Worlds of Design: What Should Be in an RPG Book?

There are lots of books about playing tabletop role-playing games, but what makes a great book about designing one?

Picture courtesy of Pixabay.​

Pros and Cons of Self-Publishing​

Nonfiction books aren’t what they used to be. My generation saw books as a treasure-trove of information, organized and presented well by an expert. Good books still are, but now they compete with many other information sources online, including self-published works that can flood the market by dominating with search engine optimized (SEO) keywords, such that it can be difficult to distinguish the “chaff from the wheat” when searching for a topic, including tabletop RPG design.

This is good for pro-am designers, but challenging from a quality perspective as the bar is much lower to publish, and thus there’s no guarantee a non-fiction book has been thoroughly researched and edited. Conversely, self-publishing is good for game designers, who now have a real chance at publishing their game and reaching a broader audience. And they’re likely the target audience for a guide to tabletop role-playing game design.

The Target Audience​

I have my own ideas about this topic as I’ve thought about it for some time. Years ago I pitched (to the editors of the “Idiots Guides” books) an introductory game design book. I was told there was “not enough sales velocity” in the topic! That book was for games in general, not specifically RPGs. Then again, they want books that will sell very well.

Things have changed since then, and Dungeons & Dragons is more popular than ever. But to sell well, we must find the target audience in order to offer sufficient sales potential to attract a publisher, and it likely needs to be broader than “RPG experts.” I think the target market has to be the many aspiring designers who will likely sell no more than 500 copies of their game, should they ever publish it, or who will just play their game with their friends. And obviously, people who are sufficiently curious about the topic to read the book.

What’s in the Book?​

A book, just like a game, is subject to a variety of constraints, the same kinds of constraints that affect all books. Answering these questions will help shape any future project touching on this subject.

• Length: One that comes to mind immediately is the length. “TL;DR” (Too Long; Didn’t Read) is a big problem today, as are readers who just skim (a big problem for rules writers) and think that the words that they miss somehow don’t matter. To my mind 100,000 words is the target length for a nonfiction book of this sort, the length of my 2012 book Game Design.
• Gamemaster or Rules Writer: Such a book needs to teach people how to design an RPG, but there are lots of possible questions. For example, the GM has just as much influence on how an RPG works as the author of the rules themselves. So how much of such a book should be directed at GMs rather than at ruleset creators?
• World Creation vs. Rules Creation: World/settings are often part of a role-playing game, but not part of devising mechanisms and writing rules for the game. Advanced D&D took the default fantasy setting (see “Baseline Assumptions of Fantasy RPGs”) . How much should a book address world/setting building?
• Adventure Creation: We also know that good adventures can help make an RPG seem better than it really is, and conversely that poor adventures can do the opposite. How much of such a book should be aimed at adventure (and level) creators?
• Storytelling: Can a book like this teach people how to write stories? There are lots of existing books about writing stories, books written by people who are expert in writing stories. How much should an RPG design book try to compete with all those books?
• Artwork: Artwork is very expensive for a small market book (which this would be). Unless you use out-of-copyright art. Nor will artwork illuminate the topic, insofar as game design is an activity of the thinking mind. On the other hand, some people will not read something that doesn’t include (lots of) art. So how much art should be in such a book?
• Print vs. Electronic: Obviously the book must have an e-book version. Nearly a third of the sales of my book Game Design are ebooks, and if global tariffs impact book sales, electronic sales will be a must. I think a book like this also must have an audio version, because so many people listen to books. Professional audio books, it turns out, are expensive to make. Which is why there is no audio version of my 2012 book.

The Choice is Yours​

Remember, too much material will probably lead to fewer sales. You can’t have everything you want. So what’s really important, and what isn’t?

Your turn: What do YOU think should be in a role-playing game design book?

 

[aramis erak]

one nitpick: D&D did NOT "take" the default fantasy; it created one.

As for what I want to see more of is GM's cheat sheets in the back... Like WFRP 1e, or a handful of more recent games.

 

[Lanefan]

The thread title and the first post would seem to be running at cross purposes.

The title "What should be in an rpg book" makes me think about what should be in a well-written (equivalent to) DMG, PH, and-or MM.

But the OP instead talks about what would be in a book about how to write these books, which isn't the same thing.

It's the same as saying "what should be in an instruction manual" vs "what should be in an instruction manual on how to write instruction manuals".

And going by the responses so far it seems I'm not the only one confused; some posters have responded as if the topic is the former above while others have posted as if it's the latter.

 

[dragoner]

Yes, I noticed that also. If one wants to a 'how to design' look at the successful books and try to emulate that layout.

 

[payn]

A book about writing an RPG? I think the most important part is making it clear what the game is aiming to accomplish. A play example that highlights how the GM and players interact with the mechanics.

