Introductory Games for New Roleplayers - GNOME STEW

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Introductory Games for New Roleplayers

January 26, 2009

Posted by Scott Martin

My wife is planning a “girl game day” that will take place next month. Most of her friends that will be joining her have played board games, but haven’t really roleplayed before. Jennifer has played extensively– earlier this year she ran us through the first half of Keep on the Shadowfell. She ran her first adventure about a year ago. [It was a cool Dungeon Magazine adventure about a town with a kidnapped noble, with a big bad Wererat that battered us near the end.] She’s going to run a 4e game for them, probably built with some help from Dungeon Magazine adventures and notes from one shots she played in.

When she asked me for advice, I told her about the one shots I’ve run to teach new systems. (She was remarkably patient as I told the stories.) She brought up a good point– in my cases, I’m usually teaching a new system to experienced roleplayers. She’s going teach them how to roleplay and show them a specific system all at once. Despite the imperfect match, I drew on my experience and came up with the suggestions below.

My Suggestions

• Pregens: I suggested that she should generate characters in advance– a few more than the actual number of players, so that her players have some choice. She’ll probably borrow some of the characters from the WotC website and might repurpose some of the characters we’ve made for RPGA 4e games.
• Stories: One thing that worked for me when running a teaching one-shot was to provide a couple of paragraphs of history for each character. It was a good way to quickly convey some setting assumptions and gave the player a baseline to roleplay from.
• Dice, Pencils, etc: Let everyone know they can just show up– everything else will be provided.
• Power Cards: I think having power cards with everything already worked out could make the game even more approachable. (Much like the powers on the Shadowfell character sheets.)
Maybes: I’m not sure if or which of the following are best.
• Quick References: I’m divided on providing quick references. I’d guess that one page sheets with action types, turn sequence, etc. would be OK. I suspect a 20 page ‘quick’ reference would scare everyone off. New players flee if confronted with too much material.
• Simplified Sheets: Most character sheets are extensive– they have all of the data you need to recompute everything listed in boxes. Would it be worth the effort to streamline sheets to knock out the intermediate numbers and just boil it down to the final numbers? It might make for a cleaner, less intimidating sheet… but it would be harder to explain where the numbers all come from.
• A ringer: She mentioned the possibility of including an experienced roleplayer among them, to subtly guide them. The main drawback is that her experienced player pool is mostly guys, which might get in the way of the “girl game day” part. Another problem is that they’ll pick up the ringer’s bad habits instead of inventing their own. Making sure they know the game is for them– not the ringer– is also important to get right.

Adventure Design

I suspect that her group will take some time to introduce themselves, pick characters, etc. That sounds like a half an hour at a minimum– longer if they’re chatty or eager to study each character. In all, I’d guess that three or four hours is as long as she should plan to keep new people’s interest. Jennifer has talked about wanting to run a more traditional dungeon crawl. Keeping in mind the limited time, do you start with a town/hiring scene, so they can talk and explore a bit? Or do you skip ahead (say, with a paragraph of explanatory box text) and start them off at the cave mouth?

I think two or three combat encounters, a roleplaying encounter, and a good skill challenge makes a good framework to build on. I’d be tempted to start with fight brewing– say, a couple of kobolds come out to find out who is tromping all over their ceiling or the like. The first battle should be easy, because everyone will be discovering what they’re best at doing… and might take a few smacks while they figure it out. On the other hand, if the battle goes too easily, other minions might respond to the noise as delayed reinforcements.

How does the overall framework sound to you? Is it too ambitious, or do you think they’ll blow through it too quickly? Would you prepare an extra encounter or two to drop in case they run ahead of schedule? Or just assume that you’ll take up the extra time toasting their success in town after they’re through?

Your Suggestions

I suspect many of you have introduced new players to roleplaying– please share any advice you have. Is there anything critical she needs to include to help them figure it out? I’ve listed my suggestions– please help me find the holes so she can plan a fun session. And maybe make a few converts.

If any of my suggestions sound counterproductive or too time consuming, please point them out. I don’t want her to burn out before the game even begins. [For a quick hint about her: when I mentioned writing this article, she asked “Are you going to call it Newbs with Boobs?”]

About  Scott Martin

Scott is an engineer turned gnome and game store owner. He lies awake at night building intriguing worlds and plotting your character's demise.

All articles by Scott Martin      Connect with me on Website

I Love My Tiny Notebook - GNOME STEW

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http://www.gnomestew.com/tools-for-gms/i-love-my-tiny-notebook/

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I Love My Tiny Notebook

May 12, 2008

Posted by Matthew J. Neagley

Let’s face it. Our memories aren’t what they used to be. It’s true for all of us, though the old guys like me do feel the pinch a bit more acutely. Add to that that game systems are constantly changing, we’re always trying new games, genres, and systems, and that we’ve got our owngames to plan and it’s plain that quite a bit is going get lost in the press. And that’s without even considering all the non-gaming related information with which we have to deal.

My tool of choice for jotting down quick notes is the pocket notebook. These tiny notebooks are great for saving ideas for later that you’d otherwise forget, and for taking notes when you want to remember details. They allow you to work almost anywhere (in fact, this entire post was outlined while waiting in the drive-through for my lunch). They can provide useful storage for other things. Mine holds a pen and all my receipts that I have to balance later.

