#279 Dominique Dickey Talks Plant Girl

Dominique joins Dirk and David to talk about TTRPG design. Topics covered include Dominique’s pathway into the field through a student internship with Monte Cook Games, the challenges of approaching theme-first design with different RPG rulesets, and how Dominique’s personal connection with many of their games’ themes stems from a desire to create specific experiences that aren’t common in other TTRPGs.

Episode Outline

1:11 Getting to know a bit more about Dominique and their experience with tabletop RPG design

8:20 Talking about Dominique’s internship with Monte Cook Games, and how it got them started in design

17:32 Bringing theme to life in games, and how writing theme into fiction felt different than putting theme into games

24:45 How does the TTRPG design process change when writing for a more mechanics-heavy RPG like D&D?

28:11 Discussing Dominique’s personal relationship with the game and adventure themes that they design

39:11 The game TRIAL, how it portrays the American justice system, and how the game’s design serves the theme

50:25 How safety tools were integrated into Trial inherently through the game’s design

54:55 A specific piece of advice from Dominique for other designers trying to design around theme

In this Episode

Dominique Dickey - @DomSDickey, dominiquedickey.com
David V. Heron - @davidvheron
Dirk Knemeyer - @DKnemeyer