If you bury the lead thinking folks will intuit how to play from reading the rule book like stereo instructions you’re going to lose them.

 

[ruemere]

Teeth RPG.

Probably the most accessible accessory. There are others out there that are incredible, but this one is in a league of its own.

 

[Faolyn]

Teeth RPG.

Probably the most accessible accessory. There are others out there that are incredible, but this one is in a league of its own.

What's that? I searched and found a monster hunting RPG. Is it that one? Since it's a bit too pricey for me to check out, what's so great about it?

 

[lewpuls]

@lewpuls My question would also be, why make such a book? When a publisher says, not enough sales, do you disagree, or do you think it's enough sales for you? Or is this just a hobby project? Looking at DTRPG, there are lots of publishers and even fans publishing, but looking at the state of how they publish, how many would actually read a book on the topic or even buy one in the first place?

How big the market is is usually the big question. Publishers occupy different niches in the market. Not enough sales for one might be plenty for another. Unfortunately, there's no way to know how large a market might be: what people do is often different from what they SAY they'll do, so even a market survey is quite shaky. Moreover, a survey might not reach the expected market.

 

[lewpuls]

Well, all games have victory conditions. It can't hurt if a book detailing ttrpg design explains what those conditions could be.

"Rules of Play", one of the more well-known books about game design, stared with 80 pages defining what a game was, then admitted that by their definition RPGs are not games, and that they hadn't considered puzzles at all. Duh. Some RPGs, at least, do not have explicit victory conditions.

 

[lewpuls]

As for art, you need enough to illustrate the things that need to be shown and to break up the monotony of tons of text (although again, good headers and text design can help that enormously). Character options (particularly heritage) should be illustrated, as should monsters (except maybe normal animals). If you don't want to illustrate every monster, enough should be shown so as to provide a good mental image of what the creatures should feel like.

Like, if you decide you want to have the standard issue D&D chromatic and metallic dragons, you can illustrate one or two of them so as to say: this is what dragons look like in this game. Especially if you go for a nonstandard look, such as dragons that look more like lizards or snakes than like D&D's "scaly mammal" shape. But you don't need to show all of them just so people know that red dragons have horns like this and brass dragons have horns like that.

And you probably don't need to illustrate all the different types of polearms and swords. Unless you have an amazing art budget.

The art is also needed to set the game's mood and can be the difference between Yet Another D&D Clone and an actually unique, or at least interesting setting. Or setting expectation, at least, if you're not presenting an actual setting.

For world creation, yes, that should be in the book (unless the game has a built-in setting). But perhaps instead of lists of "this is what should be in a world," you go with some assumptions and then questions to flesh them out:

Fantasy worlds often have at least one large, old-growth forest, so thick with trees that even at mid-day they are shrouded in darkness. No human loggers have felled these trees. Few have dared to enter these woods, and fewer have survived the journey intact. Why is that?

- It is the home of the fae, whose illusions and bargains ensure that those who enter are beguiled and entrapped; they view any mortal who enters as their property. Sometimes, travelers do emerge, seemingly unscathed, but decades or centuries after they had entered, and with only disjointed memories of their time there. Who is the leader of the fae? What fae treasure in the wood tempts people to enter it? What famous person entered the woods and never emerged?

- The forest is home to beasts and plants that have been granted great size and high intelligence. Some of them are actually incarnated spirits. They hate humans and anyone else who would try to shape the forest, and will only allow hunters who know how to make the proper offerings and thanks after a kill. Are mortals who enter the woods simply killed, or are they changed in some way? Do any of the forest's spirit-beasts ever exist the woods?

And so on. I think this style is better than a more typical "here's how to place a forest" since it comes with its own plot hooks.

After the first paragraph (removed), this appears to be a discussion of what to put in a role-playing game. But the discussion is what to put in a book about designing role-playing games, which is quite a different thing.

I agree that ToC, index, headers are important. An author does not control all of that. For example, in my Game Design (2012) I wanted a detailed ToC, which I think is more useful than an index, but that's not how it happened.

 

[lewpuls]

The thread title and the first post would seem to be running at cross purposes.

The title "What should be in an rpg book" makes me think about what should be in a well-written (equivalent to) DMG, PH, and-or MM.

But the OP instead talks about what would be in a book about how to write these books, which isn't the same thing.

It's the same as saying "what should be in an instruction manual" vs "what should be in an instruction manual on how to write instruction manuals".

And going by the responses so far it seems I'm not the only one confused; some posters have responded as if the topic is the former above while others have posted as if it's the latter.

My title was

What would you expect in a Role-playing Game Design book?"​

You're right, the changed title is misleading. I do not control the title (or anything else, actually, editors do edit).

The subtitle is clear.

And if you actually read the article, isn't the intent clear despite the misleading title?