing:
Mercenaries: Alderac Entertainment Group
Magic: Alderac Entertainment Group
Warlords of the Accordlands RPG: Alderac Entertainment Group
World’s Largest Dungeon: Alderac Entertainment Group

Editor and d20 mechanics technician:
Librum Equitis Volume 1: Mystic Eye Games
The Canting Crew hardcover: Troll Lord Games
Dark Druids adventure: Troll Lord Games
Heart of Glass adventure: Troll Lord Games
St. Anton's Fire: Troll Lord Games
The Hermit adventure: Troll Lord Games
Wild Spellcraft: Mystic Eye Games & Natural 20 Press

Project Manager, lead writer, editing and d20 mechanics technician:
Toolbox: Alderac Entertainment Group
Cities & Settlements: Troll Lord Games
Feats: Alderac Entertainment Group
Guilds: Alderac Entertainment Group
Secrets: Alderac Entertainment Group
Adventure I and II: Alderac Entertainment Group

I've been posting like a madman all over the Alpha boards whenever I can. Initially I really like what I see, I just have an aversion from straying too far from backwards compatibility. I understand Paizo is throwing some extreme stuff out first and hopefully will reign in material that makes too many rules/classes/add-ons of older books incompatible (or useless) with the Pathfinder RPG. But I think they are off to a terrific start.

-DM Jeff


I'm a game designer, but not on the print side. I work in the computer games industry.

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 16

I recently had about 20,000 words in Greg Stafford's Great Pendragon Campaign, as well as other bits and pieces for magazines and Chaosium books, including Dragon Lords of Melnibone and the new version of the Miskatonic University Sourcebook.

I have written a crapload of tournament scenarios for the Cthulhu Masters at Gencon for many years. However, I don't earn my living from writing, so I don't think you could call me a professional.

My own take on the PFRPG is that it looks very promising, but that the design team needs to cut, condense and simplify wherever and whenever possible. Less is more.

Doyle

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 16

DM Jeff wrote:
I'm Jeff Ibach.

I thought Toolbox was a wonderful product. Kudos!

Doyle


A friend of mine named Frank Trollman is a current writer for Shadowrun, and he and I have written a bunch of online stuff for DnD thats been very well received. Do a web search for Tome of Necromancy, Tome of Fiends, Dungenomicon, Races of War, or "Frank and K Tome", and you can look it up.


Alright, fine... I don't think there's really any damage done by me.

I'm really David (Dave.. please, Dave) Woodrum... I've written extensively for Dark Quest Games, I was the owner of Top Fashion Games for about two or three years until I fully merged that aspect with Dark Quest, I've written for Dark Furies Publishing, a couple of entries for the last Scarred Lands for Sword Sorcery Studios, had an article published in En Publishing's old mag (Disgusting Little Buggers.. a low level creature entry), and did some monster design for Geeks Cubed but I don't think any of it was ever published.

In a way I wanted to be somewhat incognito but I don't think it really matters anymore.


Tarren Dei wrote:
I'm an academic who wakes up each day thinking 'I should drop everything and become a professional game designer'.

Don't! If you mean academic as far as education... FINISH THAT FIRST!

Trust me. I did the same back in 1992, when I was 19... figured I would form Top Fashion Games (well, I *did* do that, only something like 15 years later) and make enough to live off that... and then some. Several years of working industry after dropping out of college while attempting to polish my skills up enough at game design while landing enough money to publish my first product did not bode well on my sanity and happiness. Admittingly, times are easier now... pdf based, online publishing would have been such a gift back then, but I still don't recommend it as an initial primary career.

I'm not trying to steer you away from being a professional game designer, but for your own sake... don't drop everything else, moonlight for awhile first at it.

Dark Archive

Doyle Tavener wrote:
DM Jeff wrote:
I'm Jeff Ibach.

I thought Toolbox was a wonderful product. Kudos!

Doyle

Dude Toolbox rocks. We used it a couple hours ago. Write a part 2.


