Be familiar with other systems, steal stuff you like.

Yup, I'm doing that right now, essentially ripping off a good deal of warhammer fantasy roleplay, and the rest I'm just making up as I go. I was too busy yesterday to work on it till it was playable, but I had to get the car to the point it won't break down on me next week.

Decide if your game will be primarily simulationist, narrativist or gamist. Do you want to

1) be able to model some imagined scenario and how it unfolds with logic and a degree of realism?
2) have a way of telling and generating stories collaboratively with your group?
3) have a system of rules that make for a fun activity?

If your game is any good it will have a combination of all three, but decide what is going to be the primary focus before you decide what type of mechanics you need to make.

You need:
- An infinite amount of monkeys
- An infinite amount of keyboards
- Infinite amounts of hard drive and a potent scanning software for useable text.
- An infinite amount of time and bananas

I ran a fallout game using the rules from CoC and then combing them with the SPECIAL system.
Then again fallout pretty much uses the same system.

Know many different systems (even if you don't play them) so you have something to compare to and base your game on.

Like, I don't even play PnP games that much but at least have read the books for DnD 2nd, 3.5 and 4th, WHFB, SotC, some oWoD books, Shadworun and then a bunch of obscure-ish shit about fighting games (the SFII roleplaying game by WW which is technically part of oWoD, Thrash, Fight!, etc...).

I know that any game I'll design will have a bunch of stuff stolen from FATE at least (yay narration!), and probably get combat 4e style (yay actually enjoyable gameplay!).

And realism can go fuck itself.

>>16474145
>Be familiar with other systems

This. This is SO important, it's impossible to overstate. So many people play one or two rpgs and then try to make one of their own, only to repeat the mistakes of previous designers simply because they're not familiar enough with rpgs in general. At the bare minimum, you should be familiar with d&d (any edition), GURPS, WoD (either version), Rolemaster, BRP (the system Call of Cthulhu uses) and maybe some more modern games, like Unknown Armies, Ars Magica or Over The Edge. I would also recommend you take a look at the Forge forums on game design, those nerds spilled a lot of pixels hammering out the underlying metamechanics and assumptions of rpgs.
http://www.indie-rpgs.com/forge/index.php

Rip off a already established system, making minor changes so that you don't get sued.

Body, Mind, Social as stats.

PC stats are pre-generated.

Let's rock.

>>16474281

You need Flex too, otherwise you can't distinguish between beefy brawlers and petite dancers.

>>16474171
If you have an infinite amount of monkeys writing, you don't need an infinite amount of time, and vice versa.

You have to be able to work out probabilities and you have to be experienced with a wide variety of games and the reason for those games mechanics, mechanical failure and/or success.

step 1- decide how the game will be in play:
you want something fast? you want something detailed? you want both? decide now.
step 2- decide how probability and chance will enter your game. the most popular choice is dices but the possibilityes are endless (points and tokens? cards?). A casuality engine is necessary to a rpg, else it's just a game of pretend.Casuality is good, keeps things impartial.
Step 2b- if necessary, work down the probabilityes and the statistic side. IE iof you're using 3d6 know that you have 216 (6^3) possible outcomes of a roll, divided among 15 "results" (if you add the dices) so 3 and 18 will have a 0.5% possibility to come out while 8-12 will have much more.
step 3- decide the way you want to create the characters, and if your game will have stats, skills and whatnot or will go for a more open ended approach (often with player defined "traits").
step 4- work out the special rules
step 5- mix n match with the work you've allready done on the setting/settings.

serve.

>>16474293
Well, if we start with that, we will need:

Toughness and strength of the body to tell whether one is strong or just hard to kill.

Sharpness vs. Strength of mind to seperate the clever from the stubborn.

Social status, looks and social aptitude to seperate the rich from the good-looking and the eloquent.

>>16474338
this is why i use player defined traits, you can go on and on forever dividing stats for reductionism pourpouses.

