#game-design #ttrpg

Elements of a TTRPG

source by Pam Punzalan from conversations with Shao Han Tan

What are the identifiable elements of TTRPGs?

Just as a conversation starter. If we can zero in on the essentials, we can make a checklist that helps new designers.

For books, these are plot, character, setting, theme, and so on. What about for RPGs?

Fantasy

What experiences are we bringing to life?

Who are we, what do w do?

World

What is this game about?

What world are we presenting? What do we ask of players in this world? How does the world serve the Fantasy (above)

Body

Who is the game written for?

Myself? Players? Solo journaling?

Tension

What situations does the game facilitate?

Break from the norm. Is it about conflict? Is something wrong, needing to be solved?

Not always monsters to fight.

Design (Rules / System)

What can players do? What can't they do?

No violence in Wanderhome.

Boundaries and constraints. In theory done to serve the Fantasy.

Form

What does the game look like? How does it present itself?

Does it have illustrations? How's the layout? Is most of the game about one mechanic? Are there sections detailing fictional entities? Do those have stat blocks, meant to be fought? What do these sections reveal about the world?

Graphic design, typography, game aids (cards, maps, etc.) all affect the form.

These can be wild, not just traditional tools. See This Discord Has Ghosts, or A Quiet Year.

Touch

What are the kinetic experience players have?

Rolling dice, shuffling cards, etc.

Accompany emotions: joy, excitement, apprehension, etc.

"I have 5 tokens, that's enough energy for one more fight..."

See Dread, the Jenga game.

Possibly unintended, possibly introducing accessibility limitations.

Principles

What is this game REALLY saying about the real world?

Thirsty Sword Lesbians: The world is queer, there is intimacy in violence, as in romance, violence is transformative, not destructive.

Intent

Why did the designer do things this way?

"I want to roll a lot of dice", "I want to extend the conversation about postcolonialism in Southeast Asia".

Comments

John Harper said that the hardest part of of designing the game was picking the words for player action. I think shows why picking the right words matter so much.

Fantasy I am thinking of this as the pitch, we are going to play as blahing blahs who blah. Pitch is better than fantasy, because it reflects the process for how games go from an idea to the table, a player makes a pitch and usually ends up running the game.

World I am thinking of this as the setting, because it's never a fully fleshed out world, and it's not actually about which world. The article identifies this, it's what's the game about, themes and tropes. Role playing is best with a common touchstones. Night Dark Agents works because players understand Dracula, The Grand Campaign works because players understand King Arthur, and every DnD campaign works because players know enough of Lord of the rings or material inspired by it.

Body (Audience & Players) That it needed to be in parenthesis proves the point, let's just use Audience and Players. Yes players should be at the forefront of design, but one player before all others, the one that is going to pitch the game.

Tension Slice of Life TTRPG is a thing, plot or story would make as much sense as a descriptor. So the 7 point story structure helps here, something invented in a TTRPG, each of those 7 points must happen for a game to be working.

There is a world we want to engage with, but things are happening to you, they are unexpected and you have to respond, In sufficient response and bad things happen satisfying response good thing happens.

Design (Rules/System) New players are often better players because they don't yet know what they can't do. Again just call it rules/system.

Form Virtually every games form is going to be in the teach by the player making the pitch, and is functionally an extension of that pitch. Session 0 instructions are pretty hard to find.

Touch Materials maybe, the important thing that isn't mentioned is character sheets.

So in short TTRPG design elements are creating tools for a player to help other players create plots, settings and characters for a target audience using themes and game rules.

TTRPG designs fail when the don't make it to the table, usually because they didn't consider the GM and how to help them communicate.
– DCFowl

Terminology is always the hardest part, because it defines so much of what the players do. Each term has to fully encapture exactly what it is you want it to accomplish. It's intimidating as hell. Especially as verbs - and I'd say that, as much as I love Blades, the actions list is pretty flawed! The hacker community has torn it apart and remixed it a thousand ways. It works, in Blades, but only because of how extremely specific Blades is...and even then, I'd argue that the list has some issues.

Edit: And that is to say, I don't think there's any "perfect" list. Go take a big readthrough of Cortex Prime. It shows how all of these different game design ideas can be remixed into a "core stats" section of your game... and it shows the crux of the issue very clearly.

– Deleted