Always More Hats

The first project I want to work on is probably my oldest unfinished project. A few years ago I ran an Independent Study with a group of other students to try and make a Tabletop RPG. We ended up having 8 members instead of 3, which meant that we could do more more. So we divided up the components (classes, spells, items, mechanics) and set off.

It turned out to be a total mess. The mechanics felt like 4th edition D&D, the classes felt like 3.5 D&D, the spells didn’t feel like either, none of the items really fit the mechanics, the entire system way just a disjointed mess.

So I’m trying this again. Instead of shooting for a complex system, I’m going to go for a simpler system. I want the entire thing to be contained in 5-10 pages (which includes everything from items to rules to character creation). I want it to give a coherent view of the setting (Future Earth; Cyberpunk setting, no magic this time). I want it to have a themes or ideas that the person running the game can easily use. For example: you could replace your human limbs with mechanical ones to enhance your abilities, but at what point do you stop being human?

At this point, it’s just a matter of putting the thoughts to paper and just doing the work. Then endless playtesting and revisions until the game’s in a good place.