However, due to the demands of use there are several criteria I’ve learned to look for when buying a new tiny notebook. First, they have to be durable enough to survive in your pockets. This means that the cardboard backed flimsy disposable varieties right out. It also means that avoiding the wire spiral variety in favor of a bound book or covered rings or spirals is preferable. In addition, size is an important issue. You ideally want the largest notebook you can comfortably fit in your pocket. Usually this is 3″ by 5″, but may vary depending on where you keep yours. There are other features that are definitely worth spending a bit more for as well. Extra storage such as pen holders, document pockets, etc… are always handy. Refillable notepads have two major benefits. First is price. A really fancy pocket notepad can set you back almost $15 as opposed to the 70¢ that an economy notepad will. Offsetting some of this cost via refills is nice. In addition, refills mean that you can leave existing notes in your pad when you refill.

There are a few problems to watch out for when making use of a notepad. First, is the general durability issue. Unless your notepad is exceptionally strong, it will sustain wear and tear from being carried around incessantly. Treat it accordingly. In addition, it’s not only one, but two things to carry around with you (the notepad plus a writing tool).

There are, of course electronic alternatives to tiny notepads. The big factors to consider when deciding whether to upgrade to an electronic solution are cost, learning curve and functionality. Electronic tools that can function as a notepad host a myriad of other useful functions but take a little longer to learn to use and a lot longer to pay for. If these functions look tempting enough to pay the extra money and time, then an electronic solution may be for you.

All in all, I’ve found that carrying a notebook with me has greatly aided my performance both as a GM and in other areas of life, but not just any equipment will do. Spend some time looking for the right piece of equipment, and you’ll fall in love with your tiny notebook too.

About  Matthew J. Neagley

First introduced to RPGs through the DnD Red Box Set in 1990, Matt fights on ongoing battle with GMing ADD, leaving his to-do list littered with the broken wrecks of half-formed campaigns, worlds, characters, settings, and home-brewed systems. Luckily, his wife is also a GM, providing him with time on both sides of the screen.

All articles by Matthew J. Neagley      Connect with me on Website

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http://www.gnomestew.com/top-30-game-mastering-articles/

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Top 30 Game Mastering Articles

Welcome to Gnome Stew! If you’re new here, this page will give you great introduction to what we’re all about: making your time as a GM easier and more fun.

With more than 600 articles in our archives, we thought we’d highlight the cream of the crop — the best game mastering advice, tips, ideas, tricks, and discussion on Gnome Stew, all in one spot.

If you like what you see here, we hope you’ll subscribe to receive our articles for free via RSS or email (more than 3,100 readers already do), join over 1,700 members and register for a free account, or build a creepy shrine to Gnome Stew in your basement just come back every day to read our articles.

“I check Gnome Stew every day.” — Monte Cook

“fantastic blog for game masters, dungeon masters, and rpg fans” — Wil Wheaton (read more testimonials)

GMing Tricks and Tips

Island Design Theory, by John Arcadian
Have you ever prepped a ton of adventure material only to have your players ignore all of it? This flexible approach to plotting prevents that problem — and your players will love it.

Restate the Obvious, by Kurt ‘Telas’ Schneider
What seems obvious to you, the GM, may not always be obvious to your players. This tip is incredibly simple, but has the power to completely change the course of your next session — try it and see.

Player Characters: Emerging Complexity is A-OK, by Martin Ralya
You don’t need to force 10-page PC backstories out of your players. Instead, let their characters evolve organically during play — it can be less work and more fun, and everyone wins.

I Love My Tiny Notebook, by Matthew J. Neagley
You carry a tiny notebook, right? If you don’t, you’re missing out on one of the most essential GMing tools ever created — yours for $0.99 at the office supply store.

D&D Burgoo (3.5): Don’tcha got a job, or something?, by Troy E. Taylor
For fantasy PCs, answering the question “What did you do before you started adventuring?” is one of the simplest tricks for building a compelling character backstory. Try it with your players.

Game Mastering Techniques

Introductory Games for New Roleplayers, by Scott Martin
When you GM a game for first-time roleplayers, there are some special considerations to take into account. It’s all laid out in this informative article, from simplified character sheets to scenario structure.

Lessons From the Long Campaign: Never Write the Ending, by DNAphil
If you’re running an extended campaign, leaving individual scenes open-ended will make for a richer, more player-driven experience. Campaign structure tips galore.

Preparing to Improvise, by Patrick Benson
The best improvisation happens when you’ve laid the foundation for successfully winging it in advance. Minimize your prep and maximize your fun at the gaming table with these techniques.

Short Sessions, by Walt Ciechanowski
There’s an art to running a fun short gaming session, and it’s not just about doing everything faster. From game system choice to goals and rules, here are lots of tips for doing it well.

Campaigns and Adventures

You Think You Know a Genre…, by Matthew J. Neagley
What happens when you cross the Smurfs with zombies? The true origins of the survival horror genre, and tips for running bizarre and memorable games.

Why You Can’t Always Go Home Again, by DNAphil
Returning to a much-loved gaming system from your past can be a bittersweet experience. Here are the hallmarks of a one-campaign RPG, and how to make the most of them.

From Con to Con: The Journey Ends, by Walt Ciechanowski
Planning on GMing an event at a gaming convention? These 13 tips from the trenches at GenCon will help you and your players have more fun with less stress.

The Craft and Art of Game Mastering

5 Mistakes of the New GM, by Patrick Benson
New to game mastering? You’re bound to make mistakes, just like all GMs. Here are five mistakes we all made when we started out — and how to avoid making them yourself.

First-Time GMing — Doing a Job You Don’t Know How to Do, by John Arcadian
GMing for the first time can be pretty intimidating: you feel like your entire group’s fun depends on your actions, and the pressure is on. Fortunately, we’re here to help.

