I am Developing a Table Top Rpg and I need lots of help

[Da-Ku]

I am a highschooler that has recently gotten into table top rpgs I am working on getting my credits to become a video game developer and I think that creating my own table top rpg that I could play with my friends would be a good start. I have been thinking about it for some time but I am not sure exactly what to do. I have played a lil bit of D&D but no other Table top rpgs.

My idea is to create a world were it is always night time. Because most of my friends are into vampyres and werewolves(Not like twilight, we honestly arent big fans of that) Also zombies but I also want to add other races from classic rpgs. I want to recreate the images of alot of the races. Such as the werewolf. I have some lore for my races but that is about it.....plz help

 

[Dausuul]

I am a highschooler that has recently gotten into table top rpgs I am working on getting my credits to become a video game developer and I think that creating my own table top rpg that I could play with my friends would be a good start. I have been thinking about it for some time but I am not sure exactly what to do. I have played a lil bit of D&D but no other Table top rpgs.

My idea is to create a world were it is always night time. Because most of my friends are into vampyres and werewolves(Not like twilight, we honestly arent big fans of that) Also zombies but I also want to add other races from classic rpgs. I want to recreate the images of alot of the races. Such as the werewolf. I have some lore for my races but that is about it.....plz help

First suggestion: Play some more RPGs. Given your stated preferences, you might want to give White Wolf a try. Check out their Vampire and/or Werewolf games. (I'm not familiar enough with the New World of Darkness to judge how it compares to the old, but I have the impression that the old is generally preferred, albeit out of print.)

Once you've been playing with them for a bit, start tinkering. There will undoubtedly be rules that rub you the wrong way, so house-rule them to be the way you like them, and see how those house rules play out at the table. Eventually you'll be at a point where you have enough ideas to start building your own.

 

[Traveller From Afar]

There are a lot, and I mean a LOT of other RPGs out there, I'd advise doing a search for free ones to get you started on understanding the variations in rule types that exist. There are some very clever people out there who've spent a long time thinking about this stuff.

 

[Diamond Cross]

There's also games like Heroscape and the World Of Warcraft board game to check out as well as Warhammer and Warmachine.

 

[BriarMonkey]

Hoo boy...

Creating any game from scratch is a huuuge undertaking. Before you even consider it though, I'll echo the same as others - play lots of other game systems to see what kinds of rules are out there already. If you want to see some of the more complicated setups (which can also mean more open), try looking at HERO or GURPs. If you want a more closed loop system, look at any of the retro-clones of D & D, or even Pathfinder or 4th Edition D & D.

The more exposure you have, even if not playing but reading, of other systems, the more you will see how others have done it. It's best not to work in a vacuum.

Once you have some more experiance under your belt, I'd suggest start small. Take a system that you like, and start tweaking it. Starting with a known base will help you figure out if your tweaks and changes make sense mechanically. After some more experiance in making changes, then I would suggest going with a home brew world.

Take the rule set you most enjoy, and the rules changes you like, and create a small strip of world to lay out your larger ideas - such as your differing races and scales of time and weather, etc. That will help you see what is involved in creating the background and world in which the game is set.

While it can be daunting, it is also very rewarding when you get to the point that you are truely happy with it.

 

[pawsplay]

One approach to game design I employ is to try to create a working GURPS or Hero version of the game setting, then identify what areas I would prefer I could abstract and gloss over.

The more narrative version would be the same thing in FATE, which seems to have actually spawned a number of games in precisely that way.

 

[the Jester]

Speaking as someone who has homebrewed several systems over the years, what I would recommend first is to define some goals.

For example, you might want to set the goal, "The game should feel like a horror movie, only the pcs are the villains of the movie." Then you look at the rules you develop and see if they aid that goal.

A lot of the time you have to go back after you've sketched out the system's bones and throw half of it away because it goes against your goals. In my D&D homebrew, for instance, I've thrown away feats because they conflict with the goal: Character creation takes 15 minutes.

 

[Dausuul]

Speaking as someone who has homebrewed several systems over the years, what I would recommend first is to define some goals.

For example, you might want to set the goal, "The game should feel like a horror movie, only the pcs are the villains of the movie." Then you look at the rules you develop and see if they aid that goal.

A lot of the time you have to go back after you've sketched out the system's bones and throw half of it away because it goes against your goals. In my D&D homebrew, for instance, I've thrown away feats because they conflict with the goal: Character creation takes 15 minutes.

I must spread some XP around before giving it to Jester again. This is excellent advice for designing pretty much anything.

 

[pawsplay]

Speaking as someone who has homebrewed several systems over the years, what I would recommend first is to define some goals.

For example, you might want to set the goal, "The game should feel like a horror movie, only the pcs are the villains of the movie." Then you look at the rules you develop and see if they aid that goal.

A lot of the time you have to go back after you've sketched out the system's bones and throw half of it away because it goes against your goals. In my D&D homebrew, for instance, I've thrown away feats because they conflict with the goal: Character creation takes 15 minutes.

Excellent advice! Give the Jester some XP. I've recently been wrestling with some decisions about my project, where some of the things I'd like to do conflict with the overall direction I stated in the beginning. And I think I meant what I said in the beginning...

 

[RedTonic]

In addition, if you play on building a game that relies on dice rolls (as opposed to systems that use, for example, Jenga to decide a PC's success or failure, or depend on the whim of the storyteller), take statistics while you're in high school. A solid foundation in mathematics is a very useful thing, period. It's good for game design (and if you plan to do any computer programming, it's a helpful foundation).