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万字长文,关于RPG游戏结构撰写的相关探索下篇

发布时间:2014-12-18 11:10:19 Tags:,

作者:Rob Lang

万字长文,关于RPG游戏结构撰写的相关探索上篇

如今市面上已经有好几百种免费RPG系统,我们都能够按照自己的需求对此进行扩展与修改。通过选择现有的系统(特别是较有名的),你能够从一个稳定且经过测试的基础开始创 造。但是之后你需要基于设置和规则对此进行扩展,以吸引玩家的注意。

当你埋头开始创造自己的系统时,请检查我在第二部分中所提到的系统列表,并确保你的选择是新颖的。你最好能够从头开始扩展现有的系统。

如何创造机制

只在游戏中包含你希望玩家去做的事。奖励那些你想要培养的游戏风格。机制是指能够到某一特定结果的一系列步骤。在此你无需使用骰子,可以将步骤当成纯粹的对话或使用 资源交换。

机制范围的三个点分别是资源,传统和言语。资源机制是指玩家用游戏内部货币去换取游戏控制或成功。传统机制包括摇骰子以及与目标数进行比较。言语机制则会奖励一些优秀 的理念和合适的措辞。

你们的机制可以混合这三大元素。传统机制是使用最广泛的。

你的机制必须给予玩家选择。他们必须能够选择做某事并能够理解结果的可能性。避免滚动一次骰子便造成角色突然死亡的情况。对于角色的行动你无需设置一个随机元素,但需 要避免创造一些非常简单的内容。

让玩家能够通过转动脑子而获取成功,即通过操纵机制,设置或付出更多努力。

逆向作业

致力于让你能够获得角色统计资料的机制是个明智的做法。这能避免你收集一些垃圾信息。写下你想要模拟的理念(你需要在第一章节里便做出决定),然后明确一个最合适的机 制。最后想出怎样的技能,统计,特技和随机性组合能够实现这一机制。

我希望角色能够以富有创造力的方法去攻击怪兽。它们必须通过使用工具,技能和环境展开进攻—-反复的射击不可能帮助他们获胜。我需要关于工具和技能使用的统计,以及一个 机制去确保是否值得将理念和工具整合在一起。我将使用共享的骰子机制,从而让玩家可以通过合作而获得更多骰子。

元游戏

元游戏便是所谓的玩家与玩家间的互动。如果两名玩家正从自己的角度去谈论某一情境,那么他们便处于元游戏中。如果玩家是以角色的身份去谈论情境,那这只能说是角色扮演 。所有机制的范围都是包含在角色的立场和元游戏之间。

元游戏机制可以为你的游戏增添多样性,但是你也必须谨慎使用,因为它们通常都是处在角色知识范围之外。滥用元游戏机制会导致角色采取一些无理的行动。并导致许多人质问 角色扮演群组“你的角色在做什么”。

GameMechanics(from hsmagazine)

GameMechanics(from hsmagazine)

你必须合理地判断元游戏机制是否适合你的系统。以下所罗列的机制类型百年包含了元游戏的表现。

对于《Chgowiz》,我设置了元游戏机制,即玩家可以在此分享骰子。角色不需要知道用于他们行动中的骰子是哪些,所以这非常适合元游戏。

创造机制的目的

只创造你希望玩家在游戏中执行的一些机制。一些典型机制包括:

角色创造

角色创造是根据世界万物的基准进行设定。

无对手的行动

角色与世界进行单独互动便是行动。包括了骑马与航行。在这些行动中并不包含任何对手角色,只是关于角色与世界间的接触。我们经常要执行这样的行动。

有对手的行动

角色尝试着去做一些事,而其他角色将想办法阻止他们。包括说服NPC打开通向城堡的门。角色将尝试着让NPC做某事,而NPC的职责便是违逆他。

战斗

战斗可以以不同形式体现出来:赤手空拳,带有近距离武器,远程进攻,搭乘交通工具或者宇宙飞船进攻等等。战斗必须基于某种方法而对敌人造成一定破坏力。这与有对手的行 动拥有相同的机制。战斗经常被分割成一些回合,而每个角色将轮流执行一个行动。

通过在战斗行动中清楚地呈现出选择能够帮助玩家快速地做出选择并推动游戏向前移动。比起纠结选择是什么,玩家可以多花些时间去思考自己的角色应该做什么。

受伤与治疗

比起控制无懈可击的角色,面对带有弱点的角色会更有趣。设定一个机制去追踪角色受了多少次伤,以及在他们采取更多行动前还会受多少次伤。减少点值(生命值)是一种非常 传统的方法,但是你也可以选择通过叙述效果去影响玩家的决定。受伤将导致他们必须执行某些行动而作为处罚。同时你也需要确保能够提供给玩家治疗伤口的方法。

对于《Chgowiz》,我希望受伤的效果能够更加叙述化。当角色受伤时,他们便具有劣势,即更加艰难地游戏。而当角色能够进行克隆时,死亡便不再是问题了,这时候受伤效果将 变得更加显著。

死亡率

我们可以根据健康的角色在平均战斗中死于平均武器/装备所花费的游戏时间去衡量死亡率。如果死亡率过高,玩家便没有机会再次回归?如果这并不包括在你的理念中,请考虑改 变它。

执行“魔法”

魔法(游戏邦注:或者在现代或奇幻背景下执行一些技术类的行动)并不需要属于自己的系统,但是你可以添加一些新颖的元素到系统中。确保魔法系统与设置相关联—-基于魔法 的世界必须足够简单,不应该包含需要在多个回合中反复绘制符文的系统。

控制叙述

控制叙述意味着玩家将决定事情的结果。

角色完善

如果角色扮演游戏是关于运行一系列过程,那么我们就必须分发一些奖励去完善角色。

角色创造

角色创造是任何系统的基础。千万不要忽视这一点。未来的GM也许会创造一些角色去明确这一效果。确保它能足够灵活,庄严且带有合适的描述。而对于玩家来说,这是他们第一 次与游戏进行互动,所以你必须确保有效地解释相关过程。角色创造不需要太快,有些玩家喜欢复杂的创造过程,特别是当玩家将经历较长的行动时。同时你必须认真地对待所提 出的理念。

角色通常是由以下部分所构成的:

属性–一定量角色固有的能力。包括:力量,智力等等。

技能–一列学习能力,通常是选自设置列表。

特技/特性–一般人不具有的特殊能力,但是也有可能是不利元素。

健康–能在角色被打败前追踪他们的受伤情况。

一些琐碎的内容–描述,角色名称,他们所属的团体,年龄或其它相关内容。在RPG中,这些内容都是可被接受的,并且能够帮助玩家更好地了解角色。

如果你希望玩家能够更快速地了解游戏,你就必须帮助他们去熟悉相关术语。如果你的游戏较为叙述化,你便只需要打开辞典去挑选更多与游戏类型相关的词语便可。

除非存在一个使用规则,否则你便需要避免添加上述内容。如果你拥有“超思维”能力但却不具有超思维规则,那么属性对于你来说就是无用的。

确保你能够包含一个有关角色创造的例子,并在每个点解释相关选择。

随机滚动vs.点分配

大多数角色扮演游戏要么使用随机滚动,要么使用点分配,或者就是这两种的结合。随机滚动机制将创造出更快速的角色生成,但是有可能留给玩家他们并不想面对的角色。而点 分配虽然创造较慢,但却能够创造出优化并带给玩家他们所喜欢的角色。

