Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Creating a Tabletop RPG - Tips, Ideas, et al
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Ody" data-source="post: 6664248" data-attributes="member: 6798253"><p>So I've had it in my head for quite some time now that it would be really awesome to transform my current intellectual property into a tabletop roleplaying game, however I've no experience in the matter and don't claim that it's simple, but I would like to gather some input from the enthusiast community. I recognise that a majority of what goes into creating such a product is largely up to me, and doesn't require following any system or standard.</p><p></p><p>Still, I believe that there is merit in opinion and value in simply asking. So let us go with some background:</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Setting: Futuristic, Science-Fantasy</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Core concepts: Incredible powers; customisation/versatility; vast scope</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Features: Alternate history; ridiculous detail; freedom of choice; freedom of morality</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Lore is connected to an evolving world and storyline</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Combat can include epic space battles or one-versus-one duels (and will likely be a majority of the latter)</li> </ul><p></p><p>With that in mind, I've considered several possibilities if we're not assuming crafting an entirely new system is ideal:</p><p></p><p><span style="color: #ff8c00"><span style="font-size: 10px"><strong>Palladium/Megaversal system</strong></span></span></p><p>I enjoy this ruleset a great deal, and was always my first choice mostly for its employment of massive damage, considering we're dealing with beings in excess of one hundred times the strength of any man and even more-so. With RIFTS, the setting has already been explored and thus the ability to incorporate spaceships, mechanised warfare, and similar traits would be simple. One could cobble a hodgepodge of rules that combine Palladium Fantasy and RIFTS to construct the Science-Fantasy elements, or simply adapt the Megaversal system using RIFTS as a reference. </p><p>The <strong><em>alignment</em></strong> system also works very well as my product is very heavily reliant on individuality and not simply filling niches or roles. It's much less about who's good or evil, who can pick locks or cast spells, and much more about why a group has gathered and what their purpose is. From that, the Good - Selfish - Evil system follows this methodology fairly accurately. However, I'm concerned it's merely window dressing and in reality it's not all that far apart from the axiomatic-diametric scale of nine alignments from traditional Dungeons and Dragons rulesets.</p><p>The <em><strong>class </strong></em>system is probably the best for my product if nothing else. You have innate classes, psychic classes, and skilled classes when boiled down, and this concept works exactly as desired as everyone within my realm are 'born this way' or learn to become great, while the psychic powers can be adapted to work perhaps as a middleground. This ties into what I suggested earlier that there be a lack of class ties, little in the way of fulfilling a role and more about being a unique character.</p><p><em><strong>Attributes</strong></em> are more detailed than most, which is another benefit. With any given character having many facets about what make them great, some excel at one thing than another, so this permits greater variation and yet improves specialisation. </p><p></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="color: #ff8c00">D20/Dungeons and Dragons</span></span></strong></p><p><strong><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="color: #ff8c00"></span></span></strong>The legendary system that we all know and love. Whether it's AD&D or 5e, many of its foundations resonate with a majority of RPG players. It's very well-trodden which makes it great to lower the barrier to entry. The D20 system is very simple to understand and works for a lot of situations, and with so many editions of the D20 system to select from, one can easily convert into what I need. </p><p>It's limited mostly by the fact that there aren't many examples of D20 in a non-fantasy setting, save for perhaps <em>Numenera</em>.</p><p>The <em><strong>combat</strong></em> system is likely the most glaring problem. It's designed for a party to fight together, and with a synergy to some effect. In my world, it's very much likely that you are dueling far more than using party tactics, and there aren't an abundance of different creatures to pour into an encounter to make it varied or really do much at all, and no real template creature that work for many scenarios.</p><p>The<em><strong> class</strong></em> system can be adapted but it would be difficult to put classes into a game where everyone doesn't fit into a class, but is more defined by their innate abilities rather than their role.