K wrote:
A friend of mine named Frank Trollman is a current writer for Shadowrun, and he and I have written a bunch of online stuff for DnD thats been very well received. Do a web search for Tome of Necromancy, Tome of Fiends, Dungenomicon, Races of War, or "Frank and K Tome", and you can look it up.

I have a lot of respect for Frank from his posts alone. He talks straight and has great insights... although I suspect he may also be insane. But that's good, right?

The Exchange RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8

hallucitor wrote:
Tarren Dei wrote:
I'm an academic who wakes up each day thinking 'I should drop everything and become a professional game designer'.

Don't! If you mean academic as far as education... FINISH THAT FIRST!

Trust me.

No, I know that. :-)

I got into teaching because I could get paid to play games with students.

Now, I'm about to get a PhD in Education.

I can do more as a professor of education.

'Boy's literacy' is a crisis issue in education right now. I think a study of literacy practices by role-playing gamers in junior high and high school would reveal that RPGers read more, read more critically, do more with what they read, and participate in 'reading communities' than non-RPGers. This would do more for our hobby than anything I could do as a game designer.

Sometimes I just like to daydream ...


I've had published video and pen-n-paper RPG designs, as well as setting work and a pile of art (mainly maps).

- - -

I was initially very excited about PathfinderRPG because I think 3.5 is fixable and throwing it out for a whole new edition is good for Hasbro but not so much for us players. So the Paizo approach seemed like a great solution.

Then I read the PathfinderRPG feat combo chains and some of the other changes that would fundamentally alter the feel of the game. This made me think that Paizo was just doing an alternate 4th Edition rather than an evolution of 3.5. I don't like the MMORPG and collectible card game mechanics that WotC is putting into 4th Ed, and likewise I dislike the video game combo idea - at least when it is made mandatory for all meleeists and most casters.

I'd really like to see PathfinderRPG change 3.5 with extensibility and elegance in mind. Aim for simplification without 'dumbing down'. Add options without complication. The class structure in Star Wars Saga is an excellent example of this - though many of the other changes in that text are less elegant.

I'm also concerned that this "design by comitte" approach may lead to some less than optimal design choices. I want the best ideas put into the game, not the loudest.


I'm not a professional, as I don't do it for a living or for any money at all, and have no real ties to the industry. But I spend most of my free time as a designer and "programmer" for three multiplayer-online-projects with Neverwinter Nights, which was/is essentially 3rd Edition for PC and highly customizable. I also spend the last three years with the development of a complex and fairly large-scale campaign setting, complete with custom classes, races, spells, planar mechanics, new equipment and so on. Hopefully I get a website going by the end of the yer or over the course of the next, were I self-publish the first "books" under the OGL for free download. So I dare to post here as a semi-pro game designer. ;)

I think the concept of PFRPG is highly intriguing. Fixing the last remaining flaws of 3.5e and keeping the game alive for the following years. It makes me feel the excitment that didn't really occure when the first details about 4th Ed. were released. A lot of the proposed changes of the alpha #1 are really awsome and I think I'll never use the original rules ever again. But on the other hand, some of the ideas do look very nice, but I think are not such a good idea if the game is supposed to be "back to the roots". If it is to be a second revision of the 3rd Edition which attempts almost complete compatibility with 3.5e, there are some limitations on what can be done. Some other things which would be very cool would have the design drift off into a new d20 game. I think the designers should think very carefully about that and at beast very early on. Make the one or the other and do that reight. Trying to find a course somewhere between those choices would probably lead to unsatisfactionary results.

I know it from my own experiences, that it's very easy to lose the initial plan out of sight and as you add more and more cool things, you find yourself at a point you never intended to get to. And as unfortunate as it is, adding cool stuff together doesn't create in a perfect end-result.


Author:

Street Magic - Shadowrun 4th edition.
Augmentation - Shadowrun 4th edition.

My d20 work is open content and available for download and therefore not "professional."

-Frank


Tarren Dei wrote:


No, I know that. :-)

I got into teaching because I could get paid to play games with students.