背景创造

流程图或者随机滚动图表都能够用于创造角色背景。有些玩家觉得这太过约束,也有些觉得这很自由。如果你包含了这些机制,我建议你能提供给玩家选择权。

协作创造

有些角色创造机制是使用玩的方式去创造角色。在这些协作方法中,玩家可以在某些场景中游戏。而场景的最终结果将决定或改变角色的状态。

对于《Chgowiz》,玩家将创造一个“基因组”–即每个克隆体的根源。基因组拥有属性和技能,且能够通过点分配而进行选择。我们能够基于每个克隆体随机转动优势和劣势。如 果因为优势和劣势的结合而导致克隆体难以进行控制,那也没关系,因为我们并不会重复使用克隆体。

机制类型

骰子,资源和叙述机制都存在各种各样的变量。以下只是我们所依赖的系统中4种最简单的机制。但多数角色扮演游戏都是基于机制而将角色性能(包括属性和技能)与随机元素结 合在一起。

目标数

适用于:无对手的行动,有对手的行动,战斗,魔法

形式:角色性能+编辑器+骰子滚动>=目标数

目标数机制是最简单的机制形式。角色的性能可以与编辑器和骰子滚动结合在一起。而结果将与Gamesmaster所设定的目标数进行比较。在大多数情况下,目标数越高,任务便越困 难。而在相对立的滚动中,目标数便是对手的滚动。而当两个骰子同时滚动时速度就会变慢,而我们需要在做出比较前将两个公式相加。

只要性能能够保持在较低数值,那么运算便会很简单。我们应该避免使用过多编辑器。有些系统是使用表格去设置目标数,这将能够完善机制的模拟,但速度相对较慢。我们可以 通过将一些模拟结果写在角色属性表上而有效地维持速度。也有时候我们是将其写在次要统计中。

优点

容易平衡

快速

通用

缺点

线性概率尺度

面对更大的数值时便很难进行估算

存在各种引诱让我们添加更多编辑器(如在武器上)

不能促进谈判过程中的交流

元游戏?

因为滚动骰子代表角色的真正行动,所以这并不属于元游戏。

骰子库

适用于:无对手的行动,有对手的行动,战斗,魔法

形式:在角色性能中尽可能地滚动骰子,根据编辑器去删除骰子,并计算骰子滚动的次数。为了争取成功,你需要获取多次成功。

骰子库机制是基于成功滚动的骰子数。当你滚动了20个骰子时,这个过程将会变得很长,但是机制却维持着简单性,因为你并不是在执行加法或减法。编辑器能够用于晒出骰子( 在滚动前或滚动后)。

优点

快速

编辑器并不包含算数

通用

看到满手的骰子是件很棒的事

缺点

需要很多骰子

比起单一的数值,我们需要花更多时间进行计算

平衡变得更加棘手

不能培养谈判中的交流

比起明确的骰子数,我们更难去估算成功的可能性

dice(from wallpoper.com)

dice(from wallpoper.com)

资源库

适用于:促进行动,控制叙述

形式:角色拥有一系列的点能够在需要时使用

资源库将通过提供给玩家战术选择(游戏邦注:不管是否会消费他们库存中的点或保存起来以备之后使用)而减少游戏中的随机性。有时候这一机制能够帮助玩家去控制叙述。同 时也能够用于再次滚动骰子而提高有效结果。

优点

提供给玩家一个战术选择

容易理解

玩家将感受到控制性

能够培养谈判中的交流

缺点

比滚动骰子更慢

平衡难度

元游戏?

资源管理更倾向于元游戏任务,因为这并不是指使用点数去促进行动,或控制叙述的角色。玩家能够决定是否使用库存中的点。如果你使用了资源库的内容去换取角色所控制的对 象(如魔法能量库),那么这便不是元游戏机制了。

投票

适用于:控制叙述

形式:玩家对于结果进行投票

投票将通过给予玩家更多权利而减少结果的随机性。有些投票机制是用于资源库,所以玩家能够更加明智地使用自己的投票权。投票可以是秘密的也可以是公开的。这一机制可能 往表格上添加一些竞争级别,并确保能够与游戏理念相符合。

优点

给予玩家更多控制权

在表格上添加了更多紧张感

培养谈判中的交流

缺点

比滚动骰子更慢

如果大量使用的话整体的游戏节奏便会变慢

秘密投票甚至更慢!

元游戏?

这属于元游戏机制。玩家的投票结果是与角色本身相分离的。

《Chgowiz》使用了目标数机制的修改。为了执行行动,他们添加了属性,技能和滚动的骰子去与目标数相抗衡。即使属性和技能的集合超过目标数,他们仍然能够投掷骰子。不同 的是所有玩家将在中间放置一大堆骰子。当有人执行行动时,他们便会从中间拿走一个骰子。如此他们便能够夺走其他玩家的骰子。这属于元游戏机制,因为角色并不会意识到他 们即将失败–因为玩家用光了所有骰子!

摩擦

摩擦是指我们在游戏过程中需要记住许多规则的感受。你应该尝试着去平衡一个包含快速战术决策的简单系统以及拥有各种选择,编辑器和特殊规则的摩擦系统。如果你提供给玩 家越少的战术选择,那么他们所面对的游戏系统也就越少。选择过多的话系统也会太过膨胀。简单的规则能够帮助玩家更快速地掌握,而摩擦规则能够更好地呈现出游戏世界。只 有你能够决定系统是否适合你在一开始就决定好的理念。

摩擦经常会以作为咒语,怪物或装备的特殊规则而进入系统中。这些额外的规则看起来是无害的,但是当GM尝试着去使用规则不同部分的警告时,游戏便会慢慢停止。

接下来你将学习如何去组织免费RPG。

组织非常重要,因为一款组织糟糕的游戏会让玩家感到困惑,并让他们不愿意继续游戏。而RPG既需要作为一种参考资料,也必须提供给人们阅读的乐趣。为了做到这一点,你就必 须谨慎地选择逻辑结构和布局。

结构

在逻辑结构中组织游戏必须确保清楚地描述。在你于机制上使用理念(如属性)前先进行详细即使。你的游戏必须按顺序包含以下环节:

封面

最起码它必须包含你的游戏的名字。不要图像也没关系,但是必须以合适且好看的字体去呈现游戏名字。你已经投入了大量时间去创造游戏,所以我希望你能够自豪地将游戏名字 写上去。如果GM愿意印刷你的游戏去吸引自己的玩家的注意,那么封面好看的话,潜在GM便会越希望去运行它了。

内容页面

内容页面应该包含主标题和副标题。关于表格,图像和图解的列表则应该归属于附录中。尽可能将内容保持在1,2页内,必要的话去压缩字体或行间距而将内容全部呈现在一页上 。内容页面是用于涵括整体主题,如果它所占的范围越大,便会失去功效。我们可以压缩行间距让人们只看得到内容,因为他们也不愿意像阅读散文段落那样去浏览该页面。如果 你的游戏保持在7页内,那么便可以选择添加内容页面。

感谢/版本/献辞

(可选择的)。你可能需要感谢某些人在创作过程中提供帮助,而这便是最佳方法。确保将内容控制在一页内。一定要标注日期。如果你觉得有必要去特别描述下游戏,那就写下 版本号。如果你不喜欢软件版本号(如1.1或1.2),那就使用整数(1,2,3,4,5等等)。

简介

简介是读者欣赏完封面后最先看到的内容,请避免一些无意义的营销措辞。它必须包含以下内容:

书中包含哪些内容?系统?设置?样本冒险?

