Game Design General /gdg/

Anyone here have experience in actually writing and selling a rulebook?

>>53229548
I'm still on the "writing" phase, and because my game is in a small standstill while in the playtesting section (My original combat worked on paper but not in play), but after my playtesting reveals a working solution, I just need to finish up my commission with my artist and the game is ready.

Selling is a tougher nut, but I would mostly rely on Drivethru for physical copies, then make a limited print of my own and suggest it around to the local game store chain we have there, maybe to other sides of EU too.

>>53229680
Thanks for your advices, and good luck for your game.
What is it about (just out of curiosity)?

>>53229345
I am having a hard time calculating dice probabilities for a certain kind of damage reduction.

I was thinking of saying "For each number below x, drop the highest die." So the maximum damage is generally going to stay the same, but the average drops down.

Is there any easy way to do this, shy of brute forcing it? The handful that I have tried have had really interestingly shaped curves, but it's intimidating once I get up to 4 or 5 dice.

>>53229713
It's basically a superlight generic system created for making the characters that are extremely flawed. It ain't called "Misfortune" for nothing.

It mirrors a lot of systems and outright turns them on their head. For example, the only outright positive aspect in the character sheet are "Saving graces" which are basically just positive modifiers the characters have.

Style over substance, more like, but my playtest game for it has been one of the best I've ever had. I prepped a mini-campaign where the players are the world's scrubbiest superheroes...

Their group is called the Muscles of the Night and their HQ is a backroom of some back-alley gym. They are vigilante heroes in a world where you need a license and they act and dress mostly like villains.

>>53229775
>http://anydice.com/
>http://www.anwu.org/games/dice_calc.html?N=2&X=6&c=-7
>http://topps.diku.dk/torbenm/troll.msp
>http://www.fnordistan.com/smallroller.html

I don't know if any of these will help... but worth trying.

>>53229883
>http://topps.diku.dk/torbenm/troll.msp
This one looks like it might be able to help, even if I can't wrap my head around how to write it at the moment. Thanks!

>>53229345

ok, here is my idea. A postapocaliptic region where an abandoned zoo is the main location. You are a young female explorer with amnesia looking for clues where you are and where to go. You find a mutant feline and fraternize with it.

OC Donut Steel!

>>53229548
I'm actually interested in this as well. I'm on the second (and hopefully final) revision of my book, but I've got no idea how to get it out there an generate hype.

Where do people go to find out about new TTRPGs, or reviews of them? It's kind of amazing to me how many are out there that almost no one has ever even heard of

That lack of experienced people here, it seems...

Do you think it's better for a tabletop wargame to have contested 2d6+stat rolls for shooting/defending?

Or should the only the shooter roll against a static defense stat?

>>53233828
One sided rolls are probably ideal. If you liked anything about the 4d6ish curve you'd get with opposed rolls, you might just try 3d6 one sided.

>>53233828
I prefer contested most of the time. If not, then I'd go with letting the defender do the wound roll, so that the opponent has something to do, instead of just sitting there, letting everything happen to their guys.

I saw maid RPG and had an idea similar to some of the tables there. I was wondering if the "roll xD6, duplicate increases the 10's" system works as a general system. For example is you roll two 6's you would have a roll of 26, three 1's would be 31, singles would be 1x where x is the roll.
I know some system I can't remember does something similar with d10s, but is it too weird if you do something similar with d6?

Alright, I'm trying to forge ahead on a movement system for vehicles in my scifi game. Here's the rough outline I've got so far, what do you think? (Note supersonic flight vehicles like jets are covered separately)

>Movement speed increases the relative distance covered
>Down the driveway
>Down the block
>Across a few blocks (imparts a -4 to hit)
>Across a city (imparts a -6 to hit)

>Each vehicle has a low, middle, and high speed that correlates to one of the above relative values

>You must accelerate or decelerate to move between each speed

>Ground vehicles at middle speed can only move to zones towards the front, and take -2 to Pilot tests

>Ground vehicles at high speed can only move ahead and take -4 to Pilot tests

>Hover and Flight vehicles at middle speed take -2 to Pilot tests

>Hover and Flight vehicles at high speed can only move to zones towards the front, and take -4 to Pilot tests

>>53234310
How harsh is -4 penalty?

