Business, Role-Playing, and Statistics in RPGs

Rampant Games’ Jay Barnson has posted three interesting entries to his Tales of the Rampant Coyote blog recently, including a piece about “lubricating with a GIMLET” (or the business side of making games), a piece about injecting role-playing into CRPGs, and a piece on weapon statistics in RPGs. They’re all pretty good reads, but I’m partial to the second article, and here’s why:

Now one of the problems with the industry in general, IMO, is what is referred to as (check-box design.) Game X has this feature, so the marketing guys convince the money guys to make sure the design guys have that same feature. Multiply by a dozen Game Xs, and you have a big list of required features that have to be met for a game to be competitive. As a result, you have a soulless game that feels like it was designed by committee where the really cool (heart) of the game if you can find it has been crowded out by all the required points that the marketing guys wanted to put on the back of the case.

This is (I think) totally different. This is more of a case of defining the heart of the game the most important parts through rules, guidelines, and checklists. It’s about what I, as the designer, feel strongly about. It makes sure that (for example) a meticulously crafted faction system actually gets used. It is used to make sure the games theme is reinforced throughout, and that all the major plot points are hit without requiring a linear storyline. It forces the key elements of the game to be front-and-center.

And it actually encourages creativity. I’m telling you from sad experience that it’s really, really easy to just stuff a dungeon full of straightforward combat encounters when the crunch is on, or when you are tired, or . well, any reason. And you can deal with a checklist in just as lazy a manner, if you interpret (must have at least one puzzle) to be yet another remote switch / lock combo or something. But still, a vague demand for a (role-playing) event of some kind in every (map) forces some level of creativity, and can help keep the designer focused on important / interesting parts of the game.

In one dungeon, it may be something as simple as letting a potential enemy go free, with slightly different consequences for either decision. Or it may be something as complex as allowing several different approaches to obtaining the (prize) of the dungeon. It could be a clever puzzle that can be bypassed with brute force, or an NPC encounter that could end peacefully or violently depending upon your approach.

As Frayed Knights chugs on, it appears that Jay’s wisdom attribute is increasing.