设置属于何种类型?主题是什么?

角色的任务是什么?

包含了哪些类型的机制(是否有骰子)?

如果你的游戏还使用了另外一本书,请在此说明。

角色创造

列出所有步骤让玩家读者知道接下来将会出现什么。然后描述每一个步骤,在必要时举例说明。也可以选择添加开始到完成的角色生成内容。确保你所列举的角色与你所提供的冒 险例子相吻合。不要将技能放在内联中,除非它们只有半页的内容。最好是将它们放在附录中。

机制

如果你已经完成了机制设计,那就开始介绍它们。包括机制类型,目标数,骰子库等等。在简短的介绍后,你需要轮流面对每个机制领域。从无对手行动开始,然后解决有对手的 行动。战斗/魔法/叙述机制放在最后。如果你拥有核心理念(如滚动沙子去满足目标数),那就先处理它们。

设置

让我们从设置章节中寻找更多相关信息。

GM

GM环节非常重要,并且至少需要包含冒险例子。冒险例子应该呈现出你的设置并且不能过于依赖系统。想象角色扮演玩家将会拥有怎样的体验:他们将坐下。创造角色,GM便开始 了。创造出容易理解且能够到达设置点的冒险。情况允许的话也可以列举角色例子。

同时也需要包含附加的设置信息。如果有些内容是玩家不能知道的但是GM却应该知道,那也将它们添加进去。通常情况下GM所呈现的是群体游戏状况,所以我们需要确保它具有吸 引力。

附录

任何会干扰解释的内容都应该被归到附录中。列表便最主要的罪魁祸首。所以我们应该将它往后推,它们就像是参考内容一样,我们不能让读者在一开始便看到它们。也许将技能 列表移出角色创造环节听起来很奇怪,但是我敢保证这么做绝对没错。

附录中需要包含的内容:

技能

装备

咒语

图鉴

图表

角色属性表

封底

我们的封底拥有一些广告信息,如果是出于个人使用的话也可以添加一些有关印刷所的介绍。如果未来GM愿意印刷它并进行更好地包装,那么玩家便有可能看到封底的内容。切忌 说出这是世界上最棒的游戏,将会改变玩家的生活这样的话语,而是选择一些角色会做的内容,并尽可能有趣地描述它们。如果游戏是关于将巨大的宝剑插向机智的恶龙脸上,那 就在封底对此进行描述!

布局

布局是游戏设计中非常主观的一部分,这一环节能够为那些不知道从何开始的玩家指明方向。当决定了你的布局后,你需要考虑以下内容:

当玩家第一次看到你的游戏时,它便处在他们的监视器上了

很多人仍会为了谈判而印刷游戏

打印机碳粉和纸张都很贵

排样

排样是带有两个间隔均匀专栏的描写页。图像被置于文本中。有些特别的包装还能让你将文本沿着图像的锯齿边缘卷起来。为了确保可读性,我们至少需要在图像和文字间留出4毫 米的空隙。

确保边缘够厚,如此才能有效地装订游戏。

章节数应该位于中下方。而如果将其置于边角则意味着我们在印刷时不能选择单面和双面印。

将章节标题置于页眉上能够帮助读者更好地进行参考。

确保能够更轻松地阅读两个专栏,尽量避免长句子,因为这会导致读者将其与下一行内容混在一起。

如果你还想包含风景的话,那就需要考虑3个专栏。

读者的浏览方式总是从左上方到右下方。所以以此方式去设置文本将能更好地吸引他们的注意。如果可以的话(符合布局设定),将图像置于页面的右上方或左下方。

如果你所遵循的 是“频繁发行小游戏”原则,你便需要在执行发行时清楚地陈述游戏还未进行测试。

playtesting_games(from edge-online)

playtesting_games(from edge-online)

冒烟测试

冒烟测试能够保证当你在使用系统时它不会“着火”。它只能发现一些明显的漏洞,但却难以察觉到机制上一些细节问题。为了对游戏进行冒烟测试,你需要遵循以下方法:

创造10个角色

一步步地写下4个战斗。写下每个人所说的,所做的,并绘制一张战斗地图去呈现事情的发展。确保每个战斗都不同于规则案例。

让非玩家去浏览整款游戏并检查语法和拼写。

更新目录和索引。

通过随机挑选6个条目并将其放置在书上的不同位置去检查目录和索引,以及页数是否准确。

确保图像与文本之间相吻合。打印一些测试页面,看看是否太暗或者太亮?如果你正在使用背景图像,请确保它不会遮盖了文本。

让不同国家的朋友帮忙以不同规格的形式打印出来,如果你在美国的话尝试A4。如果你在其它地方的话则使用US Letter。

如果呈现在屏幕上会是怎样的效果?如果朋友拥有一台平板电脑,请在上面检查看看。如果没有的话就上网寻求友好的RPG高手的帮忙。

再次阅读

当你再次阅读前,先回顾第三章节的类型环节,然后再阅读整款游戏,内容,索引等等。在阅读的时候坐下记录,但是不要中途停下来进行编辑。检查图像上的所有说明以及图表 的标题。如果你为每个文件设置了链接(基于HTML或PDF格式),那就点击每个链接。也许现在的你已经厌倦了游戏,但这却是非常重要的一步,千万不要放弃。然后问自己以下问 题:

这是否与我设定的理念相吻合?回想你在写下第一章节时的想法,并检查每个项目。

如果相矛盾,我是否仍在创造一些值得游戏的内容?

这与我想要呈现的类型是否相像?

我是否解决了一直存在的机制问题?

游戏中最突出的是什么?

而最糟糕的又是什么?

我是否能够添加更多图像去装饰游戏?

这是我在人物属性表中所需要的所有信息吗?

修剪

你已经使用了许多词语去描述游戏了。这么做很正常,因为在描述理念时你的大脑还未考虑到简洁性。将每个段落修剪到最简单的形式。如果这么做是可行的,那就实践吧。而你 的第二次修剪将会比第一次更短10%。

机制边境情况

我们可以根据机制系统能否在压力之下继续执行而判断它的成功。你可以对系统进行压力测试,即限制参数去观察会出现什么情况。你并不能测试所有可能的边境情况(特别是当 提到咒语的结合时),但是你可以挑选一些最糟糕或最优情境作为例子。

举个例子来说吧,如果机制是关于战斗,那么当角色拥有最低能量,最佳武器,最高技能,最厉害的盔甲等等情况时会发生什么。你是否设置了怪兽去挑战这样的角色?玩家需要 经历多少回合才有可能杀死一个中等怪物?游戏中将出现多少中等怪物?