Beware the Retcon, by Kurt ‘Telas’ Schneider
Two practical reasons why retconning — “rewinding” time in your game to fix a mistake — is always, always, always a bad idea. Yes, even just this one time.

Players

Planning and Analysis Paralysis, by Scott Martin
Building on two examples from actual play, here are the factors that contribute to analysis paralysis — aka wasting game time by talking in circles — and advice for keeping it from happening in your group.

Player Narrative, by John Arcadian
Knowing how and when to share narrative control — which you’re already doing in every game you run, consciously or not — can get everyone at the table more involved in the game.

Troy’s Crock Pot: A Little Thing Called the TPK, by Troy E. Taylor
At some point in your GMing career, you’ll preside over a total party kill — a TPK. And despite surges and beefed-up hit points for lowbies, it can happen in D&D 4th Edition.

Touchy Subjects

The Concept of a Star Wars RPG Should Die In a Fire, by Matthew J. Neagley
Why is it that the people least suitable to run Star Wars games are often the ones you find behind the GM’s screen? A painful truism that ignited one hell of a comment thread.

You Should Quit GMing Right Now, by Martin Ralya
The title says it all: You really should, in fact, just quit GMing right now. Ixnay on the amegay asteringmay. Cold turkey. Kaput. Done. Seriously — what are you still doing here?

Hot Button: Whose Character Is It Anyway?, by Walt Ciechanowski
Who has creative control over the player characters’ backstories? Can you, the GM, add elements to them — or are they sacrosanct? Welcome to the world of hot button articles, and the discussions they spark.

Running the Game

Sometimes to Run a Fun Game You Need to Ignore the Game, by Patrick Benson
It might sound zen, but it’s also quite practical: At the end of the day, we run games so we can have fun with our friends — and if that means ignoring the rules to do what’s best for the group, do it and don’t look back.

Troy’s Crock Pot: Oh Darn! The NPC just rolled a 1, by Troy E. Taylor
The funny thing about dice is that they sometimes do exactly what you don’t expect. If an NPC fails a major roll, don’t automatically fudge it — instead, see where that opportunity takes you.

Compensating for Failure, by Scott Martin
In-game failures can be planned for, mitigated with improvisation, and, on occasion, a whole lot of fun. Thinking about the meta aspects of failure can improve your game.

Spicing Up Combat, by Adam Nave
By considering focal points — the most interesting aspects of a battle — and focusing on vivid descriptions, your combats will go from humdrum to fantastic. Simple techniques, solid results.

Social Issues

Don’t Fall For These RPG Arguments, by DNAphil
If you’ve GMed more than once or twice, you’ve heard these arguments. They derail games and reduce GMs to quivering blobs of jelly — but you can head them off at the pass.

Laying the Ground Rules, by Kurt ‘Telas’ Schneider
The foundation of a good social contract for gaming groups is built on establishing the basics and avoiding problems down the road — this article will show you how to do both.

Game Mastering Tools

12 Ways to Use Google Apps at the Game Table, by Adam Nave
Google’s free applications are a great way to organize, manage, and stay on top of your campaign — especially when you use several of them for the same game.

Gnomenclature: A Diminutive RPG Glossary
That title is a lie: There’s nothing diminutive about this glossary — it’s one of the largest on the web. If a gaming term is used by more than a handful of people, it’s probably here.

Review: The Ultimate Dice Bag, by Martin Ralya
The search for the best dice bag ever made is over. No, really — this bag is gorgeous, well-made, durable, and packed with features (and the right price, too). It earns the label “ultimate.”

Where To Next?

If you made it all the way down here, chances are you’ll enjoy reading our other articles, too. Why not subscribe via RSS or email or sign up for an account?
You can also dive into the archives or browse your favorite author’s articles using the drop-down menus up top, or search for articles on a specific topic — there’s a lot here to explore.
And if you have an idea for an article on a topic we’ve never covered, we’d love to hear about it in the Suggestion Pot.

RPG Creation Guide

Fuente:

http://www.roblox.com/Forum/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=60112121

