Peregrine’s Nest: Facing Down the Blank Page

Want to make your own RPG? You have to start somewhere, and facing down the blank page is just the beginning.

Picture courtesy of Pixabay.​

Is Your Idea Useful?​

So, it’s just you and a blank word document and a head full of ideas. Before you dive in, do an internet search or look at your own games library. Ask yourself if your game is really new. The more games you know the better. If your game isn’t that different, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t make it. But you might consider making it a supplement to an existing game.

Too many nascent designers have only ever played D&D and often work on a game they think is massively new but is only really an amendment of D&D. If you’re a D&D fan, consider instead making it an Open Game License (OGL) setting book for a new D&D world, with a few tweaks to the rules here and there. There is a wealth of open systems beyond the OGL, from Savage Worlds to 2D20 to BRP and many more. Each is a tried and tested system you know will work and comes with a fanbase looking for more stuff.

Be Ready to Do the Work​

This is the big one. To make a game is work, often hard work. Don’t believe what you see on television: Jessica Fletcher in Murder She Wrote seems to just run off a book every weekend; Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City makes a great income by just writing for an hour or so at the end of the week. It is easy to imagine that being a writer means waiting for the muse to strike, and then being just a conduit and the spirits guide your willing fingers on a typewriter as the game flows through you.

But for most of us, that’s simply not reality. The blank page is just as intimidating to experienced writers as novices. Don’t wait for the muse (it only appears when you’re not looking anyway) and just get something on the page. Just force yourself to get something down. You can always rewrite and edit afterwards, and at least you will have taken a few steps forward. If you are finding it hard it doesn’t mean you aren’t good at it, just keep going. That said, there are some days it’s just not going to happen, and it is fine to not write a word on those days. But part of the skill is recognising when you need to give yourself a push, and when you need to go for a walk instead.

To give you an idea of the scope of a typical project, an adventure is around 5,000 words, a small game book around 50,000 words and twice that for an average core book. You need to be prepared for that, and the time it will take. It is a marathon, not a sprint. But the good news is that (at this point) you don’t have a deadline. If you just get a little done as often as you can, you’ll make excellent progress.

Playtest with Someone Else​

While you can never have enough playtesting (and you can start as soon as you have any rough notes) you also need to know when to stop and get the game out there. Otherwise you will never finish. If all goes well you can do a new edition a few years later, or just apply what you have learned to your next game.

But one thing you should do is pass the game to someone who has never seen it or heard you talk about it and see if they can make it work. You might run it for your group and it all looks good. But you already know the game, and it will also suit your style of play. Every gaming group is a little different, even playing the same game. So see how it works for someone else, without your guidance. That is what is going to happen when you sell it after all!

While some playtest results will be hard to hear, you also need to listen to them. You don’t do a playtest just to hear how great your game is. Find people who don’t like it and listen to what they say. They may have a valuable insight. They may also just be an idiot too though. Learn the difference and listen to all your critics. But it is your call what you do about any adjustments.

Learn how to filter what the testing is telling you. When we playtested Dune: Adventures in the Imperium one of the main criticisms we received from the beta test was that the system of Drives didn’t work. It didn’t make sense and people didn’t like it. But we were also playtesting the game at conventions with the excellent Wrecking Crew. Their main reports were that people loved the Drives system! So what that told us was that people would like it, but we needed to explain it much better than we had already.

You’re On Your Own…​

Generally speaking, few major publishers are interested in taking on new games by new writers. They already have a series of game lines they are trying to support and are probably massively overstretched anyway. What they absolutely don’t want is “more ideas” either. Ideas are easy, and every game writer has at least 5-10 games in their head they’ve never had time to make. Only a fully fleshed out game is worth looking at. For the most part, you’re on your own.

But let’s assume you are lucky enough to interest a game company in your game. They will likely have notes. Sometimes it will be things their experience tells them need to be changed because they don’t work. But other times it will be to fit the style of games they make. To get your game made by someone else, you will have to be prepared to let them have creative input. Being prepared to give up the reins of your game to a third party is a compromise not every creative is willing to make, so consider carefully how you might take criticism or feedback on your game.

That said, there is a middle way in which publishers can help, and that is by taking you on as a “third-party publisher.” You will still have to make and produce the game, to the point it is ready to go to a professional printer, but they can take it from there. A third-party agreement is great for a small indie designer as the publisher will help you out, get the game printed, distributed into shops, and advise you on what you need to get the right sort of print files ready. Not only this, but they will get your game into larger distribution channels. While they’ll take a cut of your profits, your game will make much more money and have greater reach than if you just tried to sell it on your own.

…But You’re Not Alone​

In the early days of tabletop role-playing games, there were few resources for game developers to get started. That’s changed for the better: There is now an array of indie game designer meetups, forums, and community support available to a new game writer starting out. They are full of people a little ahead of you on the path who can warn you of the pitfalls and offer advice. Get as much advice as you can, and then apply and adjust your game and your plans the way you think works best. There is nothing like producing a game you love, so make sure you still love your game by the time you get to printing it. You won’t please everyone, so make the game works for you.