团队中的5个人同时使用升级了5次的枪支便能够在第5次战斗回合中杀死怪物。“升级5次”的枪支将具有5个破坏力,而在一个回合中则有25个破坏力。所以一个普通怪物应该拥有 125个生命值。带有1个破坏点的武器的角色将经历25个战斗回合。

你需要基于所有机制问自己这些问题,并特别关注于编辑器和特别内容。剑必须具有适当的威力,但却会在咒语的影响下导致系统的失衡。如果你发现很难基于机制而找到边境情 况的话,也许是因为系统太过复杂了,你就需要考虑去简化它。电子表格能够用莫过于测试骰子角色和概率的范围,但是我们也不能忘记特殊能力的影响或数字的作用。

虚构的游戏

测试游戏的一种好方法便是运行一款虚构的游戏。先从你所创造的10个角色中选出4个,然后带着他们穿越你的设置和冒险。确保角色的目标与你的设置相匹配,即是否能够轻松创 造出可能的目标。尝试所有机制,分别基于想象力并抛开想象力让角色去防御怪物(游戏邦注:通过刷任务)。你需要在游戏过程中尝试着回答以下问题:

终止一次遭遇的最快速方法是什么?

怎样的最佳技能(包括技能,咒语,武器和装备)能够解决每次遭遇?

最初的角色设定中是否缺少了什么元素而导致游戏变得不真实?

是否有趣?

游戏测试

游戏测试是指通过玩游戏去判断它是否与你的理念相符合。我们必须清楚游戏测试并不是一款真正的游戏。大多数GM都会扭曲规则,即忽视部分内容只使用10个任务中的一半规则 。真正优秀的游戏测试必须具有精确的规则,并尽可能多地使用规则集。你应该在书籍的开始写下对于游戏测试者的感谢词。确保你的游戏测试群组是由目标用户所组成。你必须 在自己真正觉得游戏已经完成时才开始进行游戏测试,游戏测试不能作为一种测试工具,只能用于检查问题。

游戏测试包

游戏测试包是一种准备好的信息包,能够帮助测试群组更轻松地测试游戏并提供反馈。为了让测试群组在最初几次测试时更好地运行游戏,你必须提供额外的支持。在编译测试包 时,你可以假设玩家知道角色扮演游戏。这应该包括:

让玩家能够写下名字和联系细节。允许他们选择不出现在书籍的贡献者名单中。

详细介绍主要机制的规则页面。

人物属性列表。尽管角色创造应该成为游戏测试的组成部分,但是玩家可能没有足够的时间去创造一个角色。

利用了各种机制的样本冒险。

反馈形式。

游戏测试所需要的种种元素总结。

非公开协议(NDA)–因为这是一款免费游戏,所以这一点是可选择的。

你的联系方式。

反馈

我们必须从那些尝试着玩游戏的玩家身上获得反馈。反馈是获得信息的最简单方式,但是如果你能够在一种轻松氛围下(例如酒吧)与这些群组人员进行交流,那便能够更有效地 获得相关信息。玩家们更希望专注于一些好的内容,所以你可以基于这种方式向他们询问一些特别的机制。在与测试者交谈时请记录下他们所提出的各种优秀的理念。不要相信自 己能够凭记忆记下所有细节。测试者不会介意你在旁边做笔记,因为这会让他们觉得自己的观点很重要。

Feedback(from mygreatkid.com)

Feedback(from mygreatkid.com)

反馈形式

反馈形式能够帮助你衡量自己是否创造了符合理念的设计。玩家/GM的乐趣也很重要,但是我们也必须清楚并不是所有玩家在第一次游戏时都喜欢新系统,因为学习新系统的过程总 是很无聊。你可以通过两种形式去提供问题,即复选框和书面回复。如果游戏测试既冗长又无聊的话,我会建议你同时使用这两种方法。以下是一些问题例子:

我们可以在“强烈同意,同意,没有偏好,不同意,强烈不同意”的选择框之后设置问题。

游戏规则太肤浅了

游戏系统就好似游戏类型

设置与其它游戏不同

我理解规则了

游戏看起来很棒

我很惊讶游戏竟然是免费的

我会再次玩游戏

我们需要提供较大的空间让玩家回复问题。

我喜欢游戏的……

我不喜欢游戏的……

我觉得游戏遗漏了……

如何处理反馈

虽然所有反馈都是有价值的,但却并非都有用。对于你所创造的每一种形式,你都需要对此进行分配,并使用你的理念去检查反馈是否有用。我们应该专注于玩家所提出的问题而 不是他们所提供的解决方法。作为游戏设计师,你便是专家。机制改变将意味着你需要重新开始测试机制(使用电子数据表的话便会更加轻松)。你需要做好心理准备,因为并不 是所有人都会喜欢你的游戏。你只需要感谢他们所提供的反馈,并且不能让自己就止步于此。

何时停止游戏测试

当你觉得游戏已经符合最初所设定的理念时,请停止测试。游戏测试并不能用于找出所有规则漏洞。过多的游戏测试只会拖延时间,所以请确定最终时间并完成游戏。游戏测试后的发行

确保在游戏测试后更新规则,并计划游戏的下次发行。不要让测试者觉得你在浪费他们的时间。

发行

现在你已经完成了游戏。千万不要再拖延了。尽早分享的话你便能够有效地汲取别人的经验和知识。通过频繁发行一些较小的内容,你便能够避免过大的工作负担。如果你不能完 成一个较大的项目,那就先发行已完成的内容。尽早准备一些未加工的反馈,然后将其快速转向新版本。不要在此停歇,清理问题并再次发行。

授权

授权非常重要。你可能会认为免费提供一些内容很简单,但是如果你未能获得相应授权的话便有可能遭遇各种问题。举个例子来说吧,没有授权的话印刷商店便不会允许任何GM去 印刷你的游戏。并且,如果你未实施任何保护措施的话,别人便会盗取你的游戏。

授权是一种个人且合法的选择,我没有资格协助你,但是我却能推荐一个知识共享授权。知识共享让你能够根据自己的需要定制授权,并提供给你一份手绘图像能够快速成为一种 标准。大多数游戏设计师都选择BY-NC-SA,即代表“属性,非商业性,共享。”知识共享有效地解释了使用方法。

上传

出于两个目的去上传游戏:与别人分享并备份。当你在备份时不要忘记生成PDF格式和源文件,图像,注释。你可以将游戏放置在许多平台供玩家游戏。如果你是频繁发行一些小游 戏,你便需要选择一些容易上传与访问的平台。如果你完成了游戏,你便会想要去曝光它。

备份且频繁发行小游戏

Google Docs让你能够上传PDF和ZIP格式的文件。那里还存在许多空间,你可以继续修改。隐私设置也允许你将其当成备份文件。

Skydrive是出自微软的一种解决方法,它拥有大量的空间和隐私选择。

Dropbox能够将你的文件自动同步到服务器上。并支持备份与共享。

最后发行

1KM1KT是最佳免费RPG社区。

RPGNow和DriveThru RPG是畅销游戏推销者,能够帮助你有效地销售游戏。

LuLu是一种服务,能够按照你的需求提供印刷服务。我建议至少为自己印刷一份,因为看到自己辛苦创造出的内容是件兴奋的事。

发行并接受评价

确保让以下的人知道你发行了游戏:

我,寻求评价并添加到我的免费RPG目录中

Eric Chris Garrison的自制RPG

John H.Kim在网页上的免费RPG

请求1KM1KT论坛进行评价。

告诉Reddit Community,他们喜欢免费的东西。

RPG.net的Ads和Open Promo 论坛都是非常棒的。

Enworld拥有一个活跃的社区,但你必须描述合适的区域。

更新你在论坛上的签名从而通过链接找到它。

在Twitter,Google+和Facebook上进行宣传。并对自己辛苦创造出来的作品充满信心。

现在要做什么呢?支持它。

完成游戏后,我们眼前出现了巨大的机遇。而再次支持一款新游戏会让你感到却步,所以就支持现在的游戏吧。支持是指与游戏社区建立友好的关系并推动游戏的发展。支持游戏 不仅能够确保它长时间存活在世界中,同时也能长时间存活在你心里。

现在你可以开始写博客,添加角色,规则选择,新冒险理念以及人们的反馈(游戏邦注:可以使用Blogger或Wordpress)。

在博客上添加Google Analytics,从而让你能够了解人们来自哪里。这真的是一种很便捷的方法,你能够了解到谁评论了游戏,并快速做出回应!