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23 Dec 2011 09:55 PM

I've posted pieces of this guide for a few people here over the last month or so, so to make it easier on everyone, I'll post all of it on this thread. Keep in mind this was made quite a while ago, also that the map part can be used for any game type, really. So here it is. If you're reading this, you're probably interested in making your own RPG. Well if you want to make a respectable RPG capable of getting on the front page, you should follow this guide. If you have any questions that are not covered in this kit, message me and I'll try to answer it to the best of my abilities. Also, it's a good thing to have a hand full of place tester, basically just finding all the mistakes you could make or just trying to give you pointers of what to change. 1. Starting Your RPG RPGs can be the best games, and they can be the worst depending on how it was created. There are two factors that make a good RPG, one is the map, the other is the game-play. An RPG with only one of these two factors is probably not respectable; what would a RPG be with many things to do and kill, but only have a baseplate for a map? Also, what if there was an RPG with a massive well built map, but only two things to kill with one quest? So, the point is that the map and game-play go hand-in-hand, so you need both in almost equal amounts. 2. RPG Naming Now normally this is a very easy thing, but it it very important to have a successful RPG. Almost all RPGs in ROBLOX normally have '-Scape' somewhere in the name of the RPG, but in my opinion this is the stupidest thing possible. I think this because the creators are only naming it because of how popular the Scape of Rune game is. So when naming ANYTHING in your RPG, never use the names 'Rune' or 'Dragon' or anything else like that. Why this is bad is because it's unimaginative, and when making a RPG, being unimaginative is something you want to avoid at all costs. Although, there are some names that are sort of 'Universal' because they are common materials for swords (ex, bronze, iron, steel). So always remember it use all of your imagination! 3. Map The map is probably the least important of the two factors, but that does not excuse it's importance. When making your map, do not make it too big, maybe three to four baseplates max, depending on how detailed you make it, and a good rule of thumb is to not go over 4600 bricks for the map. It is recommended to use Cframe as much as possible when making your map, and if you don't know how to Cframe, learn or this will all be useless. Normally, the map should have a sort of area 'zones' that help tell the player what types of things they would encounter (ex. a rock monster in a mountain, an lava monster in a volcano). The types of areas are as followed, but are not all needed. A) A town (Some-what nessesary, unless you don't need) B) A mountain (optional) C) A forest (optional) D) A dessert (optional) E) A water source (Some-what necessary, water makes it realistic) F) A cave(s) (Fun to explore, but optional) G) A swamp (Good for undead enemies, but uses up a lot of bricks) Remember, make the areas realistic, don't have a big lake in the middle of a dessert. Also, avoide blank areas on your map, nothings more boring that a random patch of grass. And finally, I should mention that everything brick on your map should be smooth-surfaced, meaning no studs/inlets because they can cause a surprisingly big amount of lag. 4. Game Play Game play is probably the most important of the two factors, but also the hardest to include. Game Play is the amount of things to do in an RPG, like killing monsters, quests, cutting trees/mining and exploring. Most RPGs are just the player going around killing things which, although can be fun, will get boring fast. A way to avoid this is to add as many things in this catagory to your game. The types of game play options are as followed, but again are not all needed A) Monsters (Obviously needed) B) Quests (Optional, but are very good to have) C) Cutting trees (Optional, but good way to make money) D) Mining (Same as cutting trees) E) Exploring (Gives the player something to do) F) Puzzles (Optional, but fun to have) G) Have NPCs to talk to (See below) H) Random rewards (See below) -NPCs; NPCs are good to have in your RPG because of all the uses they have. You can give them opinions, hints, jokes and even easter eggs, which make the player like to go around 'talking' to people. -Random rewards; Random rewards are good because if there is a hard area or challenge with no reward, the player would think it as a waste of time, so maybe put a chest on the top of a mountain or have a money prize at the end of a cave. 5. Scenery Most RPG builders do not realize the improtance of scenery, and how much it can make you RPG look good. There is no fun in going to a RPG that has enemies, but only a baseplate and mountain. This will look dull, with nothing to look at. Anyone can copy and paste a nice map, but without scenery a nice map will look very boring. Most RPG makers think that scenery just adds too many bricks which cause lagg. But really if you make it right, scenery can look good and only have three bricks. Here is a list of good scenery to have in your RPG, but like always, is optional. A) Uncutable Trees (Good to look at) B) Bushes (Good to hide small treasure) C) Rocks (Good to look at) D) Statues (Good for easter eggs, make it into a friend, optional) E) Furniture (Good for houses, optional) F) Signs (With a pointer to a directon) G) Flags (For towns or camps) It should be noted that all scenery, no matter how simple, should be c-framed to reduce brick count. Also, remember to not over-do scenery, you don't want too many things or the brick count would be too high, so spread it out. Also, for any scenery that goes good with itself in a group (Trees in a forest) you'd be surprized how much better it would look if you have each scenery rotated at least once (So you don't have a forest pointing in the same direction). 6. Trees/Rocks If there is ever a RPG that only has enemies to fight, I promise that it most likely will not be fun. Trees and rocks (Mining) are a good way to keep the player busy and is also a good money giver, but remember to not over-do it, make sure you always spread the trees and rocks out evenly. Always make sure that the resourse you're adding is in a place that it would look natural in, don't put trees in a cave, or rocks in a forest. Also a good thing to remember is to keep the resourses in groups of 4-6, avoid making groups of 7 or more. Here is a list of good places to put a resourse, but as always, are mostly optional and depending on what regions your map has. A) 1 group by starting town; Trees (Optional, but good to have) B) 1-2 groups in an easy cave; Rocks (Optional) C) 2-3 groups in moutain; Both (See below) D) 2-3 groups in forest; Trees (Optional, but good to have) Mountain resourses, the problem with mountains are that they are unique, meaning that some can have mixed proportions of both rocks and trees, depending on how big the mountain is in the first place, but I'll let you decide on what you should put where. Note; For deserts, avoid putting any trees in the desert region, and I'd also avoid putting rocks as well, so instead you should change the meshes of the trees to make cactus or some sort of desert vegitation. 7. Enemies From Orcs to Golems, enemies are needed in every RPG, or else it's not really an RPG. If you want your RPG to be a challenge, make sure you add a good amount of enemies with varying levels and rewards, because what is fun about killing a bunch of one-hit-kill enemies? A good thing to think about when positioning enemies is to keep in mind what climate someone might find that type of enemy (Don't put an ice-based enemy in a volcano). When setting the damage that the enemies deal on players, avoid setting it above 50, because you don't want the enemies to kill them in two hits. Also, avoid setting the Gold and Exp the player gets when killing an enemy too high, which makes players only go after that enemy and not fight anything else. When deciding how much health the enemy has and to make the amount of Gold/Exp make sence of the corresponding enemy (Have bandits give more gold than a goblins), a good rule of thumb is to just multiply the enemies level by 10, so a level 1 enemy would have 10 health, and a level 10 would have 100 health. Here is a list of good enemies to have in your RPG, but of course, these are all optional A) Man (Optional) B) Bandit (Optional, but good to have) C) Orc (Optional, but good for challenges) D) Goblin (Optional) E) Elementals (Ice, fire, earth, air, all optional) F) Undead (Skeleton, ghost, zombie, all optional) G) Golems (Stone, sand, steel, heavy materials, optional but good to have) Remember, have the area around the enemy match the corresponding enemy type (An area with bandits would have tents). This can be a confusing lesson to some people, so I will add an example. Name: Bandit Level: 5 <--- below="" br="" everything="" for="" independant="" variable="">Money: 25 <--- 5="" amount="" br="" by="" for="" gold="" level="" multiply="" of="">Exp: 20 <--- 4="" amount="" br="" by="" exp="" for="" level="" multiply="" of="">Health: 50 <--- 10="" amount="" br="" by="" for="" health="" level="" multiply="" of="">Damage: 10 <--- 2="" actually="" amount="" br="" by="" damage="" for="" is="" level="" multiply="" of="" strong="" this="" very="">Walkspeed: 16 <--- below="" br="" see=""> -Walkspeed; Walkspeed is kind of in it's own collum because it is not affected by the level of the enemy, but the type of enemy itself, (make bandits [around 16] run faster than a stone golem [around 12]) Side-note; try not to name any enemies in your RPG from other games although it may be hard of the account of the fact that most RPGs use the same list of enemies, like bandits, goblins, undead and orcs. Also, do not add dragons in your RPG unless compleatly nessesary, dragons, if made well can cause a lot of lagg, and look pathetic if not made well. And use your imagination! 8. NPCs NPCs: Every RPG should have NPCs, or 'characters' for the player to 'communicate' with. NPCs are all optional, but a very good to have or it leaves your RPG looking unpopulated. The good thing about a NPC is that you can have them say anything from quests to hints to opinions to jokes. Easter eggs are also good for NPCs, because you can have them say anything. I worked very hard on this, and gave it a lot of though. So I really hope this helped! And remember, any questions about RPGs, message me and I'll try to answer to the best of my abilities. Thanks for reading! -Ninjasheep :)

