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A minimalist definition of an RPG

A role playing game (RPG) is a scenario of drama, and a mechanic for acting in that drama. RPGs are an exploration of what it's like to be somewhere, someone, or something else. They are games because they have some rule or rules that arbitrate the flow of that exploration.

Work Work Work

Progress continues.

Turns out magic systems are hard. I've had to redesign and rework both the Animancer class and the rune system more than once. In my latest efforts, I've simplified character creation, which forced a rethink of both the Animancer and Biomancer classes.

Overall though, the game never stops improving. So I will keep at the forge, hammering it until it's the masterpiece that I want it to be.

Cheers!

Still Here, Still Working

I wanted to post a small update, just to put another timestamp for anyone out there that views this page. I'm still here! And I'm still working hard on Hostargo.

The playtest is awesome and inspiring. The characters are starting to become ingrained into the world, and the rules are working as intended. There have been plenty of changes along the way, and it's really shaping up to be a solid ruleset.

But there's a long way to go. I'm only about 30% done writing the book text, and there are still some major kinks in the "runes" and "connections" area of the game. Hammering those out, continuing the book text, and working with additional artists is the plan for this year.

When September Ends

This past Grandcon was my biggest success with Hostargo. I ran games, and had a blast. All of the feedback was about specific abilities or setting details, rather than mechanics, the character sheet, or rules really much at all. The game is nearly complete, and I need to push that last 20% that will take 80% of the effort. This design blog is no longer a priority as I head into the detailed finale of the project, including a campaign playtest, additional artwork, worldbuilding, and writing the actual book text.

I'm well on my way. I have a group that is going to play every other week on Mondays starting in October. I have no more obligations other than to finish tweaks, organize, and write the book text. We've crested the design hilltop and are sailing down that slope at top speed.

Of course there's the giant hill on the other side, called Kickstarter and self-publishing. Let's just hope I have enough momentum at this point to get my puny kart up that hill.

Cheers!

August Prepwork

August is the time to prep for my local convention, Grandcon. After finishing the uncertainty series, I'll now be taking a blog break as I work on my games. Thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you in a while!

Uncertainty in Games: Meaning

Poorly written rules are frustrating. Ambiguity can lead to disagreements or confusion. But the meaning of specific terms or abilities isn't always a detriment to gameplay.

When a game purposefully uses non-standard terms for standard game mechanics, it's a strain on any player's brain, forced to unnecessarily learn. When left open-for-interpretation, magic or other abilities can be wildly misused, derailing a game from its intended experience. However, the entire concept of tabletop RPGs is based on the idea that the GM is there to make judgement calls. If a designer embraces this concept, and employs the unpredictability of meaning into their game's mechanics, it can create a feeling of empowered ownership for the players interpreting those meanings.

An excellent example of this type of uncertainty at work is the game The Fall of Magic. The entire game is based around the abstract prompts presented by the constantly unraveling scroll. What exactly is a crabsinger? It's completely up to you! This type of mechanic gives the players direction, but ultimate agency in the game, resulting in a completely unique experience.

Tabletop RPGs are all about being creative, flexing your imagination, and using the rule-of-cool on the rules as written. Don't confuse your players with ambiguous mechanics. Include all of the information required to play your game, leaving only purposefully placed blanks for the players to fill in on their own!

Uncertainty in Games: Perception

It was hidden in plain sight, and you kick yourself for missing it. Maybe it was the last place you looked, or maybe your opponent just saw it first. Perception, it turns out, can be a stimulating mechanic for games.

All of our senses can be used for this type of uncertainty. You could have failed to spot the clue, heard the mumbling of an off comment remark, tasted the difference in the coffee, or felt the hidden key tucked away in the thief's pocket. In most tabletop or video games, this is generally limited to sight and sound, with maybe some feeling thrown in with rumble controllers. But such uncertainty has to be directly built in, and it's not common. Physical sports, on the other hand, have these perception uncertainties almost by default: watching the quickly moving ball. 

Roleplaying games rarely have any sort of real perception uncertainty, save for a few puzzles now and then. However, perception checks are one of the most common skills called upon by characters! It's not directly perception uncertainty; it's more like hidden information. But it's definitely an interesting link to think about while creating adventures for our characters.

