Trying to make my own RPG

[mr_hero]

So some friends and I tried playing D&D about 4 months ago. Tons of fun! However, a few of the people in our group found it too complicated for them to enjoy... So we decided to make our own RPG! We really enjoy the way our game works with the exception of one thing... we don't have a solid battle system... We tried to come up with some stats and ways to figure out how much damage can be dealt by a player, what type of damage they can do, how magic would work, and how much HP a character would have... not to mention the issue of how many points a character could allocate to each of their attributes...

So it became complicated again...

What are some suggestions that you guys have for a battle system that is relatively simple and easy to explain....

[Quietus]

Flip a coin. If it's heads, you succeed. If it's tails, you fail. Hard to rules lawyer, and everyone understands it!

[Tengu_temp]

Making an RPG is even more complicated than playing even the most complex system. If you want something simple, it's better if you just play one of the rules-light free systems out there. Like Risus, it's hard to get simpler than that.

[Vladislav]

Fighting Fantasy is my favourite for simplicity. Characters only have three attributes, Skill, Stamina, and Luck.

A single combat round is Skill-vs-Skill: each combatant rolls 2d6 and add their Skill value. Whoever gets a higher result, deals damage to the other and reduce their Stamina; when your Stamina is brought to zero, you're dead.

Any random event outside combat is determined by Luck: roll 2d6, if the result is less than than your Luck attribute, the outcome is in your favor, otherwise it's not.

That's all there is in the system. Really.

[Ranos]

You want simple ? Here you go. (http://www222.pair.com/sjohn/risus.htm)

Edit : Damn, I was too late.

[DukeofDellot]

Difficulty aside, building your own game can be a rewarding experience. It will be hard, and it will take a lot of planning, testing, and dedication, as well as (at least a basic) understanding of Psychology (always necessary), Statistics (if you ever use a number that isn't constant), Geometry (especially if you use a map), Sociology (maybe, depends on the scale of the game), and most importantly the ability to do research.

The process for a fairly simple game can be done in a weekend, if you have your testers ready at all times, and you have nothing else planned.

But before you do anything, I'd suggest you first play a range of different games, so that you have basic references... hm...

GURPS Ultra-lite (http://e23.sjgames.com/item.html?id=SJG37-0032) is a simple game (it prints out onto a single page even), and it reasonably fun.
Everyone is John (http://wso.williams.edu/~msulliva/campaigns/john/index.html) isn't the most detailed, but it's got some good concepts (if you don't know what I mean by this, you've a long way to go.)
FATE rpg (http://www.faterpg.com/dl/sotc-srd.html) is also fairly simple (though character creation is cumbersome) though you'd never guess it.

I'd have dozens more suggestions, but these are my easy and free list. And who knows, by the time you get around to creating one, you may have found a game that's perfect for you!

[Oracle_Hunter]

If that game of D&D was your first RPG experience, I would highly recommend trying out up to a dozen different systems before trying to tackle writing your own RPG. You'd be surprised at the sheer variety of mechanics currently implemented in existing systems :smalleek:

As far as battle systems go, level of complexity isn't where you should be starting.
First, figure out what you want the battle system should do. Should combat be no different than any other task resolution (Mountain Witch) or a major part of the game (D&D 4th Edition)? Do you want a cinematic battle in which stunts are more important than tactics (Exalted) or one where every bullet can seal your fate (Shadowrun). How much depth do you want in the wound system? Are you looking for HP, or something that models damage types (World of Darkness) or even the location of wounds (Deadlands).
And that's just combat. Until you've played a variety of RPGs you can't even contemplate the sorts of issues that come up with designing a RPG. The good news is that RPGs are now cheap and easy to find (http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/) so you shouldn't have a hard time finding the RPG that is right for you :smallsmile:

[Tyndmyr]

Making an RPG is even more complicated than playing even the most complex system. If you want something simple, it's better if you just play one of the rules-light free systems out there. Like Risus, it's hard to get simpler than that.

This. Ever so much. D&D is among the more complicated systems, yes...but making a functional system is vastly more complicated than learning to play one.

I suggest "Everybody is John" for a quick, extremely easy to learn starter game. Move on to more complicated games until you find one you're happy with.

[grimbold]

if you want a simpler rpg you dont need to make your own
just google
simple RPGs
that should help you a lot

[Aron Times]

FATAL is required reading for people who want to make their own RPGs. Specifically, on how not to make one.