Making Fun RPGs

Fuente:

http://aom.heavengames.com/scendesign/basics/funrpgs

Información:

Making Fun RPGs

created 2/08/04

By jonathan1222

Introduction

RPG(Role-playing-game) scenarios/campaigns are no doubt the hardest to make, successfully, this guide will teach you how to make a successful RPG scenario/campaign. Credit goes to Artinald, HL_Reaper, Auron 2 and PseudoWalrus for suggesting stuff in this thread.

The Basics what makes an RPG campaign different from a normal RTS campaign? What makes an RPG scenario different from an RTS scenario? This guide talks about the basics of an RPG.

Name
A good RPG has to have a good name in order to be successful, you can't just name it My RPG, people like to see a good title for it, no matter what it is(as long as it doesn’t use profane language(swearing)). Character Like your RPG title, your character must have a name, a good name, that suits your idea of the character. In AoM:tT(Age of Mythology:the Titans) you can customize the name, amour, damage, hitpoints, population cost, and so on, using the Change name effect and the Modify Protounit effect, to customize your character. Infact you SHOULD customize your character using those. Furthermore your character must have a good personality to go with him/her, a history and a goal. If you want to go even more advanced you could add levels to your character, that improve stats based on unit kills and possibly unlock special abilities. See:This For more information

AI and Interaction
It is important and a must to add chat between citizens or whatever between your character and someone neutral or allied. Also, units should NOT stand still, move to point/move to unit effects or add and AI to that computer player.(note: this is assuming you have a village in your RPG) If the RPG your doing does not have a village in it, it isn't necessary to do this.

Objectives
Ok, you MUST have objectives in your RPG, and in any scenario nonetheless. This is what a playable scenarios purpose is, without it, there is nothing, NOTHING. Now it is good to also have side-quests in your RPG to complete for someone neutral(again, assuming you have a village/city in your RPG) if you complete, that person could give you an upgrade, unit, anything, even items you could mix at places to create healing potions, the list goes ever onward.

Basic Ideas gathered from weeks, to months to years ago for RPG's


-Food heals
-Gold for money
-Favor for magic
-Entering a shop teleports you to a buying area
Quests
-Kill dragon/monsters and "plant" teeth to make a army (Greek myth)
Realms that you teleport to and from
-Grassland/Mountains
-Desert/Islands
-Snowy/Caves
-Underworld
Military Arena
-Fight larger opposing army and win
Arena -Death results in loss of gold and teleported back to town last visitedSee: This, for more information

Gold
100% of the RPG's I’ve played needs gold, to buy food to keep your character alive, to by potions, upgrades, amour, weapons and so on, this is assuming you have a village in your RPG.

Map Design
First off, most RPGs use large maps or even bigger, say Gaurdian's KotM series used 512x512, to get such a map size, go to world->Map size in the editor. Next, you must include eyecandy to make your RPG enjoyable, manually add your trees from the object selection window is also a good idea. Add wildlife, rocks and anything else that suits the enjoinment your doing. Now the most important thing of map design is to mix terrains that suit your RPGs environment. Set your brush size to 1 and keep using different terrains, for more information, read this by Kumar Shah.

Story
An RPG needs a unique, fresh storyline to make it interesting, it needs problems and solutions, take it you were writing up a story at school. You could have problems that keep on getting bigger, that result in something bad. Objectives should go along with the storyline. An RPG does not need to be long to have a good storyline.

Atmosphere
A good RPG trys to have atmosphere, to get such, use terrains, music, unit animations, SFX, sounds from the environment, cinematics, and dialog to explain it.