>>53235845
I'm using a system of two d20s added together, so it's fairly severe. I may knock it down slightly. But it gives some vehicles/players room to handle better.

>>53232936
I don't want to be pessimistic, but I'm going to.

>But I've got no idea how to get it out there an generate hype

That's because it's effectively impossible. The vast supermajority of people that play games today, right now, play video games. Of the tiny minority that play analog games, a majority of them play board games. Of THAT minority, there are people who play tabletop role playing games - but, the vast majority of those people are locked into or looking for games that they can pull off a shelf, designed by a name they know that usually has a development team or company behind them, so that they know they get regular content updates and development. Basically the bottom level group of people that you need to appeal to, through no fault of your own, can't be bothered to even read your game, much less play it or invest in its success.

The most likely demo to be interested in your game? Other amateur game designers. Know what they're more interested in? Their own games. I mean, look at these threads (I'm totally guilty of this too), where people post about their own games looking for feedback and otherwise barely contribute, or don't otherwise contribute at all.

You might have some luck if you take your game to local cons and set up a booth with your own money and spend a few weekends doing that. But, that will never generate a sustainable audience, just people that sorta liked that indie game they played at a con once.

>It's kind of amazing to me how many are out there that almost no one has ever even heard of

This is not surprising to me at all, for the reasons above.

I'm approaching character limit, so I'll be an optimist in the next post.

>>53236188
All that said, here's the good news, IMO. At the end of the day, most of us aren't making games that we want droves of other people to play. We're making games that we want to play. If you can change your perspective enough to where that's your goal and you can achieve by making a game that is fun for you and your friends, then that's as far as you need to go.

From there, if you have a game idea that is actually UNIQUE, and actually EASY enough to get into, you can self-publish on Drive Thru or some other POD. If it is actually unique, polished, and simple enough to garner real interest, maybe it gets noticed and you have a fair shot at getting a call from a studio or something - However, in my opinion, this is still a long shot, so you should try to make yourself happy with making a fun thing for you and your friends to do.

For the longest time, my friends and I tried to generate hype for TLB and we had grand plans of publishing and stuff, and it was probably the most miserable 2-3 years of our lives. Only when we had a long talk, settled on the fact that the game isn't objectively good or unique, but also that it fulfilled our desires for the game, and stopped trying to push it on hostile internet places and sweaty cons full of mouth-breathers, everything got better. Even the interest that has developed in the game outside of our group has been fresh and organic.

You might feel inclined to be like, "Mystic Harbor Boiii is just jaded and this is not the reality," and that's fine. I'm just saying, if you want to save yourself a lot of heartbreak and disappointment, adjust your perspective of game design. Make shit where the only requirement for your fulfillment is that it's fun for you.

Or make a video game, Or drink a near fatal dose of luck elixir. I dunno.

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Also, hi /gdg/. I've been super busy at my adult job and progress on Mystic Harbor has slowed.

I'm still working on the "Backpack" page. Attached is what I have so far.

I saw the note in the last thread about making the durations more ambiguous, and I like that idea, just not fully sure how I want to execute it yet.

>Cigarettes are edgy

I thought the same thing, but I think there's an argument to make for, like, them being thematic. Think of Stand By Me, for example. There's an entire scene dedicated to the kids smoking their dad's cigarettes.

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Also working on the "PHB" fluff/setting info. I'm using this curiosity shop in the town to try to come up with a theme and design for the people and place profiles. I know I'm gonna keep the player book very general, and try to make the details feel in-character.

Do you guys like the layout? Is the general info enough?

>>53236461
I think cigarettes are thematic for what you're doing.

>>53236663
I like the layout. The text might to be a smidge bigger since the kiddy handwriting is a bit harder to read.
The info seems good for the characters, it's about what I would explain as GM if my players walked into the shop. Might be a little light for the GM, but that's gonna be hard to change if you want it to be in-character

TLB anon, if you're still here, I want to thank you for the suggestions

It just took a couple hours of work but I've solved a fairly massive number of organizational issues with data validation and vlookup alone.