New Year, New Game​

If you’re looking for a new year’s resolution to finally get that game started, now’s your chance. While this might all sound like hard work (it is) it is worth it. There is nothing like the feeling of holding a book you have made in your hands. It never gets old. There is also nothing like seeing people do amazing things with your work, play great games and add the most incredible things you’d never have thought of. The journey may be hard, and you should be prepared for that, but it is worth every step.

Your Turn: What are you tips to get your game development started?

 

[GMMichael]

Is Your Idea Useful?​

So, it’s just you and a blank word document and a head full of ideas. Before you dive in, do an internet search or look at your own games library. Ask yourself if your game is really new. . .

True, the wheel doesn't need reinventing, but an internet search (thanks for not using the G word) sounds like an endless rabbit hole. It might be better to refer to "Playtest With Someone Else," because if one's new game is derivative (even unintentionally), a playtester or two will let you know.

Playtest with Someone Else​

But one thing you should do is pass the game to someone who has never seen it or heard you talk about it and see if they can make it work. You might run it for your group and it all looks good. But you already know the game, and it will also suit your style of play. Every gaming group is a little different, even playing the same game. So see how it works for someone else, without your guidance. That is what is going to happen when you sell it after all!

This part is tricksy. Yes, a designer needs other gamers to play and run the game. But unless you're running a D&D offshoot, the players will need an incentive to try it beyond, "hey, do me a favor." People know and play D&D because 1) they've played it before and have put the effort into learning it, and/or 2) it's the game everyone else is playing. A brand-new game doesn't have either of those features.

When I run my 50,000-word game*, most players don't put the effort into learning it. Which is fine, because it's easy enough to hold their hands and help them along. If I said, "learn the game before you play," those players would go find a D&D game to join instead.

So, for playtesting, the designer should run the game him/herself to gauge PC reactions (if the game has PCs), and expect to bend over backwards to get other GMs to run it. But that's where the better feedback comes from.

New Year, New Game​

If you’re looking for a new year’s resolution to finally get that game started, now’s your chance. While this might all sound like hard work (it is) it is worth it. There is nothing like the feeling of holding a book you have made in your hands. It never gets old. There is also nothing like seeing people do amazing things with your work, play great games and add the most incredible things you’d never have thought of. The journey may be hard, and you should be prepared for that, but it is worth every step.

There's also nothing like holding a device in your hands that has the PDF of your book, and watching others have a blast playing your game is pretty great too. A new designer doesn't need to write 50,000 words to make something rewarding and fun - just start writing!

Your Turn: What are you tips to get your game development started?

Unfortunately, spend less time on ENworld, and more time in OpenOffice Writer!

*less than 1,000 words for the fast-play rules.

 

[overgeeked]

"50,000 words and twice that for an average core book" is a joke. The whole point of indie TTRPGs is that they're not going to do what D&D/Pathfinder does, and certainly streamline their rules for approachability. Honestly I took one look at 2E Pathfinder's length and said I'm absolutely not dealing with that.

A good, modern tabletop trying to explore something new should be maybe 25k words/50 pages. 100 pages is generous if they're putting everything in a single book instead of separating them by type (GM things/player things). D&D has such a stranglehold on people's idea of what a good tabletop will look like that advice like this always reads, "you need to have a HUGE book. You need to have 100,000 rules". It doesn't need to be a 2-stat system, but not every book needs to be a monster. As this article even suggests, don't try to be D&D if you want to create a new game. But then why would I want to fill 322 pages (5e PHB including spells)? WOTC can get away with a 300 page book but an unknown showing up with their hot new game is NOT going to grab new players when you hand them a textbook.

Exactly. And you can go even shorter. One-page RPGs are fantastic. Rules light. Rules ultralight. FKR. On and on and on. Huge core books with huge splatbooks is not the only model. There's a whole universe of RPGs outside D&D and its adjacent games.

 

[dragoner]

My core is 354 pages cut down from 468. It'll be pwyw when the art is paid off, and that is about a third of the way now. It is open/ogl though. I have people asking for the pod, and am waiting on the second proof. The endless editing gets to be a drag. Much of it's size are the 39 careers with 117 fields, or branches, plus d66 events tables, it is life path chargen. Kind of a lot of little stuff builds up, such as sf people expect a decent gear list.

 

[Corone]

"50,000 words and twice that for an average core book" is a joke. The whole point of indie TTRPGs is that they're not going to do what D&D/Pathfinder does, and certainly streamline their rules for approachability. Honestly I took one look at 2E Pathfinder's length and said I'm absolutely not dealing with that.

