Between the time I first played D&D and the time I first got my hands on a rule book, I designed a couple of games.
The first reflected the "dungeon" concept very well, but was more of a competitive board game in which one player tried to get a James Bond type through the other player's "secret HQ."
The second was a proper RPG, based on the Marvel Comics universe.
Both of those saw a bit of play, but quickly gave way to D&D, Traveller and so on.
A game largely inspired by the mechanics of RuneQuest did not get played much (as far as I know) -- but did sell a few copies.
From the next, I learned that IT IS EASIER TO COMPLICATE A SIMPLE GAME THAN TO SIMPLIFY A COMPLICATED ONE.
I ran a few adventures with a "rule book" of just one sheet of notebook paper. Then it turned into 4 sheets, then 20 .... I kept running the game for several years, and it kept growing (especially the magic system).
At one point, I thought I might revise it into something more streamlined. The degree to which additions had long been consciously "modular" helped. In the end, though, too many big chunks had become too integrated -- usually on the basis of "game balance" concerns.
The first reflected the "dungeon" concept very well, but was more of a competitive board game in which one player tried to get a James Bond type through the other player's "secret HQ."
The second was a proper RPG, based on the Marvel Comics universe.
Both of those saw a bit of play, but quickly gave way to D&D, Traveller and so on.
A game largely inspired by the mechanics of RuneQuest did not get played much (as far as I know) -- but did sell a few copies.
From the next, I learned that IT IS EASIER TO COMPLICATE A SIMPLE GAME THAN TO SIMPLIFY A COMPLICATED ONE.
I ran a few adventures with a "rule book" of just one sheet of notebook paper. Then it turned into 4 sheets, then 20 .... I kept running the game for several years, and it kept growing (especially the magic system).
At one point, I thought I might revise it into something more streamlined. The degree to which additions had long been consciously "modular" helped. In the end, though, too many big chunks had become too integrated -- usually on the basis of "game balance" concerns.