Unlike quick thinking or strategic decisions, perception is a form of player skill and therefor uncertainty that not many game designers make use of. I'm not sure if this is because there's a limited scope of player types that enjoy these mechanics, or if this is a relatively untapped form of fun!

Uncertainty in Games: Schedule

"Something's come up."

We've all been there, on both sides of the deal, where higher priority events have blasted over our gaming schedule. Even if gaming is high on the list already, there's always something higher. We schedule games weeks or sometimes even months in advance just to have a shot at playing. But when we do finally make it to the table: it becomes that much more special.

Schedule uncertainty is something that few games actually have. The only games that consistently use it as a core feature are mobile games, where players must wait X minutes or hours before being able to consume additional content (unless you pay, or course). That uncertainty, of when a player can and will be playing allows there to be "competition" in the game.

Tabletop RPGs naturally have this form of uncertainty, because it's never known when players will actually be able to get together and play. A lot of games combine this with other uncertainties to actually encourage players to come; even in more indie titles like "Tales from the Loop", players get XP as long as they played in a session at all.

It may be unfortunate, but schedule uncertainty in our hobby can be recognized and handled in various ways. Luckily, most of us want to be present thanks to the fun of the rest of the uncertainties packaged into each gaming session.

Uncertainty in Games: Development Anticipation

Building characters is sometimes one of the best parts of a game. You get to explore the game's mechanics, prepare your best for what is to come, and set off on a path of advancement. That path has many possible forks, however, and it's that uncertainty of what will come that makes character development so intriguing.

The min/max player may already have their entire advancement path planned out. I would argue that if you've purposefully removed this uncertainty from your RPG game, you're missing out on the excitement of various possibilities. But, even when planned, the anticipation and uncertainty of when development will happen still leads these players down the road.

A new character class or special ability that results from a surprise plot twist or random event feels alive, and is ultimately more memorable than one picked ahead of time. Likewise, an item looted from an ancient crypt or dragon's hoard feels more rewarding than one bought from a town shop. Lastly, NPCs that the characters meet can end up being important and powerful allies, and those that you meet organically are the ones that we talk about years after the game.

Most RPGs draw heavily upon development anticipation to entice players. It's distinct from narrative anticipation in that it focuses on how a single character evolves over time. Games that embrace this change can get the most out of the very start of all tabletop sessions: character creation.

Journal Entry: Kill Your Darlings

We've all heard it before. Kill your darlings. Not all of them, mind you; your game has to be about something. But if a mechanic is not about that thing... kill it.

In the case of Hostargo, I'm in a huge purging process. I've built it up with all my favorite things from every RPG game I've ever liked (exaggerated). But now that it's basically functional-complete, I have to ask myself if all of those functions are really necessary.

Just a bit ago I considered the point of the city of Hostargo. The idea started with a world around the chaos of a "gold rush". It's because of this I was planning on adding three distinct viewpoints from which the players could play: corp, crew, or gang. But I weighed the plusses, which are mostly just replayability, against the effort and complexity of both creating them and using them in game. Wasn't worth it. Slash it.

The idea of character "gears", or motivations, borrowed almost entirely from Cortex Plus's "drives", is something that I loved. It was even a major talking point on my sell sheet. It gives characters dynamic and ever-changing ideals, which I think is just so cool. But... this game isn't really about the characters. It's about the city. It's about the characters in the city, yes, but there's already so much to drive them forward that they don't need gears chugging away in the background. I had to tack on mechanics to fit them in, so it's best if I just rip that extra piece out right now.

Lastly, I love the idea of a meta-resource giving character's natural luck. Hostargo used to be all about the ebb and flow of luck, much like FATE points. But now it's a shell of what it used to be, after the much more integrated mechanic of Effort Pools was introduced. I even wrote a whole blog post about how I was still going to use luck... but in the end, was it necessary? Not really. It solves a problem that doesn't really need to be solved. Not when the rest of the advancement mechanics support a tight reward cycle already.

I'm enjoying the bonfire. Cutting back on some of the extra slack is a quick way to get to the finish line! It gives me some room to breath, and I plan on breathing life into this creation very soon.