为你的游戏创造Google+ Page。使用好看的图像作为图标。

如果你真的对定期更新感兴趣,那就创造一个Facebook页面和Twitter帐号。

如果这是一个通用系统,那就编写另外一个设置。

寻找其它与你的游戏类似的免费游戏,并与其作者进行交流。

相关拓展阅读:篇目1篇目2(本文由游戏邦编译,转载请注明来源,或咨询微信zhengjintiao)

The mechanics of your game provide the players with tactical and strategic choices. They will spend resources, take risks, win and lose. The mechanics must mesh with the concept of the game and support the setting. The first question you must answer is:

Do I use an existing system?

There are hundreds of free RPG systems available, all of which can be extended and modified to meet your needs. By choosing an existing system (especially a popular one), you begin with a solid, playtested base. However, you then rely upon your setting and rule extension being novel enough for people to want to play.

Before you dive in and create your own system, check the list of systems I gave in Part 2 and make sure yours is truly novel. It is much better to extend an existing system that start from scratch.

How to make mechanics

Only include mechanics for things you want the players to do in the game. Reward for the style of play you want to foster. Mechanics are a set of steps that achieve a specific outcome. You do not need to use dice, the steps can be purely conversational or use bartering with resources.

The three points of the mechanics spectrum are resource, traditional and verbal. Resource mechanics are where the player trades an in-game currency for control of the game or success. Traditional mechanics involve rolling dice and comparing to a target number. Verbal mechanics reward good ideas and rhetoric with success.

Your mechanic can be a mix of these three things. Traditional mechanics are the most widely used.

Your mechanic must give the player choice. They must choose to do something and be able to understand the likelihood of an outcome. Avoid mechanics where a single roll can cause the sudden death of the character. You do not need to have a random element to a character’s action but avoid making everything automatically easy.

Make the player earn a success though clever use of their brain, either by manipulating the mechanics, setting or putting effort into the game.

Working backwards

Often it is wise to work from the mechanic you are trying to achieve back to the statistics of the character. This will avoid you getting dump statistics. Write down what part of your concept (you decided in Chapter 1) you are trying to emulate then decide on a mechanic in words that satisfies that. Finally work out what combination of skills, statistics, feats and randomness will achieve it.

I want the characters to be able to hurt the monster in imaginative ways. They must be able to inflect more damage by clever use of their gadgets, skills and environment – shooting it over and over should not lead to a win. I will need a statistic for using gadgets, skills for different gadgets (to allow specialisation) and a mechanic to make it worthwhile combining ideas and gadgets together. I’m going to use a shared dice mechanic, so the players should able able to gain more dice for working together.

The Meta Game

The Meta Game is what player-to-player interaction is called. If two players are talking about the situation from their point of view then they are Meta Gaming. If the players talk in character about the situation then that is regular roleplaying. All mechanics sit on a scale between the in character point of view and the Meta Game.

Meta Gaming mechanics can add variety to your game but must be used with care as they are often outside the sphere of knowledge of the character. The upshot is that the character may be taking actions for which they have no justification. A mantra for many roleplay groups is “What would your character do?” and that is often broken by the meta-game.

Only you can be the judge of whether Meta Game mechanics fit into your system. The mechanic types listed below include how “meta” they are.

For Chgowiz, I have a Meta Game mechanic where the players share dice. The characters do not know about the pool of dice that is being used for their actions, so it sits firmly in the Meta Game. A description of it is at the end of the mechanic types section below.

What to make mechanics for

Only make mechanics for things you want the players to do in your game. Some typical ones are:

Character creation

The creation of a character sets the benchmark against which everything in the world is judged.

Unopposed actions

The character interacting with the world alone are actions. These include riding a horse, sailing and navigation. In these cases, there is no-one opposing the character, its just the character against the world. These actions will be performed a lot.

Opposed actions

Where a character is trying to do something and another character is trying to stop them. These include persuading an NPC to open the gate to the castle. A character is trying to get the NPC to do something and the NPC’s sense of duty is opposing it.

Combat

Combat can come in may different forms: unarmed, with close quarters weapons, ranged, vehicle, space craft and so on. Combat also should have a method of doing harm to the opponent. This can be the same mechanic as an opposed action. Combat is usually broken up into rounds where each character takes it in turn to do an action.

Help the players make quick choices and keep the game moving by presenting the choices in a combat action clearly. The player can then spend their thinking time working out what their character would do rather than what options there are.

Wounding and healing

Invulnerable characters are less interesting to play than vulnerable ones. Have a mechanic to keep track of how much hurt the character has been through and how much more they can take before they can take no more actions. Having a decreasing point value (Hit Points) is a traditional solution but you can also choose narrative effects that affect the player’s decisions. Taking damage might also incur a penalty to performing actions. Ensure you include a way for
the characters to heal too.

For Chgowiz, I want the effect of being damage to be more narrative. As characters take damage, they can pick up disadvantages – making it more difficult to play. As the characters are clones, dying is not a problem, so the damage affects can be outrageous.

Lethality

Measure lethality as the amount of game time it takes for a healthy character to die with average weapons/equipment in an average fight. Is lethality so high that the player will never get a chance to retreat? If that’s not part of your concept then consider changing it.

Performing “Magic”

Magic (or doing technical actions in modern/Sci Fi) does not need its own system but you can add novel flavour to your system with it. Ensure that the magic system related to the setting – a society based on magic being easy should not have a system where runes need to be drawn accurately over several turns.

Controlling the narrative

Controlling the narrative means that the players get to decide the outcome of things.

Character improvement

If the roleplaying game is designed to be run over a series of sessions, then it is important to hand out a reward that can be used to improve the character.

Character Creation

Character creation is the cornerstone of any system. Do not stint on it. A prospective GM might well make a few characters to see what it is like. Ensure it is slick, majestic and well described. For the players, it is the first time they will interact with your game and it is important that the process is well explained. Character creation does not need to be quick, some players enjoy an involved creation session, especially if the character will last through a long campaign. Be true to the concept you laid out.

Characters tend to made of some or all of the following parts:

Attributes – a fixed number of inherent abilities of the character. Include: Strength, Intelligence and so on.

Skills – a list of learnt abilities, often picked from a list in the setting.

Feats/Traits – extraordinary abilities that the general populace do no possess, these can be both disadvantageous too.

Health – a way of tracking the amount of damage the character can take before they fall over.

Fluff – description, character name, organisations they belong to, age or anything pertinent. It’s the only place in the RPG where fluff is acceptable and prompts the player to flesh out the character.