>D&D game
>nobody is on a computer
>nobody has cheetohs
>everything is organized
>everyone seems to be paying attention to the DM

This picture is full of shit. Has the artist ever even SEEN a D&D game?

>>16474346
Also it's five Japanese girls sitting around a kotatsu with all their stuff and open drinks on the table.
As soon as anybody moves, everything goes to shit. And I never heard about an all-girls group. And certainly not a Japanese one in D&D.

Note that kotatsu are generally heated electrically which causes another hazard in case, anybody moves.

>>16474338
So...

>Str vs. Con vs. Dex
>Will vs. Int vs. Wis
>Cha vs. Class

>>16474281

So... WGA?

This is now a homebrew game thread.

For a game about erudite monkeys who have yearly creative writing competitions.

Races: chimp, orangutan, gorilla (although none of them are actually monkeys, it just sounds funnier than "apes")

The monkeys often wear top-hats and monocoles, because in addition to being literary geniuses, they are extremely stylish.

Also funny pictures of monkeys.

>>16474391
Yes, but Will and Class could easily be neglected if the system does not make a point using those as hard stats.
Will would only come up when you had to resist an urge or influence to your mind or conrol psychic powers.
If those are not important points, it should be left aside and simply be part of the personality.

Class is in few systems a stat, but will usually have influence on how a situation is played out.
I would recommend making it into some kind of progressive advantage to be taken upon creation and in competition with other important features to not make your game a game of thrones.

>>16474523

In that case you make class randomized or you reduce the significance (make it a charisma modifier)

>>16474539
Random for class would restrict players from doing the char they want too often.
But one could easily find ways to detach standing from wealth (there's a reason you are out on adventures, instead of counting your family's money).
But social standing could always have drawbacks. Like nobles being despised by the poor and common man. So you would only have advantages when addressing certain persons.

But where is OP, anyway?

so im trying to "create" a new classless system for a possible upcomming Lost Planet campaing... If everything goes fine i will be using it to run a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. campaing. I was thinking into use some Fallout mechanics and some things stolen from DH. what do you think?
BTW, im still braining on how to implement the heat loss

>>16474617
Well, depends on what mechanics you use.

If you used DH's explosives, I would not like the homebrew for it.

>>16474641
well, im still thinking on how i will implement the skill system and the leveling up, so every character would be different from eachother giving a sort free at the time of developing your character. Basically, i would implement most skills from the Fallout games (guns, energy weapons, heavy weapons and the other skills) the things I would stole from DH would be part of the combat system and why not, implement some talents as perks for the characters and a variation of the level up system. I mean, give some xp for every battle or completed objective to buy perks and a list of perks only aviable when you level up (the only instance to get them)

THIS IS RELEVANT TO MY INTERESTS!

I'm currently working on a system that instead of using the classic "Body, Mind, Social" division of a human uses "Body, Mind, Spirit/Soul" and dumps in a bit of Buddhist philosphy here and there, very much inspired by the Samsara setting thread on sup/tg/'s archive.

Each aspect, that is Body, Mind and Spirit, have a set amount of "HP" so to speak that can be damaged and reduced through different meants, Body's Health through physical injury, Mind's Insight by mental trauma, stress, etc, and Spirit's Being (debating this term) through more-or-less supernatural means only (soul stealing Demons basically).

I'm having a problem with coming up with a proper result of having one's soul entirely removed...
In these "HP"-like stats, there are increments which grant penalties.
To explain, you have 10 Health, divided into 3, 3 and 4. When you've lost your first 4 Health, you get a -1 penalty to all Body-related rolls, -2 at the first 7 and technically -3 if you're at 0 Health, at which point you'rebe dead (mechanically because -3 to all rolls make rolls impossible since it's d6 Success-based with a deafult difficulty of 3)

In the same vein, having 0 Being would make you Unaware, enitrely without Esteem or Empathy.
How would that work RP-wise? Should it have some other effect? Additional effect?