Other
This is ideas that aren't necessary but are good add-ons

• Use day-to-night cycles. Basics cycles would use dawn,defualt,dusk,night, while advanced cycles could use Cheezy's World Map VX lightings.
• If you have this long path your character has to follow, make sure you have to follow it for 30 minutes max. Include multiple paths and/or puzzles along the path to make your RPG more interesting
• If you have puzzles in your RPG, make them challenging, no to hard to get, not to easy to get.
• If you have a day to night cycle add sounds from the environment and possibly SFX.

Quest Vars in RPG's BY Battlestar
Ideas By BattleStar000 to put your RPG above all others(who didn't read this)

Normal usage of Quest vars

For control over quests
Quest vars are, as its name suggests, also very important factor to control quests. You can use it for easier reference of quest progress to have greater control. A classic example (From an mmorpg, The fourth coming) would be: before you found the nomad’s letter, the old druid says the same thing to you every time you click on him; after you found the nomad’s letter, the old druid will ask you to get his staff back; after getting the quest and before you get his staff back, he’ll remind you about it every time you click on him; after you get the staff back to him he’ll thank you every time you click on him until another quest involving the same druid becomes available to you. Using quest vars you can easily control the druid’s speech since quest vars can easily identify before and after you finding the nomad’s letter, and also before and after you help the druid get his staff back. Using quest vars you can control multiple NPC’s speech as well.

In the RPG template, taking an example of the potion sellers, they will sell you potions if the variable “quest” equals 0 (you can change that of course). That means you can use the same potion sellers to deliver quests, and when you finish the quest, the potion seller will sell you potion as usual.

For randomization
Randomized rain, events, etc. using quest vars will add replay ability and more natural feeling to the map. Randomized enemy monsters are installed in the RPG template.

For rewards
As in the RPG template, if things are recorded on quest vars, you can use them to grant extra experience, skill points, stat points, increase a specific skill, etc..

For more advanced ideas

Extra options
In Geneforge, a turn based RPG, there is a skill is named leadership. At a certain situation, such as at where asking a thief to return a stolen item, you can ask it back safely by selecting “‘Of course you didn’t steal it, perhaps it was just lost in the grass’ and turn away” but the option is only available when you have enough leadership. You can use quest vars to recreate the example above. Make a trainer to buy leadership, record it on quest vars, and when you have enough points recorded on “leadership” variable; the extra option becomes available to the player. Doesn’t always have to be leadership either, it can be “luck,” where special things happen only if you had enough luck, or “wisdom”, “athletics”, etc.. Since the RPG template’s stats, spells, and skills etc. are recorded on quest vars, you can do this with it.

Conclusion
Overall, RPG's are very hard to make, for there is a lot of 'MUST' and 'DO' things, plus you need skill like with story writing and the editor. I encourage practice with Quest Vars and such. I hope you enjoyed my in-depth guide to making RPG's, make sure you credit me in your RPG for this guide as i took my time on writing it, add this to your favorites if need be. A class RPG template will be coming out in a couple of months, information on it can be found via My Links section .

I will be updating this guide with the latest RPG hints&tips for your convenience. Got hints or tips for my guide? tell me and all add them

Links
Battlestar00's RPG Trigger Template
Hero Levels by CodeLabMaster
Terrain Mixing by Kumar Shah
CheeZy's Guide to Objectives
Kumar Shah's Guide to Using the Elevation Tool
CheeZy demonstrates how to use Modify Protunit and Change Name(effects) and what they can do
godofexplosives of Tsunami Studios demonstrates 'Eye Candy Farms'
CheeZy teaches the Basics of Overlapping buildings
Advanced Overlapping by CheeZy
A guide/template to designing an RPG by BYRNZIE

Happy Designing!!

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Fuente:

http://www.ongoingworlds.com/blog/2014/01/mikes-beginners-guide-to-roleplaying-making-an-awesome-game/

Información:

Mike’s Beginner’s Guide to Roleplaying: Making an Awesome Game

Category: Character Development, OngoingWorlds guide, Play-by-post discussion, Writing tips Tags:Beginner's guide, help, Mike's Beginner's Guide to Roleplaying, roleplaying help, tips 2 Comments

This is the first in a series of articles that will make up Mike’s Beginner’s Guide to Roleplaying

When we come to Ongoing Worlds as bright eyed new members one of the very first things we want to do is make anawesome play by post roleplaying game of our favorite television/movie series, a game that we love to play, a book that we’ve read gazillions of times, or even something original that we’ve had in our head for years and never did anything with. So we rush to the Create a New Game tab and throw together a game, only for it to stagnate for months with little to no activity, leading to the abandonment of the game and eventually Ongoing Worlds altogether.

Now this isn’t how every game and new member ends up, but there is a large amount of games made by new members that don’t ever take off, and for a variety of reasons. In this article I’ll be covering a wide variety of reasons why games don’t take off, and how you can both better prepare for your game’s arrival, and ensure that it’s launch is successful. These tips are for members new and old, as they can greatly improve the odds of your game’s success. So PLEASE give it a read!

The Zone of Interest

The Zone of Interest is a principal I use in journalism, it’s looking at where the interests of your target audience (or in this case, roleplaying community) lie, and then seeing how you can write your article in a way that makes it interesting to them.

Now, How can you apply this to roleplaying? Think about it. There is a huge variety of people at Ongoing Worlds (or whatever site you might be roleplaying on), people with varying interests and opinions. It’s a good idea to check out what genres are popular on the website to see what the chances of your game (and it’s genre) taking off are. If there’s a few well populated and frequently posted in Star Trek games, that means there’s a large population of Trekkies at the site, and a Star Trek game might do well (see the next paragraph for the counterpoint). Also, because of the large Star Trek population Science Fiction will also be inherently popular. If there’s a few Harry Potter games but none have more than two-three members, and there’s little posts, it means that Harry Potter really isn’t what people on the site are interested in. It also means that maybe magic themed games might not be very popular.

