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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Guest&nbsp; 85555" data-source="post: 5673541">Settings: Usually settings and genres I am interested in and have a good working knowledge of. Nothing harder than having to learn about a genre in order to write about it. I also try to do subjects where I can exploit my research and reporting skills. So far we've done Counter-Terrorism, Mafia, Horror, Rome and we have a Fantasy game in the works. Our cutting roo floor is filled with westerns, sci-fi and time travel as well.  Rules: Right now we have one system we use for all our stuff. This was designed as a skill-based, rules light system because that is the kind of game we like to play most of the time. However we have toyed with all kinds of other systems for future projects.   We have three basic design principles: the game needs to be playable (we want rules that don't fall apart or produce wierd results), we want the rules to produce plausible results for the genre (so if we are making superhero, we avoid mecahnics where the heroes die from a punch, if we are making horror, we want there to be rules for a more lethal game). Finally we like our products to stand out from one another, to have personality.  Beyond that there are a few other principles we keep in mind, but these do vary depending on the design goals of the game. For example in our current system we tried to create something that had some basic core concepts you applied to all aspects of the game. We wanted it to stay light so people could focus on the characters and the RP, without getting lost in the mechanics (this is probably due to my favorite adventure style being investigations and intrigue). What we try to do is make a system that fades into the background so you can have fun.  Also: playtest, playtest, and more playtest. Also like using readers and advisers (for technical details).  Also, Also: Scalability. I like including different settings for lethality and various mechanics in the game (most of our games come with three different character sheets to reflect this (each one with different levels of wound points). We also like to include plenty of optional rules.  I used to look into some of the design theories out there, but I never really fell in love with any of them. These are basically just models for understanding game design. But that is all they are: models. I realized rather than worry about understanding someone else's model (which could be flawed or simply not a good fit for our style) we developed out own concepts based on what we were doing and trying to achieve. Some people have found things like GNS or Game Theory useful. I think that is great for them, but these things just never worked well for me.    I am not 100% sure how you are distinguishing this from design principles. can you elaborate a bit on this one (since I may already have answered it in the design principles section).</blockquote>

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