[Legend]

Making your own RPG can be tons of fun, especially if it's for use by you and some friends. Good friends can usually play over or past problems that would make the game seize up in the hands of people playing with other assumptions. As for a specific mechanism, I guess we'd want to know more about what you want out of a combat system, and absent that, I'd echo the idea that you should look at all the many games that are out there and pick the one that does what you want.

[BayardSPSR]

I don't recommend expecting even a functioning system from the get-go. You essentially have two options: play dozens of systems, and compile everything that works best into some kind of amalgam, or spend several years working on it, or both.

Yes, years. If you are not willing to put vast amounts of time into making it work and overcoming every problem, it won't (think of the ten-thousand hour rule). It's up to you whether you think it's worth attempting, or better to just try a few existing systems. Remember also that playing a homebrew system means that you'll only be able to play with each other, and that the capacity of the people on this forum to advise will be limited.

I speak from experience.

[Shinizak]

FATAL is required reading for people who want to make their own RPGs. Specifically, on how not to make one.

{Scrubbed}

[Lord Thurlvin]

{scrubbed}

I think he intends it to be an example of what not to do.

[Knaight]

I think he intends it to be an example of what not to do.

He does, and has said as much. However, its more of an example of what not to so much as look at.

[Eldan]

From your first post, it seems you are mostly familiar with D&D, probably no other system at all. You talk about hit points, attributes, damage types and magic, all of which do not necessarily have to be part of any other RPG system. Especially hit points are more or less unique to D&D.

I'd recommend that before you start making your own D&D-like system, you should try looking at a few other, simpler systems and see if you enjoy them. If you played D&D 3 or 3.5, you might enjoy 4th edition, it's a bit more streamlined and easier to build characters in there. You might enjoy a system with fewer rules, like FATE or any other of a number of easy to learn (and often free) RPGs.

If you want to start your own RPG be aware that most (except probably the most rules-light ones) that are available today are the results of, at the very least, months of work. If you want a detailed combat system à la D&D and not have it be a mess, be prepared for endless testing and rewriting.

[mr_hero]

All of these are defiantly food for thought...
Right now what we've done is basically play our RPG with index cards...
The players draw their character and make up things that they want...
the players draw their items and the GM decides exactly what items and powers do....
for example we had a guy who wanted to have a limit break ability... so I gave it to him.
Some one else wanted exploding marbles... now they have different elemental attributes when they explode!
And in one awkward game, the players even caught their own pokemon in a dungeon...

alot of fun things have come out of our attempts to make a game

[Gensh]

All of these are defiantly food for thought...
Right now what we've done is basically play our RPG with index cards...
The players draw their character and make up things that they want...
the players draw their items and the GM decides exactly what items and powers do....
for example we had a guy who wanted to have a limit break ability... so I gave it to him.
Some one else wanted exploding marbles... now they have different elemental attributes when they explode!
And in one awkward game, the players even caught their own pokemon in a dungeon...

alot of fun things have come out of our attempts to make a game

As far as that goes, here (http://www.mimgames.com/window/welcome/)'s a similar system, already codified for you.

[joela]

Fighting Fantasy is my favourite for simplicity. Characters only have three attributes, Skill, Stamina, and Luck.

A single combat round is Skill-vs-Skill: each combatant rolls 2d6 and add their Skill value. Whoever gets a higher result, deals damage to the other and reduce their Stamina; when your Stamina is brought to zero, you're dead.

Any random event outside combat is determined by Luck: roll 2d6, if the result is less than than your Luck attribute, the outcome is in your favor, otherwise it's not.

That's all there is in the system. Really.

Oh! Linky, please?

[Ogremindes]

It's called Fighting Fantasy - The Introductory Role-Playing Game, and it's long out of print. Amazon lists a bunch of used copies (http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0140317090/), but doesn't even have the right cover shown, so it's hard to be sure. If you've ever played a Fighting Fantasy gamebook you know the rules.

There's also an advanced version that's getting a new edition soon, IIRC.

[Imbasel]

Speaking from personal experience making your own RPG is a lot of work. I started on a Harry Potter d20 project here on the forums and it is still developing. At first you will most likely experience a surge in work, however there will come in point where it will start to die down and you will spend more time checking over what you have than actually making new things.

It is also important to keep in mind that getting playtesters is key. It helps to solve real applications of certain abilities that you might miss and points out any obvious weaknesses in the game. It is something that is going to require a lot of work, but the benefits are worth it.