If you want the game to be learnt quickly, try and keep to familiar terms. If your game is more epic in scale, feel free to break out the Thesaurus and pick words more familiar to your genre.

Avoid adding one of the above unless there is a rule that makes use of it. If you have a ‘Psyonic strength’ ability and no psyonic rules then the Attribute will be useless.

Ensure you include an example character creation, explaining the choices made at each point.

Random roll vs Point assign

Most roleplaying games use either random roll, point assign or a combination of the two (sum the rolls of 10 dice and assign). Random roll mechanics lead to faster character generation but can leave the player with a character they didn’t want to play. Point assign creation tends to be slower, leads to optimisation but leaves the player with the character they think they want to play.

Backstory creation

Flow charts or randomly rolled tables can be used to create the backstory of your characters. Some players might find it too restrictive, others liberating. If you include one these mechanisms, I recommend it is optional.

Collaborative creation

Some character creation mechanisms use play a way of creating a character. In these collaborative methods, players play out scenes. The outcomes of those scenes determine or modify the facets of the character.

For Chgowiz, the players will create a ‘Genome’ – a root from which each clone is then generated. The Genome will have attributes and skills and will be chosen with point assign. Advantages and Disadvantages will then be randomly rolled per clone. If the clone is difficult to play because of a tough combination Disavdantages and Advantages, it is ok because Clones are expendable.

Types of mechanics

There are an enormous number of variants of dice, resource and narrative mechanic. Below are just a taste of four of the simplest mechanics many systems build upon. Most roleplaying games depend on mechanics using character properties (attributes and skills) combined with a random element.Target number

Used for: Unopposed actions, Opposed actions, combat, magic

Format: Character Properties + Modifiers + Dice roll >= Target number

A target number mechanic is the simplest form of mechanic. A Character’s Properties are combined (such as the sum of appropriate Attribute and Skill) with modifiers and a die roll. The result is then compared to a target number that is set by the Gamesmaster. In most cases, the higher the target number, the more difficult the task. For opposed rolls, the target number is a roll of the opponent. This can be slower as two dice are rolled, two equations summed before the comparison can be done.

As long as the properties are kept in low digits, the calculations are easy. Avoid applying too may modifiers. Some systems use tables to set the target numbers, this improves simulation of the mechanic but can be slow.Speed can be maintained by having the result of some calculations written on a character sheet. These are sometimes written down as secondary statistics.

Pros

Easy to balance

Quick

Versatile

Cons

Linear probability scale

Mathematics can be difficult with large numbers

There is a temptation to add many modifiers elsewhere (such as modifiers on weapons)

Does not foster communication at the table

Meta Gaming?

This is not Meta Gaming because the rolling of dice represents the actual actions of the character.

Dice pool

Used for: Unopposed actions, Opposed actions, combat, magic

Format: Roll as may dice as you have in character properties, remove dice for modifiers, count the number of dice that roll over a given number. To succeed, you need a number of successes.

Dice pool mechanics rely on counting the number of dice that successfully roll over a number. This can be a length process when you are rolling 20 dice but the mathematics remains simple because you are not performing additions or subtractions. Modifiers are applied by removing dice (either before or after the roll).

Pros

Quick

Modifiers do not involve maths

Versatile

Feels good to heft cupped hands full of dice

Cons

Can need a lot of dice

Counting can take longer than comparing a single number

Balance is more tricky

Does not foster communication at the table

Probability of success more difficult to estimate than for target number rolls

Meta Gaming?

This is not Meta Gaming because the rolling of dice represents the actual actions of the character.

Resource Pool

Used for: Boosting actions, controlling the narrative

Format: Character has a pool of points that they can spend when required

Resource pools reduce the randomness in your game by giving the player a tactical choice whether to spend the points from their pool or save them for later. This mechanic is sometimes used to allow the player to control the narrative. It can also be used to re-roll dice, boost outcomes.

Pros

Gives the player an tactical choice

Simple to understand

Player feels an element of control

Fosters communication at the table

Cons

Slower than dice rolling

Balance difficult

Meta Gaming?

Resources management tends to be a Meta Gaming task because it is not the character who is spending a point to boost an action, or taking hold of the narrative. The player is the one that is deciding to spend the pool point. If you use a resource pool for something that the character controls (such as a magical pool of energy) then this is not a Meta Game mechanic.

Voting

Used for: Controlling the narrative

Format: Players vote on the outcome

Voting reduces the randomness of outcomes by putting those back into the hands of the players. Some voting mechanisms are used with resource pools so that players have to use their votes tactically. Voting can be secret or public. This mechanic can add a level of competition at the table, make sure that fits in with the concept of your game.

Pros

Gives the players the feeling of more control

Adds tension and atmosphere to the table

Fosters communication at the table

Cons

Slower than dice rolling

Slows the pace of the whole game if used liberally

Secret voting even slower!

Meta Gaming?

This is a Meta Game mechanic. Players voting on outcomes is detached from the characters themselves.

Chgowiz uses a modification of the Target Number mechanic. To do an action, they add Attibute, Skill and a die roll versus a target number. Even if the Attribute and Skill combined are more than the target number, they still much roll a die. Where it differs is that all the players share a pool of dice in the middle. When someone does an action, they take a die from the middle. By doing so, they are depriving other players of dice. This is a Meta Game mechanic because the character do not realise that they are about to fail because the players have run out of dice!

Crunch

Crunch is the name given to the feeling that there are a lot of rules to remember to play the game. You should try and strike a balance between a simple system where the tactical decisions are quick and a crunchy system where there are lots of options, modifiers and special rules. Too few rules and you’re giving the player fewer tactical options, there is less game system to manipulate. Too many options and the system becomes overwhelming. Lite rules tend to be quicker to player whereas crunchy rules do a better job of representing the game world. Only you can decide whether the system fits the concept you decided on at the start.

Crunch often creeps into a system in the form of special rules for spells, monsters or equipment. These extra rules might look innocuous on their own but when the GM tries to apply all the caveats from different parts of the rules then the game grinds to a halt.

How to write a free RPG – Chapter 6: Organisation

In this Chapter, you’ll learn how to organise your free RPG. Organisation is very important because a poorly organised game can be confusing and will put people off playing it. An RPG is both read and referred to. It needs to be reference material as well as something enjoyable to read. To achieve this, you must be careful to choose a logical structure and a layout which is both pleasing and useful. This is an improved version of a previous guide to organisation.

The Structure

Organise the game in a logical structure such that it reads clearly. Explain concepts (such as Attributes) before you use them (in mechanics). You game should include the following sections in this order:

Front Cover

At the very least, it must contain the name of your game. It does not need to be a graphic but the name is a nice font. You’ve put a lot of work into it, I do hope you’re proud of it so put your name on it, or use a pseudonym. If a GM is printing your game to convince their players to play, the better it looks the more likely the prospective GM will be able to run it.

Contents Page

A contents page should include all the major headings and sub headings. Lists of tables, images and diagrams belong in the Appendix. Try and keep the contents to a couple of pages and compress the font or line space to fit more on a page. Contents pages are used to scan from front-to-back for topic headings, if you make it too large, it does not become useful for this. Lines can be compressed as people will only scan through the Contents, they are unlikely to read it like paragraphs of prose. This is only optional if your game is under 7 pages.

