Creating a Role Playing Game (Part III)

Status report time! The last two days have been like a night and day difference between my productivity levels over the past couple months. I think I’ve accomplished more in the previous two days than I have over the past two months! And I think part of that boost in productivity may in fact be the software that I’m using to work. I’ve switched to using Obsidian exclusively for my rough draft work. Scrivener is a great software application for writing, but I think it may have too many bells and whistles. I found myself constantly getting distracted with organizing my content instead of just writing it down. Obsidian is a glorified Notepad. An empty space for writing, that supports MarkDown formatting, and a clean left panel with a file/folder tree so I can quickly organize my notes/documents. But probably one of the strongest features I’m in love with right now using Obsidian is that I can use this app on my desktop AND on my Android (and hint, I don’t have to pay for a subscription for Sync.) I’m using a freeware utility called FolderSync, that uploads my vault to my Cloud for me. Anyway, I digress…

So last night, immediately before I crashed at like 22:30? I released a quick Note on here (and on my website at some point in time), detailing the progress I’ve made. And I’ve made considerable progress. The fact that I’m writing this report, rather than working on my project shows that my brain needs a break. Brainstorming is actually a lot of work! So what have I accomplished in the past two days?

• I wrote the full text and instructions on how to use my Oracle System. I’m pretty proud of it, because it follows a simple progression of asking follow-up questions, and providing unique tables to roll upon to provide those answers (if needed). Literally, an eight-year-old child could use this— but probably won’t because I refuse to stop speaking like an intoxicated Sailor Scout.

• Next I worked on outlining Character Creation. My system is firmly rooted in the use of tropes. And that of course, immediately turns off a bunch of people, because tropes are bad, right? I disagree. Tropes are useful to quickly communicate an idea, and because my game is anime-focused, what better way to construct the world and character ideas, than to use a lot of tropes as starting points? To do this, I started by defining what are the typical tropes found within anime. And I discovered there are three: Expressive, Narrative, and Functional. I don’t want to bore you with the details here— you’ll have to read my book! But suffice to say, I’ve got a 100 color choices, 200 Personality Demeanor qualities, and as of right now, I’m looking at well over 500 Species qualities— yeah, you can build your own species/race. I’m also working on a Lifepath generator to help create interesting backstories quickly. That’s probably another hundred or so things to work with.

• I’ve also created the economics system the game will function in. Turns out, what I’m designing is very more narratively creative than it is mechanically crunchy. So there are no Levels, there’s no Experience Points to book-keep. Instead, I’ve tripped over the absolutely genius idea that everything— including the character creation process boils down to monetary economics. Leveling up, is simply a matter of buying upgrades. Everything is a Tag in my game, and every Tag has a set price. Every thing you do in the game either earns your character monetary units, or your character exhausts their stores. I even came up with some Jargon that fits perfectly within the crazy antics of my anime-based setting. Is your mind open enough to not be totally offended by it?

• As a result of building an economic system, I’ve also begun developing the overall story of the game. The powerful antagonists, why certain events occurred, even some Where in the Hell am I? bits are beginning to form solidity. It’s a massive galaxy— of course it is! A fusion of Cyberpunk with Space Opera. The adventures are oversized, just like most of the character’s eyeballs are. There’s lots to create.

• Finally, a couple days ago, I stumbled onto a solution that I’ve been hunting for a while. Most cyberpunk games are very lethal. I’ve come up withe perfect solution. Death is indeed a real thing that happens in anime, but it’s typically reserved for extreme special occurrences. And that’s not the vibe I want to play within anyway. I want comedy. Fun. Silliness. Epic chaos! So, instead of taking damage, like in most role playing games, characters will become Stressed Out. And when this happens, they’ll morph into a Chibi version of themselves. A practically indestructible form that employs epic level humor to chill out. I mean, reality is already mostly suspended, but now while being a Chibi, you can effortlessly pull out a bazooka from thin air, and blast that pervert’s face to oblivion, or kick them into orbit. Of course, there’s consequences for becoming a Chibi, but the goal is to provide an additional layer of fun, so they’re not too punishing.

Anyway, I always imagined my game system to be sort of an inside joke between game masters and players— knowing how much players hate reading (apparently). Just imagine pulling a tome of like 700 pages off the bookshelf and plopping it down on the kitchen table with a loud, resounding thud, stating, ”Today, we’re playing this!”. The joke being that my aim is to make starting a character up and getting to game play should only take like 20 minutes. The bulk of my masterpiece here is options, details, and examples, worded with a fun, sarcastic tone that’s a pleasure to read. Don’t forget about the eye-candy! Lots of cute anime characters will be causing havoc in the margins. Mostly probably drawn by yours truly, because there’s no way I could possibly afford to pay other people to fill up pages with beautiful artwork. With the way the current economy is, I’ll be lucky to break even!

Anyway, time will tell, hopefully soon, because I’m eager to get this system play tested—hard. I have three different modes that need examination: Tabletop, Solo, and Asynchronously. And I’ll need to find some awesome who wanna try it out. (hint, hint, HINT!)