Bump. Hijack'd for homebruz

>>16475039
You just become a soulless human doll. Like a Khal Drago from Game of Thrones, cant come up with other examples.

>How to make your own Pen & Paper RPG?
Be imaginitive and creative, similair to that of a fiction writer, or screen play writer, but not quite.
You need to be able to craft a world, that is expansive, interesting, with the different parts in the world somehow making sense. And more often than not, you want your players to be able to get a somewhat good grasp of the world, and how it can be shaped/react/be played/lived.
Even if you write the corner stones of the world, your players are still part of it. I believe it is important to not choke your players with your corner stones.

>Including the RPG system?
This is important. Many have already mentioned that it is good to be familiar with a wide arrange of other games/systems, more preferably, systems that are notably differebt from eachother.

But here, let me put this down to you, because people seem to miss this, and this is THE MOST IMPORTANT, thing.
If you want to make good game mechanics, you need to know your way around mathematics, as well as have insight into the field of probability. As well as being familiar with the concept of game design.

I can't stress this enough. You need to have an idea of what kind of game it is supposed to be (in regards to events, drama, action, realism, surrealism, etc.) which falls into the field of game design. THE LEAST you can do is do some research to see if there might be some apparent flaw with the balance/type of game you had in mind, that you hadn't thought of.

But now, and this is IMPORTANT. Your game mechanics actually have to complement your game design, and make it plausible.
If you want a game set in realism with a touch of drama, you can't have people scoring unrealistic critical sucesses all the times on the probability checks.
Likewise, if you want a game that is just a little more unpredictable, and not as realistic, you might want the players to occasionally succeed with things that could be seen as slightly over the top.

The DESIGN, determines what your game should deliver, and what things will be focused on.
The MECHANICS, determines how accurate the design will deliver.

Here, CONSIDER THIS.
* Does a low-stat character still have a chance at exceptionally good result? To what degree?
* Does a high-stat characters still have a chance of failure? To what degree?
* What should the chances of exceptional or critical failure be compared to normal failure? Does this vary with skill or ability?
* What should the chances of exceptional or critical success be compared to normal success? Does this vary with skill or ability?

>>16474196
>So many people play one or two rpgs and then try to make one of their own, only to repeat the mistakes of previous designers simply because they're not familiar enough with rpgs in general.
the same happens with music, the kind of bands made by guys that learned instruments and decided to emulate the mainstream bands they like

>>16475414
Consider something else:
Your things to consider already assume prior knowledge of a large portion of the system.

>>16475463
>Assumes that the characters in the game have skills / stats
>Assumes that the skills and stats are attached to some form of numerical values used to designate magnitude
>Assumes that the skills / stats will somehow advance over the course of play
>Assumes that the resolution system work in such a way that the extreme outliers on the probability curve are somehow important

See, this is why having knowlage of a wide range of systems is important. None of those things, while they might be common, are universal traits in RPGs. Some get along just fine without them. Understanding that these are things that you are not by some rule required to include in a game is one of the most important lightbulb moments a fledgling game desiger needs to have.

>>16475563
I was about to phrase them with some kind of "if" involved, but I scrapped that as I didn't want to bother with it.

Some form of progression is still one of the most common elements in table top roleplaying, while it is certainly true that it is no rule.
I just took the benefit of the doubt and assumed that this would help the OP.
Be free to disregard it, but I do believe it is very relevant if those things comes into account.

>>16475641
Was just pointing it out.

The thing is that...
Yeah. They're the most prevalent paradigms currently.
But prevalent paradigms are also those that are the most boring to explore.

>>16475563
>>16475641
I also want to point this out. That they were merely guidlines to consider.

While one could play a game without stats, this was still meant to make the designer consider the differences between characters of high vs low competence.

But you know, throwing off "at the GM's whim", is most certainly a valid answer. But I still do believe these are great, and even important points to consider.