Now, I'm about to get a PhD in Education.

Sometimes I just like to daydream ...

Whew! Sorry, I feel like an idiot now. I was just afraid that someone else might make the mistake I did and thus suffer the first dozen or so years of their adulthood with career unhappiness.

Liberty's Edge

Doyle Tavener wrote:
I thought Toolbox was a wonderful product. Kudos!
Alex Draconis wrote:
Dude Toolbox rocks. We used it a couple hours ago. Write a part 2.

Thanks for such kind words! Hearing stuff like this makes my day! There's interesting behind-the-scenes workings of a Toolbox 2 that I wish I could share. Suffice to say over half the work is already done by Dawn and I. :-)

-DM Jeff

Paizo Employee Director of Game Design

Ki_Ryn wrote:

snip...

Then I read the PathfinderRPG feat combo chains and some of the other changes that would fundamentally alter the feel of the game. This made me think that Paizo was just doing an alternate 4th Edition rather than an evolution of 3.5. I don't like the MMORPG and collectible card game mechanics that WotC is putting into 4th Ed, and likewise I dislike the video game combo idea - at least when it is made mandatory for all meleeists and most casters.

I'd really like to see PathfinderRPG change 3.5 with extensibility and elegance in mind. Aim for simplification without 'dumbing down'. Add options without complication. The class structure in Star Wars Saga is an excellent example of this - though many of the other changes in that text are less elegant.

I'm also concerned that this "design by comitte" approach may lead to some less than optimal design choices. I want the best ideas put into the game, not the loudest.

Ki_Ryn,

To be honest, we really tried to push the envelop with some of these initial changes. Some, such as the combat feats, are sure to go under a fair amount of revision. That is why these boards are here. I want to make this the game that you want to play. If combat feats are not in that frame (and it seems like the concept has flaws in the opinions of many), the please let me know.

I would not be too worried about "design by comittee". We are asking for feedback here in the forums, but the ultimate decisions lie with us. I am trying hard to manage that expectation.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

The Exchange RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8

hallucitor wrote:
Tarren Dei wrote:


No, I know that. :-)

I got into teaching because I could get paid to play games with students.

Now, I'm about to get a PhD in Education.

Sometimes I just like to daydream ...

Whew! Sorry, I feel like an idiot now. I was just afraid that someone else might make the mistake I did and thus suffer the first dozen or so years of their adulthood with career unhappiness.

Don't feel like an idiot.

Seriously though, I'm bored witless a lot of the time. I understand their is some sacrifice, but the life holds some attractions.

The Exchange RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8

Jason Bulmahn wrote:


I would not be too worried about "design by comittee". We are asking for feedback here in the forums, but the ultimate decisions lie with us. I am trying hard to manage that expectation.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Hi Jason,

I like what I'm seeing and I love the openness that Paizo has taken. Their are somethings I hope will change but, honestly, if this was it, I'd still be very impressed.

Dark Archive

DM Jeff wrote:


Doyle Tavener wrote:
I thought Toolbox was a wonderful product. Kudos!
Alex Draconis wrote:
Dude Toolbox rocks. We used it a couple hours ago. Write a part 2.

Thanks for such kind words! Hearing stuff like this makes my day! There's interesting behind-the-scenes workings of a Toolbox 2 that I wish I could share. Suffice to say over half the work is already done by Dawn and I. :-)

-DM Jeff

That's great to hear. Add more food! I love the food.

We used Toolbox to find out what the butler brought us to eat in The Skinsaw Murders, just before he broke a nice red wine bottle over the head of one of the PCs.

Paizo Employee Chief Creative Officer, Publisher

Archade wrote:
I've done some contribution articles for Columbia Games, and even got a contributor credit on HarnManor ... does that count? I have very short entry on Pen & Paper games ...

Yes, that counts. HarnManor received the most glowing review I have ever published for any game supplement. It was a work of genius, in my opinion. Absolutely fantastic.

What did you contribute to it, if I may ask?


