Friday, March 10, 2017

Tabletop Role Playing Game Development Continues

Last week I finished writing the first section of the fantasy novel I've been working, but before switching back to Spinward Fringe full time, I thought I'd take another look at the role playing game I started designing last year.

For everyone who doesn't know, a Table Top Role Playing Game involves pencil and paper, character sheets you can hold in your hand, and a variety of dice (I love dice...). It's a game where a Game Master guides a group of players through an adventure she or he has written in advance.

In a fantasy Tabletop RPG, players may assume the role of a fighter, a wizard, a ranger or rogue (there are a lot of other character types, those are the most common). They make characters, filling out character sheets and then assume the roles like actors who don't get out of their seats often.

I spent over 20 years as a game master, and have created a few custom game systems before. Creating a new system from scratch is a lot of fun for me because it's a huge challenge. It has to be different enough from the other role playing games out there, and it has to be a great system on its own to be worthwhile. Role playing systems also have a tendency to become extremely complicated, and that's one thing I'm resisting, making the system harder to put together.

This role playing system is being designed to adapt to the world of Brightwill (Fantasy), Dark Arts (current day Supernatural), and Spinward Fringe (Space Opera / Science Fiction Adventure).

When I finish the core rules I'll be releasing them for free in a copyrighted book. By Saturday I'll have enough of the basics finished so a player can create a character and be ready to play in less than an hour. I'm really excited to continue development on this, and It'll keep going even as I turn most of my attention towards finishing Spinward Fringe Broadcast 11: Revenge.

I'll also be launching my basic Patreaon site next week, and I'm working to get copies of my books in hand so I can offer signed copies by the end of the month. There was a delay because Amazon isn't offering authors the option of ordering bulk copies for a discount, so I'll be using another company to get copies soon(ish).

I'm so excited about Patreon, it'll give me one place where I can unveil a lot of things this year, and I hope it'll open up more opportunities to entertain you.


RL

2 comments:

Sheila Hall said...

I honestly can't comprehend how you find the time for all these things, but I'm the happier for it. The Patreon page is an excellent addition to all your other contact spaces online. Here's to a smashing and lucrative success. Keep up the good work!

Unknown said...

I am really excited about this: it's a golden opportunity to start on RPG and I will extend it to my family of 4. There will be a lot of learning as we go and I hope to share feedback that you can use.

PS: looking forward for the next Spinward Fringe instalment!