Mining for Problems

I don't think I'd ever want to make an RPG without testing it. 

It's not that testing is completely necessary. You can make something and put it out right away, and this might be the only option for some. 

But, if you can, there are huge benefits to be had. Every game that I've tested has been improved by the process. 

So let's take a trip to the experimental ludorium. 

When I'm testing a game I'm looking at a few different areas, but one looms large.

I'm looking for problems. 

Problems, Not Solutions

So there's that corporate mantra which bosses like to use: 

"Don't bring me problems, bring me solutions!"

For playtesting I feel like the opposite is true. Tell the people testing the game to bring you problems, not solutions.

I get the temptation. You've played in a playtest of a new game, and maybe it's already got you excited. It was fun, but there are definitely areas that need improving, and you've got some really cool ideas. They should add this thing, or change this rule to work a different way. 

I can only speak for myself, but personally I don't find this useful at all, and at worst I find it a distraction. 

Sometimes the ideas just don't fit with the goal of what I'm trying to create, sometimes I just don't like them, but the worst are the ideas that I actually like! There the temptation is to add them in, but nine times out of ten the idea doesn't gel with the rest of the game, or the whole thing starts to drift into something I didn't want it to be.

For me, the best feedback is "here's a list of problems I had with the game".

Now I'm only human, so I love getting a list of things they like, and a huge list of problems can feel like a gut punch, but we're here to do the difficult stuff, right? We don't want to make any old game, we want to make it good.

Imagine you get this list back:

• I wasn't really sure what my character was supposed to do
• The rules for how you level up felt confusing
• I don't know why you'd ever choose to wear armour, it feels like it makes you more vulnerable

Now one part of your brain yells:

• Look, you go searching for treasure you idiot, it's right there in the first line of the game
• It's waaaaay simpler than other games, so you must have just not been paying attention properly when I explained it
• No I've obviously tested the numbers on this and have attached a formula to prove that armour makes you 32.33 (repeating of course) percent tougher

And another part screams:

• Oh, right, well I've added an Objective system now so each character always has 3 Goals they're trying to achieve and when they tick them off they get 1 point toward their Progress Tracker
• I've stripped this down now so you just level up at the end of each session no matter what, I'm so sorry
• Armour now offers double the previous protection against all weapons and immunity to unarmed attacks

But instead, say thanks for the feedback, and let them know it's been noted. Add it to a collated document of feedback and go do some more tests if you can. 

Remember you can add to this list of problems! Maybe in running the game you got tired of flipping between distant pages, or you kept forgetting a certain rule existed. GM problems are also valid, throw them on the pile. 

A little later, when you sit down to work on the game, open the feedback document and look at the problems. Look for patterns. Take everything on board, but take nothing as gospel. Condense the list down to a few overarching problems if you can.

Then go to work on them with your own solutions, in your own voice, remembering the vision you have in mind for your game.

Their problems. Your solutions. 

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This post was originally sent as a reward to all Patreon supporters, and is released freely on this site the week after its original publication.

If you want to support my blog, podcasts, and video content then head over to my Patreon. 

System as Shock

This whole post might be stating the obvious, but it's something that's been bouncing around my head a bit.

You don't need a system for your RPG. A group can sit down and rule things by consensus, or under a lone arbiter. 

What's in the cave? Maybe it's what I planned before the game, maybe it's what makes sense in the current context, or maybe it's the best idea that the whole group can think of.

I stab the dragon! Hmm, maybe you're right that this sword couldn't possibly hurt it. But wouldn't it be cool if it did? Let's work it out. 

Of course, whatever arrangement we have in place at this imaginary table is a system, but for this post I'm talking about the specific type where there are written rules and procedures that exist independently of the people at the table.

Randomness is a part of it, but also procedures like dungeon stocking do their part. Anything where the GM can point to the book and say "hey, I can't take credit/blame for what just happened!"

Alongside the players it contributes to the game, almost like an extra person sat at the table. 

And for me, a huge part of the appeal is the element of shock. 

I've been surprised by other players at the table, and by revelations from the GM, but I've only ever been shocked by contributions from the System.

Here shock isn't innately a good or bad thing, but it's always impactful. A deeper, more intense flavour of surprise, where something is truly unexpected, often forcing an urgent or complex response.

That goblin scoring two critical hits on the barbarian. That Purple Worm encounter on the first level of a dungeon. That friendly reaction roll from a hideous monster. 

These could have come from player or GM input, but in my experience those twists don't quite carry the same weight, and can sometimes feel arbitrary.

Nothing shocks like system. 

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This post was originally sent as a reward to all Patreon supporters, and is released freely on this site the week after its original publication.