</p><p><em><strong>Alignment</strong></em> here works decently enough, but in my world there aren't again such a variety of creatures that you'll find Chaotic Evil, Neutral, and Unaligned types, which make it even more difficult to justify combat if you would like to consider that a Lawful Good would not duel another Lawful Good, for example. The majority of the universe fall under the Lawful category, so characters who are Chaotic and especially whom are Evil are going to have a much greater difficulty curve than those who more-or-less fall into their place.</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px"><strong><span style="color: #ff8c00">GURPS</span></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px"><strong><span style="color: #ff8c00"></span></strong></span>Naturally one would assume that a system designed to work for any game would be the optimal option, and they might be right. GURPS is a strong contender for what I would like to use for my work, but I have never played a GURPS title thus cannot confirm how it would feel being used.</p><p><em><strong>Attributes </strong></em>work well here, with a core group of four primary stats and four secondary stats which can determine the true difference in measure of aptitude between characters. However, I feel as though having these as sub-stats wouldn't work as well, as for example, the Will stat should be more of a sub-stat for Health or Strength in my lore. I do not know of methods to convert these rules, nor the consequences.</p><p>The <em><strong>Advantage/Disadvantage </strong></em>rule is very welcoming for players who wish to be more realistic rather than a mary-sue. That's all that can really be said about this, I entertain this concept warmly.</p><p>The <em><strong>skills</strong></em> appear to be worthwhile as well, with certain aspects simply left unused in a fantasy setting. The addition of a 'tech level' rating allows it to be modern-friendly, and rather realistic when you consider the scope of my world.</p><p><em><strong>Combat </strong></em>is probably the best for what I need. It functions in one-second increments which for me, is ideal. When you're talking about superhuman characters, actions happen in the sub-second levels, even in the millisecond intervals at the highest echelons of play. Thus, one second can very well translate for both low and high level play. </p><p></p><p><em>Other system possibilities: SPECIAL, Big Eyes, Small Mouth, Numenera, Thieves' World.</em></p><p>-----</p><p></p><p></p><p>What other systems do you know of that might work? What do you comment about my assertions? I realise that it might be difficult to grasp my vision as I am not fluent in descriptions and translating my thoughts into something mechanical. It is entirely possible that my product isn't capable of being tabletop-friendly and that is perfectly acceptable. </p><p></p><p>Thank you for your time in reading this, and considering what I have to say. I don't expect much from this, but any thoughts would be appreciated, even if it's criticism.</p><p></p><p>Ody</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px"><strong><span style="color: #ff8c00"></span></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px"><strong><span style="color: #ff8c00"></span></strong></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Ody, post: 6664248, member: 6798253"] So I've had it in my head for quite some time now that it would be really awesome to transform my current intellectual property into a tabletop roleplaying game, however I've no experience in the matter and don't claim that it's simple, but I would like to gather some input from the enthusiast community. I recognise that a majority of what goes into creating such a product is largely up to me, and doesn't require following any system or standard. Still, I believe that there is merit in opinion and value in simply asking. So let us go with some background: [LIST] [*]Setting: Futuristic, Science-Fantasy [*]Core concepts: Incredible powers; customisation/versatility; vast scope [*]Features: Alternate history; ridiculous detail; freedom of choice; freedom of morality [*]Lore is connected to an evolving world and storyline [*]Combat can include epic space battles or one-versus-one duels (and will likely be a majority of the latter) [/LIST] With that in mind, I've considered several possibilities if we're not assuming crafting an entirely new system is ideal: [COLOR=#ff8c00][SIZE=2][B]Palladium/Megaversal system[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] I enjoy this ruleset a great deal, and was always my first choice mostly for its employment of massive damage, considering we're dealing with beings in excess of one hundred times the strength of any man and even more-so. With RIFTS, the setting has already been explored and thus the ability to incorporate spaceships, mechanised warfare, and similar traits would be simple. One could cobble a hodgepodge of rules that combine Palladium Fantasy and RIFTS to construct the Science-Fantasy elements, or simply adapt the Megaversal system using RIFTS as a reference. The [B][I]alignment[/I][/B] system also works very well as my product is very heavily reliant on individuality and not simply filling niches or roles. It's much less about who's good or evil, who can pick locks or cast spells, and much