DM Jeff wrote:

I'm Jeff Ibach. My Wife Dawn had about a half-dozen Dragon Magazine articles under the title of "Miscellaneous Mishaps" a few years back. We also together wrote AEG's Toolbox and won the 2003 Silver ENnie for best supplement. I've also fiddled with:

Contributing author and d20 mechanics editing and proofing:
Mercenaries: Alderac Entertainment Group
Magic: Alderac Entertainment Group
Warlords of the Accordlands RPG: Alderac Entertainment Group
World’s Largest Dungeon: Alderac Entertainment Group

Editor and d20 mechanics technician:
Librum Equitis Volume 1: Mystic Eye Games
The Canting Crew hardcover: Troll Lord Games
Dark Druids adventure: Troll Lord Games
Heart of Glass adventure: Troll Lord Games
St. Anton's Fire: Troll Lord Games
The Hermit adventure: Troll Lord Games
Wild Spellcraft: Mystic Eye Games & Natural 20 Press

Project Manager, lead writer, editing and d20 mechanics technician:
Toolbox: Alderac Entertainment Group
Cities & Settlements: Troll Lord Games
Feats: Alderac Entertainment Group
Guilds: Alderac Entertainment Group

Secrets: Alderac Entertainment Group
Adventure I and II: Alderac Entertainment Group

I've been posting like a madman all over the Alpha boards whenever I can. Initially I really like what I see, I just have an aversion from straying too far from backwards compatibility. I understand Paizo is throwing some extreme stuff out first and hopefully will reign in material that makes too many rules/classes/add-ons of older books incompatible (or useless) with the Pathfinder RPG. But I think they are off to a terrific start.

-DM Jeff

Hey Jeff, just wanted to say your AEG toolbox book is AWESOME. I use it almost everytime I run my weekly campaign. It has saved me in a pinch for random NPCs, encounters, names, etc. I place its importance to me by bringing it along with the three cor books to my table every week. Just wanted to say thanks. Not to often we get to say thanks to someone that has made such a great Game Master product. Of course, it figures I catch you posting on the ultimate fanbase company's boards! Just goes to show you that Paizo really knows how to make great games and treat their customers with respect and importance. Especially, seeing how many game designers are on the boards day in and day out. Thanks again.


Alex Draconis wrote:
Doyle Tavener wrote:
DM Jeff wrote:
I'm Jeff Ibach.

I thought Toolbox was a wonderful product. Kudos!

Doyle

Dude Toolbox rocks. We used it a couple hours ago. Write a part 2.

/QUOT

Absolutely!!!


DM Jeff wrote:


Doyle Tavener wrote:
I thought Toolbox was a wonderful product. Kudos!
Alex Draconis wrote:
Dude Toolbox rocks. We used it a couple hours ago. Write a part 2.

Thanks for such kind words! Hearing stuff like this makes my day! There's interesting behind-the-scenes workings of a Toolbox 2 that I wish I could share. Suffice to say over half the work is already done by Dawn and I. :-)

-DM Jeff

Can you say if it will be under AEG or not? Also, will it be in print form or only PDF?


Tarren Dei wrote:
hallucitor wrote:
Tarren Dei wrote:
I'm an academic who wakes up each day thinking 'I should drop everything and become a professional game designer'.

Don't! If you mean academic as far as education... FINISH THAT FIRST!

Trust me.

No, I know that. :-)

I got into teaching because I could get paid to play games with students.

Now, I'm about to get a PhD in Education.

I can do more as a professor of education.

'Boy's literacy' is a crisis issue in education right now. I think a study of literacy practices by role-playing gamers in junior high and high school would reveal that RPGers read more, read more critically, do more with what they read, and participate in 'reading communities' than non-RPGers. This would do more for our hobby than anything I could do as a game designer.

Sometimes I just like to daydream ...

I completely agree with you thoughts here. In fact, I owe role playing games in general to my love of reading. Otherwise, I may just be another grognar brute in the world. It is people like you that make people's lives change through your dedication of education. Take any person who has contributed to society in recent history and you'll find a dedicated teacher responsible for that person's education.