Once you’ve conducted your poll, it’s time to decide if you think your game would be popular. If the genre are your game is popular, there’s a fair chance your game might be received well. However, you shouldn’t let a lack of interest in your desired dissuade you from making your game. There could be other reasons why those Harry Potter games didn’t take off. Maybe their GM’s were overly controlling, or maybe the plots weren’t coherent. Make sure to do your research to make sure that this is the reason why those games didn’t take off, and not because nobody is interested in them. We’ll be covering the topics of coherency and organization later on.

How Many are There Anyway?

Now, this goes hand in hand with “Zone of Interest”, how many games of your selected topic/genre are there already? One of the biggest problems I’ve seen around Ongoing Worlds is multiple games of the same topic. Sure, there’s thousands of play by post games and fanfics on the internet, and if we worried about topics clashing then nobody would ever make another game again! It’s one thing for games and fanfics from across the internet to clash, it’s another for games from the same website.

What I mean is, there’s a fine line between a healthy diversity of Star Wars games to choose from, and complete overload.

It’s a good idea before making a game to survey how many of the same type are already present. One-two other games present at the time you’re making your game is an acceptable range. Anything over that and it’s reaching superfluity. I understand that you might really want to make this game, but the more games there are that are identical to yours, the lower your chances of attracting a large amount of members is (kind of an “oh great, there’s another one” effect).

If you want to do a the game anyway, try to make it unique! Do a spin that hasn’t been done before. For example, instead of making a Star Trek game about a Federation starship, try making a game about a freighter crew, an independent vessel, or a colony. This will attract fans of that genre and give them an opportunity to experiment with new plot points and characters.

The Big C: Coherency 

This is quite possibly the biggest issue I’m going to cover: coherency. There are a lot of games that have poorly put together plots, or don’t make any sense at all. This is either because it was thrown together at the last minute, or not thought out thoroughly.

When drafting a game, read the description, your notes, test posts to make sure that everything makes sense. Everything will make sense to you as you’re writing it because…well…you’re the one writing it. You won’t realize how great or messed up a plot will be until you actually read it. You might find that what you wrote earlier is very weak, and that maybe the plot could be better developed. Another problem might be that you didn’t really develop the plot, and threw it together as you were writing. This can lead to people skipping over your game and looking elsewhere. If this is the problem, it’s time to do some revising and editing.

I spent several months drafting my game ORIGIN, and have several megabytes of scratch sheets and sketches floating around on my Drive account. I had every aspect of the game covered and was ready to go, so when the time came to actually make the game everything was already done. I recommend taking the time to write down all of your ideas on a document, and draft out your game’s backstory, characters, and intro posts ahead of time. This way you can revise the game in private, without any pressure from members, or the community. Once you’re sure the game is ready, put it all together and publish it!

The Plot

The plot is the most important part of the game. It’s what dictates the actions of the players, decides the course of the game, and ultimately makes or breaks the game. This is more of a long term goal, rather than a quick-start tip. The plot forms over the course of the game, but is ultimately spawned when you make the game. This and coherency go together like milk and Ovaltine, and if mixed correctly, have sweet results.

When writing the plot, it’s important to remember that this won’t just be your story. It will be the story of every other player that joins, and every character they create. Make sure that you leave the plot open ended to some extent. Write the basic story and the important segments that will help guide the players in the right direction, but stop there. Leaving room open lets players come up with their own aspects of the storyline, like races, organizations, and so forth. This will also give you a rich extended universe, full of marvelous player created content. But another important thing to remember is to keep the story somewhat controlled. It’s good to give the players freedom, but if they’re given absolute freedom to do as they wish it might impede on the game’s plot and the storylines of the players. It’s helpful to have rules about posting, nothing heavy, but enough to make sure that you can keep the plot in check.

If you’re making a game with a linear plot, ignore almost everything up there. These games can be finicky because the story is essentially decided, so it’s important to give the players some room to be creative. Leave room for sideplots and character development, and when the time comes to act out the main story, let the players put their twist on it. Also, let the players add some of their own content to the universe. Who knows, maybe that cool cat like race will be better as the villain than the frog people you had in mind. And if someone contacts you with critique and suggests changes, don’t be mad! They care enough about the game to contact you about it! Community is one of the pillars of roleplaying (community and communication will be covered in another article).

One last thing, a huge problem I’ve noticed is that some games don’t allow for other players to post with characters that aren’t their own. That’s a HUGE mistake. Not only does that prevent any real character interaction it prevents any kind of deep storytelling, because characters don’t interact. Don’t allow that to happen!

The Other C: Characters

Characters are very important to a story, and it’s a great way to see the creativity of other players. This final segment won’t be about characters themselves, however, but a guide on how to set up for character creation in your game.

As I’ve stated numerous times, LEAVE ROOM FOR CREATIVITY! Also, make sure there’s enough fields on the sign-up sheet so that the creator can put as much about their character as possible. This makes it easy for players to write for other characters, because everything they need to know is right there!

Like everything else, set restrictions but don’t be too strict. Also, try not to make the fields too specific. Nothing like “favorite color” or “Best attribute”.

Character creation will be covered in another article.

In Conclusion

By following these tips you can make one hell of a play by post game that will be sure to impress. Remember to keep the game active by posting constantly and holding events. Advertise on forums and look off-site for people looking for games.

Keep your eyes peeled for the next installment of Mike’s Beginner’s Guide to Roleplaying!