A good, modern tabletop trying to explore something new should be maybe 25k words/50 pages. 100 pages is generous if they're putting everything in a single book instead of separating them by type (GM things/player things). D&D has such a stranglehold on people's idea of what a good tabletop will look like that advice like this always reads, "you need to have a HUGE book. You need to have 100,000 rules". It doesn't need to be a 2-stat system, but not every book needs to be a monster. As this article even suggests, don't try to be D&D if you want to create a new game. But then why would I want to fill 322 pages (5e PHB including spells)? WOTC can get away with a 300 page book but an unknown showing up with their hot new game is NOT going to grab new players when you hand them a textbook.

I will agree you make a fair, if rudely put, point in terms of indie games. I wasn't actually thinking of indie rpgs and you are right they are both usually shorter and easier to start with as a writer.
However, most short indie games are really one shots or more narrative story prompt games (not that there is anything wrong with that). While they run to about 10,000-30.000 words they don't usually contain all the tools and detail to let you run a campaign. However I've written (and played) indie games of 100k (which actually comes to about 200 pages, so not that huge at all) so there is no single standard.

If you are planning a game involving a full setting and rules system I stand by my original assessment of word/page count.
That does not just mean a book of rules. 100,0000 words does not mean 100,000 rules, or make it a textbook. Outside D&D/Pathfinder a book of 300 pages of pure rules is vanishingly rare anyway. Most modern corebooks are a chapter or two of rules and the rest is setting, advice, adventures etc, and they are still often more than 100k words or 200 pages. All these things in a good rpg are designed to guide, inspire and help someone new to these games. Indie games rarely need these sections as they generally sell to people already gamers, another reason for their lower page count.

 

[Corone]

My core is 354 pages cut down from 468. It'll be pwyw when the art is paid off, and that is about a third of the way now. It is open/ogl though. I have people asking for the pod, and am waiting on the second proof. The endless editing gets to be a drag. Much of it's size are the 39 careers with 117 fields, or branches, plus d66 events tables, it is life path chargen. Kind of a lot of little stuff builds up, such as sf people expect a decent gear list.

Good to hear! Hope all goes well, it sounds like you're nearly there. Hang in there.

If it is getting large you may want to consider what might make a good supplement.
I'm not suggesting you cut a particular section, but you might be able to trim many of them down and put what you trim into a general supplement to follow it.
You should do more than the bare bones, but sometimes you don't need as much as you think to get playing. If you are going pwyw no one will complain its not value for money. But oddly sometimes a line looks more attractive if there are more books to go along with it.

 

[dragoner]

Good to hear! Hope all goes well, it sounds like you're nearly there. Hang in there.

If it is getting large you may want to consider what might make a good supplement.
I'm not suggesting you cut a particular section, but you might be able to trim many of them down and put what you trim into a general supplement to follow it.
You should do more than the bare bones, but sometimes you don't need as much as you think to get playing. If you are going pwyw no one will complain its not value for money. But oddly sometimes a line looks more attractive if there are more books to go along with it.

Thanks! It follows Solis People of the the Sun, and Andromeda Dragons two setting books. I have some others in the works, a companion, another setting book, an NPC/pre generated character book with social encounters, spacecraft book, and some adventures. With the core, most of it doesn't need to be engaged with, the core mechanic is chuck 2d6 vs 8 +/- various DM's. I think a free player's guide might be cool, and probably a DM/referee screen too for quick look up.

 

[Jellybeanz]

I will agree you make a fair, if rudely put, point in terms of indie games. I wasn't actually thinking of indie rpgs and you are right they are both usually shorter and easier to start with as a writer.
However, most short indie games are really one shots or more narrative story prompt games (not that there is anything wrong with that). While they run to about 10,000-30.000 words they don't usually contain all the tools and detail to let you run a campaign. However I've written (and played) indie games of 100k (which actually comes to about 200 pages, so not that huge at all) so there is no single standard.

If you are planning a game involving a full setting and rules system I stand by my original assessment of word/page count.
That does not just mean a book of rules. 100,0000 words does not mean 100,000 rules, or make it a textbook. Outside D&D/Pathfinder a book of 300 pages of pure rules is vanishingly rare anyway. Most modern corebooks are a chapter or two of rules and the rest is setting, advice, adventures etc, and they are still often more than 100k words or 200 pages. All these things in a good rpg are designed to guide, inspire and help someone new to these games. Indie games rarely need these sections as they generally sell to people already gamers, another reason for their lower page count.

I don't think I understand, I'm sorry. Maybe I'm not the target audience for this article, but it said "Want to make your own RPG? You have to start somewhere...", but I don't know how I can be starting out making TTRPGs and not be an indie game. Was this meant for someone who's already made a name for themselves creating board games or as a writer and wants to create a tabletop game? I suppose "indie" brings certain connotations but it's just short for "independent", someone who probably isn't going to be able to sell a 200-page tabletop without the backing of a publishing company.