Trying my [insert random word here] to get published. Not as a designer as such, just an author with a wee appendix at the end with some OGL for those interested.

Australia is just one tough nut to crack :)

Currently doing a treatment now, but not fantasy.

Also doing a Mecha OGL game, based off of lego's exo force. The idea is to create an easy to play game, that we can teach our kiddies the basics of Role Playing.

I also hate how Mecha have been handled in d20. I see them more as suits than vehicles (even if it is a vehicle), that becomes a fluid extention of the pilot (a second skin as such).

as far as 3P goes, looks good.

Contributor

I've written for many systems. You can find my "credentials" here.

As for what I think: so far, so good, but I'm still playtesting. :)

-Amber S.

Paizo Employee Director of Game Design

Amber Scott wrote:

I've written for many systems. You can find my "credentials" here.

As for what I think: so far, so good, but I'm still playtesting. :)

-Amber S.

Amber.. amber... amber...

I am sure I have seen your name on a book somewhere... hmmm.

Jason Bulmahn
Lead Designer

Contributor

I think I've heard of you too, though I can't recall from where at the moment...

This thread made me update my website. Heh heh heh.

-Amber S.

Liberty's Edge

Me and my buddy made "Silver Sword Magazine" in the 8th grade.
This one dude told me TSR would sue us because githyanki's had silver swords, so it was copyright violation. He was alway trying to give me constructive criticism; he wasn't jealous or nothing.
We sold 10 copies of #1 and #2. Nobody's mother had to buy a single copy. We were hustla's.


My history as a designer and writer is not nearly as impressive as some of the other pros here, although I did get some Kudos for some of my Dark Quest works... chiefly Lost Prehistorica and Taverner's Trusty Tome... both of which I wrote at least half of. I'm also fond I guess of my Fantasy Fungi book... later to be complimented by the downloadable freebie The Arcane Tome Of Mycology. fungi fungi fungi.....

Liberty's Edge

I'm semi-professional at best, but I did some open call work for two different GURPS books and made a couple of d20 modern advanced classes for some hurricane/tsunami relief books.


Nothing major, here. Just a few freelance writing projects for Sword and Sorcery, Steve Jackson Games, Grey Ghost, and most recently, ADB. I also self-published a few d20 books under the imprint Jagged Edge Games.


K wrote:
A friend of mine named Frank Trollman...

I was elated when I saw him pop up here. If anyone can tear apart the Pathfinder Alpha and find the bugs in the system, it would be him.


joela wrote:

I'm curious who's a professional rpg game designer here on the boards and your opinion on the Pathfinder RPG - AR1.

So if you are, make yourself heard! Especially if you have any d20 cred (i.e., published a d20 supp).

I am. Done some d20 Fantasy work, but a lot more d20 Modern and d20 Future work though.


Jason Bulmahn wrote:

I would not be too worried about "design by comittee". We are asking for feedback here in the forums, but the ultimate decisions lie with us. I am trying hard to manage that expectation.

Thanks for the response. Overall I think things look great - it's just easier (and more fun :) to complain than compliment. I also have a good feeling that you folks as Paizo will listen to the best rather than the loudest - but it still bears saying so that us playtesters will keep it in mind in the months ahead. I look forward to seeing how things turn out.


Author or co-author of Fiery Dragon's BattleBox, rules bits of Counter Collection 2, 3, Summoned Creatures, Undead and Counter Pack 3: Eldritch Horrors & Occult Investigators. Article published in Dragon 273.

I like the rules, but I think the classes could be made closer to each other in terms of structure (based on the structure of the Rogue Talents).

Contributor

Doyle Tavener wrote:

I recently had about 20,000 words in Greg Stafford's Great Pendragon Campaign, as well as other bits and pieces for magazines and Chaosium books, including Dragon Lords of Melnibone and the new version of the Miskatonic University Sourcebook.

Doyle

Kudos to you Doyle, Chaosium produce some magnificent stuff.

Rich

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