Uncertainty in Games: Narrative Anticipation

There's nothing like a good nail-biting story. The excitement one feels in the pit of their stomach keeps them on the edge of their seat, anxious to know more. In RPGs, playing to find out "what happens next?!" increases the enjoyment players get out of narrative anticipation uncertainty.

Whether the GM is railroading, or the group is playing in an open sandbox, the table is involved in dynamically creating a story. Like a good book, even the most railroady of adventures can be enjoyed. While the character's fates may be sealed, unpacking and playing out those fates is still enjoyable to watch unfold. In a sandbox setting, the GM can be just as surprised as the players when the story that is produced is something they could never have anticipated. 

Many types of games use narrative uncertainty to drive gameplay, plunging players into various scenarios based on the current events of the story. Some games push the story with minimal gameplay elements, while others use it as an excuse to set up challenges. How much enjoyment is had by each person is based on that player's style, but both provide an uncertainty that is a force to drive gameplay forward.

The combination of forward gameplay momentum and nervous excitement of the unknown is what makes narrative anticipation one of RPG's most important uncertainties. In some games, it can be cast to the side as flavor, but when character-actors gather around a table, a unique story always emerges, whether the GM wanted it to or not!

Uncertainty in Games: Hidden Information

Knowing is half the battle. Knowledge of where your objective is simplifies getting to it by eliminating any possible false paths. But hidden information is different than just a straight unknown. Hidden information is when one side has knowledge that the others do not.

If no one knows where the objective is, we're all on equal footing. If it's a pre-game setup, then it's randomness. If it's up to the skill of the player, it may be player, solver, or perception uncertainty (we'll get to perception uncertainty soon). But when one side has the information, and another does not, it becomes hidden information.

This type of uncertainty adds an element of sly play and espionage to a game. Poker is the ultimate form of this, where skilled players read each other and calculate their odds in order to win. Many board games have similar mechanics, with hidden objective cards or even deduction puzzles.

RPGs rarely use hidden information, but when they do, it can be the surprise twist, or player vs player conflict that is the highlight of a play session. I would count the GM as a neutral entity, much like a random game setup or a 3rd party puzzle master. Their "known" information is hidden from the players, yes, but it's also subject to change, making it much more of a narrative uncertainty (which we'll get to later as well).

A common form of hidden information in RPGs is a betrayer, or person goals mechanic. Generally, smaller, more focused games have mechanics like this, so that the scenario allows that hidden information to be meaningful. But, there's no reason a long campaign can't end in an unexpected twist that the GM and another player have been in on since the beginning. But be careful with hidden information in RPGs; it can make or break a player's experience with the game if it was an "unpleasant surprise". Make sure the outcome generates more fun than anti-fun.

Not everyone digs hidden information. It can certainly muddy the waters and make the game feel lopsided, even if in theory all players have equal portions of hidden information. It can also feel random, as even the best poker players can be bewildered at the flip of the cards. But it can also keep tensions high until the very last minute, making the climax of any story a memorable one.

Journal Entry: Slash & Burn

I missed a week or two, and it's because my mind has been focused on the tons of design work I've got in my lap. I'm DMing two bi-weekly D&D games, working on a design for an AR game by SightWeave, putting together playbooks for South of West, and trying to still slowly tackle Hostargo.

So we'll do a quick pause on the mini-series :)

As an update for Hostargo, I'm slashing two of the "classes"/"jobs", now just calling them "styles" to better suit how the character approaches situations:

Through movement/tactics = Vessel

Through chaos/disruption = Eddy

Through discretion/trickery = Weaver

Through control/balance = Warden

Through confrontation/force = Plow

I'm also slashing the crazy three-tiered corp/crew/gang idea.

That basically nullifies my answers for the Power 19... but oh well.

I've been inspired to focus much more on the city itself, and introducing core

mechanics for the city growing and having conflicts that the players must deal with.

I've also been working on tying in runes. Magnostone has always been a cool

thing that floats in the air and can be used as generator fuel,

but I never figured out why or how it's made. Now I'm going to say that it's

formed from the gathering of memory, much like how water evaporates and forms clouds.

But instead of causing rain, it will simply grow into the floating islands you see around the world.

Runes then will be formed from that stone, basically by animancers acting as

sculptors to make the memory-infused rock focused into some specific effect.