Like you suggested, people can now simply enter the ability name and have the effects, costs, etc be printed on the page; people can input their rank and the costs will be immediately updated.

Every seperate sheet from the version you viewed is now on one cross-referenced workbook and best of all, due to the magical power of defined names, I no longer need to remember cells when creating damage/healing coefficiencts for new abilities--I can simply enter "TotalBody" or "TotalCrit"!

Thanks!

>>53237052
as usual forgot to mention that I actually cannot count how many massive, positive changes I've made to the sheets in the last few days, so if you suggested it and I didn't include it in my post it's probably in the game

I may not have remade it in googledocs, but god damn

>>53237052
>>53237064
Hell yeah, glad to hear it! Send me an updated version when you're comfortable, I'd love to see it.

By the way, speaking of Google Drive - if you have a Gmail address, you can upload straight up Excel spreadsheets (doesn't have to be Google Sheets) to Drive for free (up to a certain amount of storage) and share them that way.

>>53237003
Yeah, I think I've settled on putting together a separate manuscript for GMs, that will be out of character, and go into much more detail about people and places. I'm planning on including one or two scripted adventures as well to accustom GMs and groups to the setting, but I also want the GM to have enough information to craft their own adventures in the setting.

Thanks for the feedback

>>53237113
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1XjnRaSaC77DNPZ2v5UJCcDlFBG9MLd5esbnXe0EzlaI/edit?usp=sharing

I knew GDocs could handle Excel sheets, but I assumed there'd be issues with more obscure functions/et cetera. However, it seems like the only difference is in how they handle cell/sheet protection!

The link is anyone-can-edit so it may get boned, but I assume that the interest in fucking up the copy of a spreadsheet posted in /gdg/ is pretty low, so it shouldn't be an issue

There are still issues with it especially when it comes to graphic/spatial design choices, but in terms of usability everything has gone up significantly

Things to look at include the character sheet, combat sheet, and compendium of abilities whereas the recipes compendium hasn't been touched and the internal ref. page is pretty boring

>>53237157
Ah! Yeah, that sounds like a pretty solid way to get it done. You're definitely on your way there.

>>53237372
Very nice, it looks like it's definitely coming along. Looks like a concept I would really like too - Looks really crunchy and granular. Not everyone's cup of tea, but definitely mine.

Anon, you should add this to the project list in the OP (if you haven't already) and give yourself a name to use in these thread so those of us interested can follow. The sheet looks promising, and the formulas I see are definitely improvements from the first one you sent me, but it's hard to read into the game as a whole without a manual. I know you said in a previous thread that there were reasons you didn't want to share that yet, which is cool, but when you do, I want to read it!

>>53237775
It's 100% built to satisfy my (like your post above--mine and nobody elses, though I do enjoy my friends playtesting it) need for stats, stat weights, and mechanics that I acquired by playing too much World of Warcraft in the past, so the cruncy/granular is intended!

I mostly lurk rather than post, but once I get the manual (which is more of an amalgamation of fluff/setting/rule/DMHB/ books than anything else) to a more presentable state I'll definitely include it in the OP! It's currently in a rather skeletal form--some sections are very filled in, but I want to have at least 75% of the pages non-blank before sharing it.

Thanks for the suggestions and the encouragement :)

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ah so nice

>>53230860
this is a campaign, not a game

>>53240911
Hell, it's more like a short story than a campaign.

>>53240478
That is sexy.

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>>53240478
Oh hi there.

>>53242823
That's interesting.

>>53246293
don't act like you know what the fuck any of those charts actually mean, it's just autism porn

>>53246474
You don't understand them?

>>53246474
assuming you are not shitposting

In this kind of chart each line reprents one rolls probability (e.g. black is roll6d12 take lowest 3)

Following the line you can see in the horizontal axis values for the roll and on the vertical axis the chance to roll that value or above (e.g on the black line, for roll=11 we have ~55% chance of rolling above that)