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Writing for Tabletop RPGs

Mask

Scribe
Since many of us no doubt enjoy tabletop RPGs, why not discuss the process of writing for one? Whether it's a supplement, or your own dream RPG.

So, how would you approach it? Have any thoughts or opinions on the matter?
 

Ophiucha

Auror
It's a thought I've had; my husband is a game designer, so it would make for a nice collaborative project. Though we never can agree on what to write about whenever it's discussed - we have rather different tastes, even though we both like fantasy. He's more Wheel of Time and I'm more Game of Thrones, you know?

I think I would enjoy coming up with the races, monsters, weapons, and magic system the most. Part writing, part mathematics. That's sort of my thing - I'm a bit of a numbers girl, and I love analyzing balance in RPG systems. Plus it offers a fair bit of creativity; I'd not stick to elves and dwarves, so I'd love to write out a race without having to worry about any particular character within it. Get a more broad scope on their anatomy and their customs, if there is a consistent one. I like the idea of having multiple races that also have multiple cultures. Like humans have a pseudo-England, a pseudo-Egypt, and a pseudo-Ecuador, and then you could have elves with a pseudo-Japan and a pseudo-Brazil, and dwarves can have a pseudo-Russia and a pseudo-India. Probably more developed than that, but just for the sake of an example.

I'd like a city-focused RPG, as well. A melting pot sort of place, with people of races from all of those cultures, who maybe stick together or maybe hate each other and form ghettos and then a sort of melded subculture that exists regardless of race/culture. Gangs or something. It doesn't have to be too modern; it could work for a steampunk setting, but I think it'd be cool. Maybe a potential storyline could be an upcoming election and part of the gameplay is that the players themselves are the deciding votes.

And if they just want to do some classic adventuring, we could shoehorn in a lost library of Ivan the Terrible-sort of a thing and have them go sewer spelunking.
 

Telcontar

Staff
Moderator
I'm actually in the process of designing my own RPG system (hoping to give it a try this spring/summer with some friends). I'm also going to be building a campaign setting to use with it, and of course writing a couple of adventures to use in testing.

My writing process for RPGs might be a bit different than others, though, as I intend to do a lot of improvising on the spot. I don't want to build a story and railroad my players through it - I want to start off a story and let the players impact it as it develops. That means there is is only so much planning I can do at any given time.

Basically, this means that what I WILL be doing is creating characters with motives, goals, and preferred means for achieving them. I give them all at least a modicum of history so that we have a "story so far" sort of thing at the start of the campaign. I will also be drawing up a sort of Event Timetable which picks out what the main characters are going to achieve if left to their own devices. Obviously this timetable will be changed often as the players muck about with the world, but it helps me keep track of what all the influential NPCs are doing.

To me, the most important attribute of the whole thing - writing for RPGs and running them - is to be able to think fast and improvise. I want to run games where the players never find the boundaries of the world I've created, and that means I have to be ready to expand them on the spot.
 

Ankari

Hero Breaker
Moderator
That's great, Telcontar. I'm doing the same thing. Are you basing on an established universe you write in, or are you starting from scratch?

I'm using the same universe for both books and RPG. The goal of my system is to cut as many of the dice out that I can. Make it more about thought and strategy.
 

Telcontar

Staff
Moderator
You and I seem to be designing in the same direction. I'm trying to cut as many of the written rules out as possible, keep the system open to variation but all based on the same (small) number of principles.

I'm building the world from scratch, and not based on any pre-existing story ideas I have. Of course, even in the relatively small amount of world-building I've done so far I've come up with the plots for a couple short stories and novels. Unavoidable consequence of being a writer!
 

Philip Overby

Staff
Article Team
I used to want to write for tabletop games or video games, but that never happened. I think it would be fun to design worlds and such.
 

Ophiucha

Auror
I'm building the world from scratch, and not based on any pre-existing story ideas I have. Of course, even in the relatively small amount of world-building I've done so far I've come up with the plots for a couple short stories and novels. Unavoidable consequence of being a writer!

This happens to me every time. I have a worldbuilding project that was meant to be just an experiment in building every little facet of the world without any real goal, just to explore the possibilities, and I ended up thinking up enough plots and characters for a trilogy, five novellas, and an anthology of short stories. I still work primarily on the world as a stand-alone entity, but every now and then I get a little tick in the back of my head and have to write out a little story for it.
 

Jabrosky

Banned
I'd love to build a setting for one, especially the part where I get to design the geography, ecology, and races, but I have no idea how to play table-top RPGs. :(
 
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