Who here has created their own RPG?

[Shortymonster]

Based on a previous thread, I know we have a lot of GMs on here. Who has taken a swing at creating their own game though? I have recently decided to take a shot at it, so i thought I'd open the chat up to see if anyone has any advice to offer on pitfalls to avoid and ways to reduce hassle.

Please feel free to link to any current project, exposure is a great thing for budding projects, and it will also give me some idea about what level of competence I should expect to bring to the table.

 

[Dethklok]

I've created two, though I don't intend to publish either one (despite some of my players' arguments to the contrary - it's a lot of work).

The only general pitfall to game design I can point out is the desire to keep building a game system after it's complete. You'll be tempted to add rules to cover every foreseeable situation, but ultimately no amount of designer foresight can do the GM's job. There comes a point when more rules simply get in the way, distracting from more important mechanics and making the game more difficult to get at. (And really, the same goes for the setting.) Once you've completed the system (and the setting), turn the passion you have for the project into designing scenarios for it. These are really what make the game work anyway - gamemasters will find it easier to learn the game from the scenarios.

The only other general piece of advice I can offer is one I became aware of fairly recently, and it's this: Good games start simple, and increase in complexity with player familiarity. This means a newbie should be able to make a character in only a few minutes and get through a game without more than his imagination and common sense, but that after playing a few sessions that same player should have access to the additional options for customizing the character and using special abilities in the game.

One last observation I can offer is much less likely to be useful to most game designers. But I'm constantly plagued by GMs who try to play the games I write as though they are D&D or some variant of the d20 system. The mechanics, setting, and style they're accustomed to are often so thoroughly ingrained that they don't realize they're just not in Kansas anymore. You may never encounter this, but the more your game differs from what people think an rpg is "supposed to be," the more I'd suggest stressing that your rpg works differently - otherwise, it won't work differently at all; it will be the same games they know, just with different character sheets. If this is going to be a problem, you'll find out when you have other people playtest it.

 

[Jhaelen]

I did, back in the days when I had more free time on my hands... It was never published, though.
Regarding advice, I'd say you should have a clear vision and stay true to it. What eventually killed my game was trying to put too many things into the game: Every kind of influence from novels, movies and other rpgs eventually turned up in some way in the game, resulting in a bloated kitchen-sink setting of half-baked ideas.
So don't make that mistake. Instead concentrate on what makes your game unique and distinct from existing rpgs. E.g. my game featured two things that I very much liked and didn't in other rpgs until very recently:
- 'gimmicky' monsters: Many monsters simply could not be defeated by straightforward combat. Instead, you had to find out about their weaknesses and exploit them.
- 'power strike': every pc had the ability to go all-out when attacking, once per encounter (more often in higher levels), leaving them exhausted and with worse defenses afterwards.

 

[Meatboy]

I've tried more than a few times to put together my own thing. (Trying again right now actually.) My biggest hurdle comes from finishing anything. Usually I'll get inspired to write up a part of a game, like a magic system or nifty class mechanics and then once I've written the part that I got inspired about everything sort of collapse when I realise I still have to put together some equipment tables or monster rules or other stuff, which I am generally uninterested in but still need in order to make a game playable.

As for real advice jot down some notes about what you want in your game. Everytime you feel like adding something or changing something go back and check and make sure it fits with what you original idea was. On the flip side though don't toss any of your new stuff. Sure it may not fit with what you are currently working on but hey who knows about the next one.

 

[amerigoV]

A buddy of mine and I created two versions of the Greatest Game System Ever (GGSE) (tm). It featured cool spells like Vacuum Lung Death (tm) and goblins using dogs as depth-finders (tossing them into pits). We decided it was just to good for you folks...

Then 3e game out and I was all over that. THEN I was turned on to Savage Worlds. I have a lawsuit all ready to go -- those people had the audacity to take all our cool ideas and actually make them WORK!

Through all of that, I did come to appreciate elegant design. Although its not in Savage Worlds, the HP/AC/Damage design is really a fantastic design (vs what we were doing, which were rolling both offense and defense with HP static -- sounds great on paper, boring as hell in play in v1).

 

[kitsune9]

I just finished one myself. You can download it under the post The Empire of the Raven rpg in this forum. It's kind of like a colonial game meets monsters and insanity. It was something I originally submitted for Design an RPG in 7 Days contest, but what I submitted was fairly incomplete for my goals. I definitely added some more material and I think that's one of the design issues in determining when to stop. Since I know that I have no time to be able to playtest it let alone bother to publish it, I only wanted to provide enough material for someone to run a few games and then be able to say, "Okay, this system works." or "Nope, game is too broken because of X, Y, and so on."

