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<blockquote data-quote="steenan" data-source="post: 7816057" data-attributes="member: 23240"><p>First thing you need to do when designing a game is to clearly define the goals you want to achieve. There are two kinds of goals and both are important.</p><p>The first kind of goals is external to the game itself. They are about why you're creating it. Is it for your group only? Do you want to publish it somehow? Do you want to earn money with it? Do you want to fill a niche that has not yet been explored? Do you want to improve and build on an existing game? </p><p>The second kind of goals is about what you want from the game itself. Don't use empty buzzwords. Everybody wants their game to be engaging, fast and easy to play. Instead, be specific. What kind of experience do you want to produce? How do you envision a session to look like? What do you want the players to focus on an what to ignore? What should be the main factor that affects their choices?</p><p></p><p>That's the first place where having played many varied games pays off. Without that it may be hard to realize that some modes of play and kind of experience are even possible in roleplaying games. It's also very easy to end up reinventing the wheel; a lot of things have already been tried, with a better effect or worse, so it's good to learn from others' experience. And, unless you're only making minor tweaks to a game you already have, it's impossible to save money by designing your own RPG instead of getting an existing one. Many good games are free or cheap. The time you'll need to design and playtest your game will be worth much more than $20.</p><p></p><p>After you have defined your goals, it's time for the design. The important thing is not to get caught in details too early. Think about the process of play first, then about game engines you need to drive them and only at the end about specifics of implementation. Some people think they're designing a game by making up a novel way of rolling dice. In reality, in most games one may switch a dice pool to percentile to step dice or something else entirely without really affecting how it plays. Paraphrasing the Mouse Guard's motto: "It's not what you roll, but what you roll for".</p><p></p><p>Then, when you have a rough sketch of the game, you start playtesting and improving. Don't be afraid to get rid of some brilliant ideas if they don't work in practice. You don't need to use every suggestion you get from playtesters, but you should never ignore any issues they point out. You'll probably run the first few playtest games yourself, but as soon as possible you need to see how it works in another GM's hands, when they only have the text of the game as a reference, not all the ideas in your head.</p><p>After a number of iterations, the game will either become playable or you'll discard it. And if you're only designing for your group, that's all. If you want to publish the game, that's time for editing, art and other such things that will require not only your time, but also money.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="steenan, post: 7816057, member: 23240"] First thing you need to do when designing a game is to clearly define the goals you want to achieve. There are two kinds of goals and both are important. The first kind of goals is external to the game itself. They are about why you're creating it. Is it for your group only? Do you want to publish it somehow? Do you want to earn money with it? Do you want to fill a niche that has not yet been explored? Do you want to improve and build on an existing game? The second kind of goals is about what you want from the game itself. Don't use empty buzzwords. Everybody wants their game to be engaging, fast and easy to play. Instead, be specific. What kind of experience do you want to produce? How do you envision a session to look like? What do you want the players to focus on an what to ignore? What should be the main factor that affects their choices? That's the first place where having played many varied games pays off. Without that it may be hard to realize that some modes of play and kind of experience are even possible in roleplaying games. It's also very easy to end up reinventing the wheel; a lot of things have already been tried, with a better effect or worse, so it's good to learn from others' experience. And, unless you're only making minor tweaks to a game you already have, it's impossible to save money by designing your own RPG instead of getting an existing one. Many good games are free or cheap. The time you'll need to design and playtest your game will be worth much more than $20. After you have defined your goals, it's time for the design. The important thing is not to get caught in details too early. Think about the process of play first, then about game engines you need to drive them and only at the end about specifics of implementation. Some people think they're designing a game by making up a novel way of rolling dice. In reality, in most games one may switch a dice pool to percentile to step dice or something else entirely without really affecting how it plays. Paraphrasing the Mouse Guard's motto: "It's not what you roll, but what you roll for". Then, when you have a rough sketch of the game, you start playtesting and improving. Don't be afraid to get rid of some brilliant ideas if they don't work in practice. You don't need to use every suggestion you get from playtesters, but you should never ignore any issues they point out. You'll probably run the first few playtest games yourself, but as soon as possible you need to see how it works in another GM's hands, when they only have the text of the game as a reference, not all the ideas in your head. After a number of iterations, the game will either become playable or you'll discard it. And if you're only designing for your group, that's all. If you want to publish the game, that's time for editing, art and other such things that will require not only your time, but also money. [/QUOTE]
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