Have a good day and keep ongoing!

Fuente:

http://www.ehow.com/how_10047559_make-tabletop-roleplaying-game.html

Información:

How to Make a Tabletop Roleplaying Game

By Megan Ly, eHow Contributor

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Two components comprise tabletop role-playing games (RPG): the game system -- the mechanics by which success or failure are determined -- and setting, which is the world in which the game takes place. These two elements are commonly referred to as "crunch" and "fluff" respectively. To create your own role-playing game, you need to determine how you want the system to work and what the world is going to be like. If you have no interest in creating a new game mechanic, you may want to use an existing system and tailor it to your setting of choice. This is called "reskinning."

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Instructions

1. Crunch

   • 1
     Select a randomizer. Using a randomizer creates dramatic tension in a game. When there always exists a chance of improbable victory or unforeseen defeat, players can never know exactly how their actions will play out. Most RPGs use dice. Other options include coins, cards or roshambo. "Dread" uses a "Jenga" tower. Not every game system uses a randomizer, however. If you feel that a random element doesn't suit your game, don't use one.
   • 2
     Choose a mechanic to determine success. With dice, there are three basic types of mechanic: fixed-die, dice pools and step-die. Fixed-die systems use a specific number and type of dice for every roll, regardless of a player's stats. Dice pools use a number of dice based on a player's stats. Step-die mechanics change the type of die used for each roll. The D20 system and GURPS are fixed-die systems, while Whitewolf's Storyteller and the One-Roll Engine are dice pool systems. Savage Worlds is a step-die mechanic wherein your abilities are rated by die type (d4, d6, d8, etc). If you are using a different randomizer, you'll need to come up with a way to tell if players have succeeded or failed.
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   • 3
     Determine the desired probability for success. In a linear dice mechanic, like the D20 system, the probability of rolling any number, one through 20, is exactly the same (5 percent). A 3d6 system creates a bell curve, where the probability of rolling a mid-range number is much higher than rolling a three or an 18.
   • 4
     Determine whether you want to use modifiers or not. Most game systems use some type of modifier, based on a character's skills, to add to, subtract from or set the target number. This allows a character to become better at a certain skill while still using the same number and type of dice for every test. In GURPS, for example, a character's skill is the target number and the goal is to roll under it. In D20, a character's ability or skill correlates to a modifier that is added to the dice roll to make it easier to match or exceed the target number.
   • 5
     Create a magic system. This may not be necessary depending on the type of game you are creating, but many games use some type of spells or powers. Magic systems often have a power source (mana, stamina, power) that determines how many spells or powers a character can use before resting. This prevents magic from overpowering more mundane skills and abilities. If you use a depleting power source, determine how much each spell "costs" to cast, how power is regenerated and whether there are ways to store power and use it when you need it (power stones, spell batteries, magic rings).
   • 6
     Design a character creation system. This is the system that your players will use to create their characters. Most systems use some basic ability scores (strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom, charisma) that determine the basic attributes of the characters. In addition to these, many systems add skills. These allow characters to specialize and focus their talents. Skills can be as general or specific as you like. For example, you may have a "manual dexterity" skill -- or break that down into more specific aspects like "lock-picking," "sleight-of-hand" or "pickpocketing."
   • 7
     Determine how characters gain skills and abilities. Some games use dice to randomly generate scores that are assigned to abilities. Others use a point-buy system wherein each character has the same number of points to distribute as they like.
   • 8
     Determine how characters advance. Most games include a way for characters to develop and grow by becoming better at what they can do or learning new things. Two ways of doing this include experience points and character points. Players gain experience points when they complete a quest, kill a monster or solve a puzzle. These points are added together until a certain threshold is reached, at which time the character gains a predetermined number of ability or skill points, powers or spells. Character points translate directly into skill points and can be spent as they are gained or whenever the player wishes.

   Fluff

   • 9
     Choose a genre. Fantasy and science fiction are two of the most common genres in role-playing games, but they aren't the only options. Pulp, horror, whodunnit and comedy are also good choices.
   • 10
     Create a setting. This can be an entirely new world or a version of a pre-existing one. A fantasy game, for example, may be set in a vaguely medieval Europe (like "Dungeons and Dragons") or Republican Rome, Ancient China, Egypt under the Pharaohs or any place and time that interests you.
   • 11
     Design your monsters and villains. These should be specific to your setting. You are unlikely to run into robots in Regency England or a griffin in modern-day America. That said, if you have good, story-driven reasons to include those elements, feel free. You can create a set of common enemies that you want to inhabit your world or create a system by which you can generate new threats as needed.

   Reskin

   • 12
     Select an open-source gaming system. Some examples include the One-Roll Engine, FATE, Savage Worlds and the D20 system.
   • 13
     Choose a setting. You can create a game based on a pre-existing setting or design your own. If you plan to publish your game, choose a setting that is either in the public domain (such as "Alice in Wonderland" or "Don Quixote") or an original idea.
   • 14
     Decide which elements of your setting relate to each attribute, skill, advantage, disadvantage or power. These elements will vary greatly depending on the system and the setting you've chosen. This may involve creating new powers, but doesn't have to. In an "Alice in Wonderland" game, for example, characters may have a power that allows them to shrink or grow at will. An example of a disadvantage in this setting would be "curious" while an advantage would be "brave." To avoid game imbalance, use existing powers as a template.
   • 15
     Create monsters and enemies. These are the standard villains your players will encounter. For example, an "Alice in Wonderland" game would have card soldiers as a common monster. Again, using existing monsters or bad guys and changing the names of their powers will help you avoid imbalance.