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Froogleyboy
2009-09-20, 10:54 AM
Okay, I'm writing my own game system, and I have it written up. But I want to publish it, so how would I explain to people who don't play RPGs, what attributes are

LurkerInPlayground
2009-09-20, 11:02 AM
Find a publisher who knows what an RPG is?

Not that I know anything about it, but I'm sure some publishers are into that sort of thing while others won't be. Either it's their job to know or it won't be.

Froogleyboy
2009-09-20, 11:04 AM
Find a publisher who knows what an RPG is?

Not that I know anything about it, but I'm sure some publishers are into that sort of thing while others won't be. Either it's their job to know or it won't be.

Well, I mean, every RPG book I've read explains what an RPG is

Kurald Galain
2009-09-20, 11:09 AM
Well, I mean, every RPG book I've read explains what an RPG is

Yes. But then what's your question? You can read four or five RPG books and see how they explain what an RPG is and what an attribute is, and write down something along those lines in your book.

LurkerInPlayground
2009-09-20, 11:11 AM
Well, I mean, every RPG book I've read explains what an RPG is
Oh. I thought you were talking about a sales pitch.

Um. It's called a roleplaying game because you roleplay. You take on the role of a character and try to achieve objective x. This objective may vary depending on how flexible the system is or the overall tone and theme of the game. The key is that RPG's are about using your imagination. Presumably, there are friends playing characters who are also on your team. Otherwise, it's only just so much masturbatory fiction.

One guy is responsible for refereeing the game and you roll funny-shaped dice and use rules and stats. This is because some things aren't simply a matter of imaginative preference and you need some method of resolving these events. Things have got to be "fair" to the group and some element of risk should always be involved in the game. Otherwise, it isn't really much of a game.

That's about the long-and-short of it. The rules detail the specifics of what kind of RPG this can be and gives more concrete examples of how an RPG might operate.