Thank you / Version / Dedication

(Optional). Chances are you’re going to need to thank someone for helping you through the game and this is best place for it. Might be a spouse, girlfriend (if you have both, don’t include both here). Try and keep it to a page. Always put on a date. If you feel you need more than a date to uniquely describe your game, put on a version number. If you don’t like software versioning (1.1, 1.2 etc) use round numbers (1,2,3,4,5…).

Introduction

The introduction is likely to be the first thing that the reader will go to after the cover, avoid fluffy marketing speak. It must include the following:

What is in the book? System? Setting? Sample adventure?

What is the genre of the setting? What are the major themes?

What will the characters do?

What sort of mechanic is it (dice/diceless/pool)?

If you game requires another book to use (such as Fate core rules), then say so here.

Character Creation

Begin this section by listing all of the steps so that the reader knows what is coming. Then describe each of the steps, giving examples when needed. Optionally, include a start-to-finish character generation. Make sure your example character will fit into the example adventure you provide. Don’t put your skills inline unless there is only half a page of them. Put them in the Appendix.

Mechanics

If you have designed your own mechanics, start with an introduction to them. What sort of mechanic is it? Target number? Dice pool? After this brief introduction, deal with each mechanic area in turn. Beginning with unopposed action resolution and then opposed actions. Combat / magic / narrative mechanics last. If you have a core concept that runs through them all (such as rolling dice to meet a target number), deal with that first.

Setting

For more information on writing the Setting, see the Chapter on Settings.

Gamesmaster Section

GM sections are important and at the very minimum include an Example Adventure. The example adventure should showcase your setting without relying too much on the system. Imagine the experience the roleplayers will have: They’ll sit down. Make characters and the GM will begin. Make the adventure simple to understand and also get the point of the setting. Perhaps give example characters too.

Additional setting information should also be included. If there are things the players should not know but the GM should, then include them. It is normally the GM that presents the game to play to the group so make it delicious for them too.

Appendix

Any item that disturbs the flow of explanation should go in the Appendix. Lists are the biggest culprit. Put them at the back, they won’t get read through from start to finish and are used more like reference. It might feel a bit jarring to move the skill list from inside the character creation section but I assure you that it will be better off in actual use.

Examples of things that should really go in the Appendix are:

Skills

Equipment

Spells

Bestiary

Charts and Tables

Character Sheet

Back cover

I would have a bit of advertising blurb on the back and perhaps instructions to the print shop that it is ok to print for personal use. If a prospective GM has printed it and bound it nicely, the players will soon go to the back cover. Avoid suggesting that it is the best game in the world and that it will change the way people live their lives, instead pick out things that the characters would do and make those things sound exciting. Is the game about sticking a giant sword into the face of a particularly shifty looking dragon? Great! Tell us on the back cover.Layout

Layout is a very subjective part of game design and as such, this section is really intended for those who do not know where to start. When deciding on your layout, take the following into account:

The first time your game is seen, it will be on a monitor

Many people still print the games for use at the table

Printer toner and paper are expensive

A stock layout

A stock layout is a portrait page with two columns evenly spaced. Images are placed within the text. Some packages allow you to curl the text around the jagged edge of the image (rather than being square). To maintain readability, leave a gap of at least 4mm between the graphic and your prose.

Margin thick enough to allow someone to bind the game.

Number of the chapter at the bottom in the middle. Putting it in the corner means that the person printing it cannot choose between single and double sided paper print.

Chapter names in the header are useful when used as reference.

Two columns is normally easier to read, long lines make it difficult for the eye to find the next line.

The above is portait, if you’re going for landscape then consider 3 columns.

The eye naturally tracks to the top left and bottom right of the page. Put text there to keep the reader’s attention. If it fits the layout well, aim to put images in the top right/bottom left of the page.

Your game needs to be tested before it’s devoured by the general public. Testing ranges from simple mechanics tests all the way through to a full blow campaign play test. If you do not have a group to test with and cannot find a kind group to test it for you, there is still testing that can be done. Testing takes a long time, be prepared for this step to take as long as the rest of the game design.

If you are following the “Release Small, Release Often” principle (described in the next Chapter) then ensure you state clearly that the game has not been tested when you perform releases.

Smoke Test

A smoke test ensures that the system won’t catch fire when you try to use it. It will only find glaring holes, not mechanic niggles (see Mechanic Edge Cases) To smoke test the game, do the following:

Make 10 characters.

Write out 4 full combats step by step. Write out what everyone says and does and draw a battle map of what happens. Ensure each combat is different from your rule examples.

Find a non-gamer to read through the whole game to check for grammar and spelling.

Update the table of contents and index.

Check your table of contents and index by randomly picking 6 items from each, located at different places in the book and check the pages are correct.

Make sure that images are near the text that talks about them.

Print out some test pages, is it too dark or too light? Is the font large enough? If you’re using a background image, does it obscure the text?

Ask a friend in a different country to print out on a different size, if you’re in the US, try A4. If you’re elsewhere, use US Letter.

How does it look on screen? If a friend has a tablet device, check it on there too. If not, ask the internet, a friendly RPG geek will check it out for you.

Read it again

But before you read it again, check back to the style section of Chapter 3 then read through the entire game, contents, index, everything. Make notes as read through go, do not stop to edit. Check all the captions on the images and headings on the tables. If you are linking sections of the document together (in HTML or PDF) then click every link. You might be sick of your game by now but this is a very important step, so do it. Then ask yourself these questions:

Does it fit the concept I was aiming for? Go back to when you wrote it down in Chapter 1 and check each item off.

If it does not, have I still made something worth playing?

Does it feel like the genre I am trying to represent?

Did I solve the mechanic problems I was trying to solve?

What’s best about the game?

What’s worst about the game?

Can I add any more images to spruce it up?

Is all the information I need on the Character sheet?

Trim

You’ve used too many words to describe your game. It is normal to do that, your brain is not wired for brevity when it is describing concepts. Cut down every paragraph to its bare form. Is it still intelligible? If so, keep it that way. Your second draft should be 10% shorter than the first.

Mechanic Edge Cases

The success of a mechanics system can be judged on its ability to still operate when under stress. You can stress test your system by seeing what happens when the parameters are at their limits. You cannot test all possible edge cases (especially when it comes to combinations of spells) but you can certainly pick some example worst/best case situations.

For example, if the mechanic is combat what happens when a character has maximum strength, the best weapon, highest skill, excellent armour and so on. Do you have a monster that will challenge a character like that? How many rounds will it take to kill a character like that with medium monsters? How many medium monsters will it take?

A team of 5 people all firing guns that have been upgraded 5 times should be able to kill a monster in 5 combat turns. “Upgraded 5 times” guns do 5 damage, that’s 25 damage a turn. So a normal monster should have 125 hit points. Basic characters have weapons that do 1 damage will take a staggering 25 combat turns.

Ask yourself these sorts of questions for all the mechanics, paying particular attention to modifiers and special items. A sword might have a reasonable power but may unbalance the system when enchanted by more than one spell. If you find that it is difficult to find edge cases with your mechanics then perhaps the system is too complex and consider simplifying it. Spreadsheets can be useful for testing out the range of dice roles and probabilities but do not forget the affects of special powers or feats on the numbers.

Imaginary game

A good way to test your game is to run an imaginary game. Take 4 of the 10 characters you created earlier and then run through your example setting and adventures. Ensure the characters have goals that fit your setting, is it easy or difficult to create goals that are possible. Try all of the mechanics, use the characters to defeat the monsters without using your imagination (by grinding) and using imagination. During your game, try and answer the following questions:

What is the quickest way to end an encounter?