But the types of effects depend on the types of memory. Magnostone only forms with large amount of memory, such as from a city. Now, the ancient ruins of civilizations and races long forgotten are filled with unique magnostone deposits, which is exactly what the mine in Hostargo is: less of a mine and more of an archeological dig!

It's got me excited again, and that's really all you need to keep pushing forward :).

Uncertainty in Games: Analytic Complexity

It can be difficult to convince an older RPG player to try any other game than the one they've been playing for the past 20 years. And it's really no surprise that after pouring hundreds of hours into their system of choice, they are reluctant to give up the mastery that they've achieved. In tabletop RPGs, especially older ones, analytic complexity is a significant factor in determining who the target audience is.

Analytic complexity can be both frustrating and rewarding. Because the uncertainty comes solely from if, when, and to what degree a conclusion or solution is found, the enjoyment received from performing that analysis varies greatly from person to person. Some people enjoy burning their brain on charts, graphs, and trees, preferring to dive deep into a game's mechanics, while others prefer to focus on the high-level ideas of role playing, keeping their systems light and out of the way.

To be completely clear: there is no wrong way to play.

While there's a moving line of enjoyment per complexity for each player, there's also a fine line between complexity and depth. Mechanics that add complexity, but do not add strategic value or interesting choices, are often poorly designed or added in just for complexity's sake. Regardless of your preferred style, adding depth to the game without bogging it down with needless rules should be the goal of every game designer. Games that are heavy but streamlined are not only possible, but have their own audience of gamers.

The amount of time spent outside of a game session can be a direct indicator of the game's analytic complexity, which in turn can tell us what kinds of players would enjoy that game.  Mechanics such as party creation, character progression, and GM prep time should all be taken into account when choosing the "perfect system" for your table.

Uncertainty in Games: Players

Competition has been a part of human civilization since the earliest days of man. Whether struggling over food, wrestling for ruling power, or just participating in an entertainment spectacle, "games" in the classical sense have almost always involved other people. So when it comes to player uncertainty, the roots are deep.

You cannot possible know what another person will do; what choices they make in a game. This is a factor of uncertainty that exists, to some degree, in all multi-player games. From chess to Pandemic, the other players are an unknown, uncontrollable factor in your gaming experience. You can guess, and indeed the better you predict what others do the more likely it is you'll succeed in your goals, but even the most predictable player can sometimes surprise you. This is something that few AI systems accomplish with any degree of depth (as of this writing... the future is soon!), making human players an ultimate source of uncertainty.

In tabletop RPGs, other players bring the world around your character to life. Everyone from the GM to the most shy PC participate in building a setting and a story that would not be possible without the imagination of everyone at the table. There's no replacement (again... yet) for this level of uncertainty. That's not to say that you can't run a solo RPG and not have fun, but there's definitely something missing there, yeah?

Player uncertainty is often what makes a game's core tick, and tabletop RPGs are no exception. While it doesn't have as big of an impact on how the players interact with the mechanics of the game, it provides dimensional doors to all of the other uncertainties that we will explore in this series.

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A mysterious side note: Co-op board games fall a little short in this category, and this is likely the reason that I find most of them a little dull. Often, player interaction and uncertainty is negated by "the puzzle" being solvable in terms of there being a "best move". This is why "quarterbacking" is such a huge problem - most co-op board games are a glorified solo game. RPGs, on the other hand, are much better set up to have each player making unique choices. 

Uncertainty in Games: Solver's

"Will they solve the puzzle?" can be a great dramatic question for a roleplaying scene. The party might uncover a secret clue, find hidden treasures, or save an NPC from a trap. From the simplest puzzles to the most elaborate mysterious, solver's uncertainty can play an important role in RPGs.

Solver's uncertainty is all about finding patterns and drawing conclusions. Unlike "analytic complexity", it's not about brute force strategy analysis, but rather the ability for players to connect the appropriate dots together. This style of uncertainty comes in various forms, such as a mechanical contraption, or a weave of political scandals, and is used to challenge the players in a different way than a combat or social situation.

