Why make your own RPG?

So I want to create an RPG.  A lot of RPG players often do in their lifetime, and I would guess that the majority of GMs indeed have at one point or another.  But few of these homebrew systems actually go the full distance, which includes plenty of mine over the last ten years.  Fewer yet go the extra mile and actually produce something visible and viable for the public.  That extra mile is my goal: to get a physical book published, in print, and for sale.

More importantly though, I want to create a solid game.  Whatever creation comes out at the end of my journey, I don't want to look back and have regrets.  I don't want to have others easily ripping it apart.  I don't want a shaky system that's a "good idea, but poorly implemented" as I've heard so many times reading through indie games and the discussions that follow them.

I'm set out to do this right, which means starting at the very basic, bare-bones concepts and building my way up to the top.  I've already taken that leap this year, as I've finally created something I am proud of, which is a relief after so many years of failed attempts.  What I hope to accomplish by writing about it in this blog is to not only double-check myself, but document my thoughts & design process so others can check it as well.

But, why make my own?  Why, when there's hundreds of professional games, and thousands of free ones out there with decades of content built around them, would I ever need to create something new?  There's two big reasons.

First and foremost, I have yet to find a game that completely satisfies me.  I feel like I'm this awkward middle-ground player, that always sways between deep mechanics, and that awesome story that develops with good role-players.  Despite my searching, D&D 5e has actually come the closest yet to being something I am completely happy with.  Yet... there's still something missing.

Innovation.  While D&D 5e and a lot of more recent games have come out with new, innovative ideas, I believe that we're just now at the cusp of prime creativity - the edge of the wave, just about to crest.  We've seen an upwards slope in recent years, but it's time to push it further.  I think that if we dive deep into what makes some of the most successful games tick, we can pull from them like a whirlpool pulls water from the ocean, gathering up all of their great creative energies and forming something made of pure awesome.

And hey - I enjoy it.  So really, it's just because I want to!