What is the best combination of skills, spells, weapons and equipment to solve each encounter?

Is there anything missing from the starting character setups that make the game impossible?

Is it fun?

Play Testing

Play testing is the act of playing the game to see if it meets your concept. It’s important to remember that a play test isn’t really a normal game. Most GMs will bend rules, ignore sections and only use 50% of a ruleset in ten sessions worth of a play. A good play test should be precisely by the rules and use as much of the ruleset as possible. You should reward the playtesters with a credit in the front of the book, or a signed copy if you are feeling flush. Make sure that your playtest group is made up of your target audience (see Chapter 1). You should playtest only when you feel the game is complete, playtesting should not be used as a tool for design, only for verification.

Playtest Pack

A playtest pack is a ready-to-go pack of information that makes it easy for the playtest group to test your game and provide feedback. To get the best from the group running your game for the first few times, you must provide additional support. When compiling your playtest pack, you can do so assuming that the player knows roleplaying games well. It should include:

A form for the player to put their name and contact details on. Give them the opportunity to opt-out of being included in the book credits.

A one page rule summary detailing the main mechanics.

Character sheets. Both blank and pre-generated. Although character creation should be part of the playtest, the players may not have the luxury of making a character.

A sample adventure that makes use of as many of the mechanics as possible.

A feedback form (see below).

A summary of what is required by the playtesters.

A Non Disclosure agreement (NDA) – optional as this is a free game after all.

Your contact details for the player to leave with.

Feedback

It is important to get feedback from everyone who plays the game. Feedback forms are the simplest way to garner information but if possible socialising with the group in a relaxed atmosphere (in a pub/bar) is a good way to dig into details. Players more likely to focus on the good things if confronted but at least you can question about particular mechanics this way. Have your notebook with you when talking to play testers, write down their good ideas then and
there. Do not trust your memory to remember the details. The playtesters won’t mind, they will appreciate their point of view is important.

Feedback Forms

Your feedback form is there for you to gauge whether or not you have managed to satisfy your concept. Player/GM fun is important too but it is important to note that not all players like new systems at first and the act of learning them can be tiring and less fun. You can provide two sorts of questions, check box ones and written replies. I would recommend having both as play testing can be tiring and lengthy prose without inspiration from pointed questions can be
difficult. Here are some example questions:

Questions to be used with tick boxes under the headings “Strongly agree, Agree, No preference, Disagree, Strongly Disagree”

The game’s rules are too light

The game’s system feels like [game's genre]

The setting feels different to other games

I understood the rules

The game looks good

I was surprised that the game was free

I would play this game again

Questions to be used with plenty of space to reply.

What I liked about the game was…

What I disliked about the game was…

What I thought was missing was…

What to do with feedback

All feedback is valuable, not all of it is useful. For each of the forms and notes you have made, assign them a priority and then use your concept to check to see if you feel the feedback is useful. Concentrate on the problems that are raised rather than the solutions that the players offer. As the game designer, you are the expert. Mechanics changes will mean restarting your mechanics testing (easier if you have used a spreadsheet). Be prepared that not everyone will like your game. Thank them for the feedback but do not dwell on it.

When to stop play testing

Play testing must end when you feel that the game meets the concept you originally set out. Play testing cannot be used to find every rules hole and it is possible to play test too much. Too much play testing is procrastination, pick an end date and finish your game.

Post play test release

Ensure that you schedule time after your play test is over to update the rules and put out another release of your game. Do not make the playtesters feel that you have wasted their time by sitting on the changes for a year.

How to write a free RPG – Chapter 8: Publish

Finish your game. Finish your game. Finish your game. Stop procrastinating and finish it. The act of creation can be exciting and a struggle but if you don’ t finish it, you’ll never know if it was any fun to play. Publishing is what you do once you have finished. So finish it.

Release small, release often

As a philanthropist, you do not need to wait until the game is finished before you share it with the community. By sharing early, you can draw upon the experience and knowledge of other philanthropists keen to share their knowledge. By releasing small and often, you reduce the cliff of work you need to scale before the joy of releasing. If you are having trouble finishing a large project, then release what you have. Be prepared for raw feedback early and then turn round a new version quickly. Do not dwell, sort out the problems and release again.

Licensing

Licensing is very important. You might think that giving something away for free is simple but you could leave yourself open to problems if you do not slap on a license. For example, without a licence printed somewhere, print shops might not allow a prospective GM to print it! Furthermore, if you don’t add a little protection, then you might find someone selling your game.

Licensing is a personal and legal choice I am not qualified to assist you with, however I can recommend giving it a Creative Commons license. Creative Commons allows you to tailor your license to your needs and gives you a handy graphic that is rapidly becoming a standard. Most game designers choose BY-NC- SA, which means “Attribution, Non-Commercial, Share-alike”. Creative Commons do a great job of explaining how they are used.

Upload it

Uploading your game serves two purposes: sharing with others and backing up. When you back up, do not forget to back up the resulting PDF and the source files, images and notes. There are lots of places you can put your game for people to enjoy. If you are releasing small and often, you will want somewhere easy to update and accessible to all. If you have finished, you will want somewhere with exposure.

Backups and releasing small and often

Google Docs allows you to upload PDFs and ZIP files. There is plenty of space and you can keep revisions too. Privacy settings allow you to use it as a backup too.

Skydrive is the Microsoft solution, plenty of space and privacy options.

Dropbox cleverly automatically synchronises your files to the server. Ideal for backups and can share too.

Final Release

1KM1KT 1000 Monkeys, 1000 Typewriters, the best free RPG community.

RPGNow and DriveThru RPG are commercial sellers that will also host your free game for you.

Lulu is a service that offers print on demand. I recommend printing at least one for yourself because it is a joyous moment to see your creation in hard copy.

Get it listed and reviewed

Make sure you let the following people know:

Me, ask for a review and to be added to my free RPG directory

Eric Chris Garrison’s Homebrew RPGs

John H. Kim’s free RPGs on the web

Ask on the 1KM1KT forum for a review.

Tell the Reddit Community, they like free stuff.

RPG.net (the big purple) have an Ads and Open Promo forum that’s worthwhile.

Enworld has a lively comunity but make sure you’re posting in the right place. They’ve changed their policy on promo posts in the past, so have a good look before you accidentally annoy anyone.

Update your signatures on forums to link to it.

Tweet it, Google+ it, slap it on Facebook. Be proud of it, you’ve worked hard.

Now what? Support.

Chances are a huge hole has been left by the completion of the game. Starting the process again for a new game might feel daunting so instead, support your game. Support is the act of engaging with the community to promote its play. Supporting your game will give it longevity not only in the eyes of the world but for you too.

Start a blog, posting up characters, rule options, new adventure ideas and people’s feedback. Most use either Blogger or WordPress.

Add Google Analytics to your blog so that you can see where people are coming from. It is really handy to see if someone blogs about your game so you can then reply – with thanks!

Create a Google+ Page for your game. Use a nice graphic for the logo.

If you’re really keen on regular updates, create a Facebook page and Twitter account. Make sure they’re used, though!

If it is a generic system, write another setting for it.

Find other free games like yours and contact the authors.


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