This works best in cooperative and/or single player games. RPGs, co-ops like TIME Stories, or video games like Portal, all use this uncertainty because there's no direct competition involved. Generally, competitive puzzle games use timers and other uncertainty factors to force the solver to act. This, in my opinion, creates less fun and only rewards those that can complete the puzzle within the other constraints.

Solver's uncertainty has a distinct effect on games. It challenges players without putting a heavy burden of rules or mechanics. Instead, it gets right to the fun (that doesn't even include hitting people with swords!).

Out on Vacation!

Even though I'm in the middle of a neat mini-series, and have multiple game design projects going... it's still important to drop it all and get away for a bit. I'm heading out on vacation for a while, so I'm not sure when you'll hear from me next. Cheers!

Uncertainty in Games: Player Performance

A "hardcore" game might be described as one with only a single source of uncertainty: player performance. No random factors. Complete information. Only how well the player performs is in question. Whether that is dexterity, timing, coordination, strategy, tactics, or all of the above, performance uncertainty is often sought after as the "ultimate gamer's uncertainty".

Performance is driven by the player making the right, or best, decisions whenever a decision comes up. In theory, tic tac toe is still a game, because the players might make incorrect choices. In contrast, its very hard to determine exactly what "performance" means in a tabletop RPG. While it's clear that games like Mario or Dark Souls are solely dependent on the player's performance, a good tabletop RPG doesn't have a clear line of "winning" or "losing".

So we have to look at the actual goal of an RPG: to have fun. That might seem like the goal of most games, and it'd be nice if that were true, but the truth is that tabletop RPGs are specialized in having fun. There is no other goal, and no other way to "win". Therefor, a player's ability to perform well at an RPG is purely based on their ability to have fun at the table. We could even go as far as to say that outstanding performances even help other players have fun.

Ignoring all other systems and rules, our ability to have fun playing an RPG is certainly an uncertainty. But having fun at the table is a skill that you can be good at, you can work at, and you can become better over time!

Uncertainty In Games: Randomness

One of the most important uncertainties for role playing games is randomness. That might seem obvious, but randomness is only one of the eleven sources of uncertainties that we'll talk about in this series.

Randomness plays a key character: fate. It is generally used as an action resolution device, steering the story in one direction or another. The trick here is that it plays an impartial judge on the lives of the characters. If left purely to the players, who are generally rooting for their characters to succeed, the stories that are produced from the game may not have that classic rollercoaster of emotions that really make for memorable experiences. Instead, characters live and die by the unswayable third party of random.

There are two very distinct types of randomness: bias and unbiased. Each has a powerful effect on the style of game that is played. Bias random is where one outcome is simply "better" than another. For example, swinging a sword in combat can either hit or miss. A hit, obviously, is better than a miss. If one character hits, and another misses, but they've both spent the same resources (i.e. an action), and randomness was bias towards the character that hit. Unbiased random, on the other hand, is something that adds chaos to both sides of an equation, giving opportunity for either side to "deal with it better", rather than favoring one outcome or the other.

Bias random is usually shunned in "higher level" circles of game design. If used as an element of uncertainty in say, a strategy game, players can get annoyed that the random is favoring their opponents, regardless of who has the better strategy. Unbias random, on the other hand, is used to introduce variety and replay-ability into a game, making it the preferred choice for those styles of games.

Don't write off bias random completely though. One of the biggest early inspirations of gaming is gambling. When we as humans let go control of the game and roll a die or spin a wheel, we get a large shot of dopamine as we wait for the outcome. That moment is what RPGs are about. That moment is when we get to know whether our hero lives or dies.

Yes, RPGs are founded on bias random. But it's also not as biased as you might think. One of the best twists in gaming I think comes from the fact that the mechanics are bias between characters, but not between players. No roll is necessarily good or bad for the players of an RPG. After all, they are there to find out what happens, good or bad. You can't have a roller coaster without going down sometimes, and that's exactly what the randomness gives us.

This I think is where RPG combat usually falls short. A big complaint of combat is that it's completely random, and usually not influenced by strategy all that much. Some games do away with it completely, focusing on character relationships and/or world exploration. Perhaps we need to take a lesson out of the strategy game's design book, and realize that if combat is presented as a very different kind of game, it also needs different kinds of rules. Perhaps also, however, games need to realize that combat, just like everything in RPGs, is a resolution system best left up to fate.