more about why a group has gathered and what their purpose is. From that, the Good - Selfish - Evil system follows this methodology fairly accurately. However, I'm concerned it's merely window dressing and in reality it's not all that far apart from the axiomatic-diametric scale of nine alignments from traditional Dungeons and Dragons rulesets. The [I][B]class [/B][/I]system is probably the best for my product if nothing else. You have innate classes, psychic classes, and skilled classes when boiled down, and this concept works exactly as desired as everyone within my realm are 'born this way' or learn to become great, while the psychic powers can be adapted to work perhaps as a middleground. This ties into what I suggested earlier that there be a lack of class ties, little in the way of fulfilling a role and more about being a unique character. [I][B]Attributes[/B][/I] are more detailed than most, which is another benefit. With any given character having many facets about what make them great, some excel at one thing than another, so this permits greater variation and yet improves specialisation. [B][SIZE=2][COLOR=#ff8c00]D20/Dungeons and Dragons [/COLOR][/SIZE][/B]The legendary system that we all know and love. Whether it's AD&D or 5e, many of its foundations resonate with a majority of RPG players. It's very well-trodden which makes it great to lower the barrier to entry. The D20 system is very simple to understand and works for a lot of situations, and with so many editions of the D20 system to select from, one can easily convert into what I need. It's limited mostly by the fact that there aren't many examples of D20 in a non-fantasy setting, save for perhaps [I]Numenera[/I]. The [I][B]combat[/B][/I] system is likely the most glaring problem. It's designed for a party to fight together, and with a synergy to some effect. In my world, it's very much likely that you are dueling far more than using party tactics, and there aren't an abundance of different creatures to pour into an encounter to make it varied or really do much at all, and no real template creature that work for many scenarios. The[I][B] class[/B][/I] system can be adapted but it would be difficult to put classes into a game where everyone doesn't fit into a class, but is more defined by their innate abilities rather than their role. [I][B]Alignment[/B][/I] here works decently enough, but in my world there aren't again such a variety of creatures that you'll find Chaotic Evil, Neutral, and Unaligned types, which make it even more difficult to justify combat if you would like to consider that a Lawful Good would not duel another Lawful Good, for example. The majority of the universe fall under the Lawful category, so characters who are Chaotic and especially whom are Evil are going to have a much greater difficulty curve than those who more-or-less fall into their place. [SIZE=2][B][COLOR=#ff8c00]GURPS [/COLOR][/B][/SIZE]Naturally one would assume that a system designed to work for any game would be the optimal option, and they might be right. GURPS is a strong contender for what I would like to use for my work, but I have never played a GURPS title thus cannot confirm how it would feel being used. [I][B]Attributes [/B][/I]work well here, with a core group of four primary stats and four secondary stats which can determine the true difference in measure of aptitude between characters. However, I feel as though having these as sub-stats wouldn't work as well, as for example, the Will stat should be more of a sub-stat for Health or Strength in my lore. I do not know of methods to convert these rules, nor the consequences. The [I][B]Advantage/Disadvantage [/B][/I]rule is very welcoming for players who wish to be more realistic rather than a mary-sue. That's all that can really be said about this, I entertain this concept warmly. The [I][B]skills[/B][/I] appear to be worthwhile as well, with certain aspects simply left unused in a fantasy setting. The addition of a 'tech level' rating allows it to be modern-friendly, and rather realistic when you consider the scope of my world. [I][B]Combat [/B][/I]is probably the best for what I need. It functions in one-second increments which for me, is ideal. When you're talking about superhuman characters, actions happen in the sub-second levels, even in the millisecond intervals at the highest echelons of play. Thus, one second can very well translate for both low and high level play. [I]Other system possibilities: SPECIAL, Big Eyes, Small Mouth, Numenera, Thieves' World.[/I] ----- What other systems do you know of that might work? What do you comment about my assertions? I realise that it might be difficult to grasp my vision as I am not fluent in descriptions and translating my thoughts into something mechanical. It is entirely possible that my product isn't capable of being tabletop-friendly and that is perfectly acceptable. Thank you for your time in reading this, and considering what I have to say. I don't expect much from this, but any thoughts would be appreciated, even if it's criticism. Ody [SIZE=2][B][COLOR=#ff8c00] [/COLOR][/B] [/SIZE] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Creating a Tabletop RPG - Tips, Ideas, et al
Top