I did however set some clear guidelines as where I would stop so I wouldn't do more than necessary:

1. I set the number of talents, powers, and monsters at 20. I figure that's a good number as any to get a couple adventures of material if not more. The sample adventure though had more monsters in it.
2. I wanted the maximum number of skills to be 12, but ended up with 9.
3. I wanted the maximum number of professions to be 7, but ended up with 5.
4. 1 sample adventure, something simple (explore a tomb). Some hooks to go with it.
5. At least 3 campaign secrets so that GM's could write or do their own story arc for discovery. Once the campaign secrets have been discovered and resolved, then I actually consider the campaign (and the game in general) finished.

For my design considerations, I had thought of the game in terms of Pathfinder or Castles and Crusades, but I enjoy playing with all sorts of new systems, so wanted to design my own set of mechanics from the ground up. I'm sure that if I chose Castles and Crusades, it would have been a significantly smaller game (just races, class descriptions, and rules on insanity and Fortune and Grim points).

 

[Janx]

Avoid oddball dice/game mechanics that are only there for the sake of being "unlike any other resolution system"

Your unique game mechanic should solve a problem that other mechanics don't. Otherwise, you are just being different for the same of being different. For instance, using Jenga in the Dread RPG was a brilliant way to induce tension for a horror-themed game. using 20D27 to resolve skill checks because nobody else does is NOT a good decision, when you consider that nobody can find a d27, let alone 20 of them to play your game, and it's really hard adding the result up.

Also consider if you are suffering from "Not invented here" syndrome. Lots of folks fancy themselves inventors or designers. So they ignore good existing solutions in favor of making their own. While it can be fun to make something for yourself, when it comes to games, most people's designs are not as good as the think, and your players aren't keen on suffering for it. Sometimes, it's just better to go find the product that actually already exists and play that instead.

that shouldn't dissuade a prospective designer from giving it a try, just be aware that your first works are not going to be as awesome as you think they are.

 

[kitsune9]

Your unique game mechanic should solve a problem that other mechanics don't. Otherwise, you are just being different for the same of being different.

Yep, guilty as charged. Just wanted to do something different, but I don't fancy myself as an inventor or game designer. This was just a bucket list thing to do. My game maybe quite unplayable which I'm okay with because it was more of exercise in accomplishment (writing the game).

 

[JamesonCourage]

My RPG is pretty much the only game I play. A few times per year we'll do a one-shot with Mutants and Masterminds (2e), but my RPG is the only game I use on a regular basis.

 

[Dethklok]

I just finished one myself...

1. I set the number of talents, powers, and monsters at 20. I figure that's a good number as any to get a couple adventures of material if not more. The sample adventure though had more monsters in it.
2. I wanted the maximum number of skills to be 12, but ended up with 9.
3. I wanted the maximum number of professions to be 7, but ended up with 5.
4. 1 sample adventure, something simple (explore a tomb). Some hooks to go with it.
5. At least 3 campaign secrets so that GM's could write or do their own story arc for discovery. Once the campaign secrets have been discovered and resolved, then I actually consider the campaign (and the game in general) finished.

Actually that sounds pretty cool - simple, but with some thought put in. I'll check that out sometime.

Regarding advice, I'd say you should have a clear vision and stay true to it.

You know Jhaelen I considered saying this, but I think some people have the reverse problem of "not listening to their game."

One of the games I made is an ancient world rpg, with a basis in historical and geographic accuracy. But the Dark Ages part never seemed to shine - I think it's because I stayed too true to the source material rather than being a bit looser and putting in fantastic elements and fun stuff as I had with the other settings when the historical record (and my own knowledge) was spotty. One of these days I'll see if I can't improve it by loosening it up.

In most cases, though, I do agree with you that it's better to stay true to the original design.

Avoid oddball dice/game mechanics that are only there for the sake of being "unlike any other resolution system"

Your unique game mechanic should solve a problem that other mechanics don't. Otherwise, you are just being different for the same of being different. For instance, using Jenga in the Dread RPG was a brilliant way to induce tension for a horror-themed game. using 20D27 to resolve skill checks because nobody else does is NOT a good decision, when you consider that nobody can find a d27, let alone 20 of them to play your game, and it's really hard adding the result up.

Thank you. Jeez, I've had so many discussions with people about constructed languages, or novels, or rpgs, who insist that there's no such thing as bad design. When you get good at making these things, you find out that there are really some features you can put in that are just plain bad. Definitely my early games had no reason to exist at all.

Still, I wouldn't worry too much about this as a game designer. Mostly the crap will surface when you listen to your playtesters - if you actually listen to them, rather than dismissing their appraisal of your game on the grounds that they just didn't grasp your artistic vision.

(Yes, some playtesters really will look at gold and swear it's lead. But if you keep showing the same thing to different people and they all say they don't like it, chances are it really is bad.)

once I've written the part that I got inspired about everything sort of collapse when I realise I still have to put together some equipment tables or monster rules or other stuff, which I am generally uninterested in but still need in order to make a game playable.

You'd be surprised how little is necessary for a complete equipment table. Usually with equipment, less is more. Heck, send me a PM, meatboy; I'll design an equipment table for you.