If you want to support my blog, podcasts, and video content then head over to my Patreon. 

Incentives

 Sometimes XP is sometimes framed as an amalgam of:

• Reward for doing something (get XP for Treasure/Killing/RP/Attendance)
• Catalyst for character growth (you level up when you get enough XP)
• Objective of the game (levelling up is "the point" and you do that via XP)

If you tie all three together you're moving into a real hot-zone of incentives, an understandably contentious topic. Relax, I'm not here to write about Skinner Boxes, Grinding, and Degenerate Strategies. 

In short, my feeling is that rewarding players with character improvement in return for achieving goals in a specific way impedes some of the key strengths of TTRPGs for little or no benefit in return. 

When I come across something that's widespread, but doesn't appeal to me, I try to dig down into the core of it, because there's always something there. I don't have to like it, but it can be useful to understand it. 

I think those three points above come down to questions the players are thinking when they play the game, or maybe even hypothetical questions that arise before anything hits the table. 

Above I listed them in the order they generally occur (get XP, level up, reach high level) but when I sit down to play a new game I'm usually thinking in the other direction.

Something like this: 

Objective

Okay, what's the point of this game? 

Hey I'm not being rude here. I know we're here to have fun, and we organised this game weeks ago, but I mean what's the objective? 

To get as much treasure as possible out of the dungeon without dying? Great, I'm in.

We're knights hoping to rise up through the ranks by doing knightly things? Cool. 

The demon-queen must be stopped? I don't see how we're doing that as a bunch of rat catchers but sure I'm up for a challenge. 

Catalyst

Count me in for a 6 week campaign, sounds great. 

So what's going to change over the length of this campaign?

Will my character get more powerful between sessions? Or in session? 

Level up between each session sounds good to me. 

Oh, you want to do a time-skip after session 3? Sounds neat. We just rebuild the character at Level 6 after that?

Traveller-style sounds fun. It's more about earning money to open up options that weren't viable for us before, right? Can I buy a space halberd somewhere?

Reward

So I know we're trying to kill the Demon Queen, and I know that will be easier when we've amassed power through either money or influence, but every place we've been has just been a pit of horrible monsters and nothing of value.

Sure, we're scraping some coins together, and we're doing that time-skip later which means we'll be in a better position, but I feel like there's just not enough reason to justify going down into another horrible demon pit right now. 

Ohh, we've heard that the Demon Queen's true name is in the Gristletome buried underneath Bonehenge? That'll be tough to get, but let's put together a plan.

Travelling Demonhunters are up for hire? We don't have the money, but if we can get the local Bishop on board they'll press them into helping us? Ugh, the Bishop is going to send us on some deathtrap errand in return, right?

Wait, this is just hooks, isn't it? Shouldn't we be talking about getting little tokens or something here? 

Hang on, where's the rulebook?

Mechanics, or lack of

A purist might look at those queries and see that they're all being resolved without the use of in-game mechanics, but instead through GM advice and setting player expectations. Just old fashioned communication. Author to GM, GM to players. 

If you're finding yourself dissatisfied with how incentive systems are working in your game, I'd recommend considering the alternatives. 

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This post was originally sent as a reward to all Patreon supporters, and is released freely on this site the week after its original publication.

If you want to support my blog, podcasts, and video content then head over to my Patreon. 

MVT - Minimum Viable Teach

One of the design goals for Into the Odd was that you should be able to sit down with a brand new player and get to playing almost right away. Fast character creation, streamlined setting, and almost no rules that you needed to know ahead of time.

In general I'd tell players:

• What the different Ability Scores were for, and how to roll a Save
• When you attack you roll the damage die next to your weapon, and high is good
• You lose HP when you take damage, but it comes back easily. When you run out of HP you'll lose STR instead and risk serious harm.

Though I've definitely done games where I've skipped the second and third points there. I'm calling this the MVT - Minimum Viable Teach.

But teaching a game isn't just explaining the rules, even if that's the most painful part. So what's my real MVT for Into the Odd?

I'm looking for everything I'd need to tell a group of new players before I get to the start of the game proper, the point where I'm like "you're in a room and it's horrible, what do you do??"

• You're treasure hunters going into dangerous places looking for valuable or powerful artifacts
• It's a sort of weird industrial-era world with one huge city called Bastion
• Your character has these Ability Scores, here's what they mean, high is good, average is around 10
• HP is Hit Protection which helps you avoid being wounded
• You get this equipment as your starter package, weapons have a die type next to them, bigger is better

Okay, I think that's it. Obviously if they're brand new to RPGs then you'll need to add a couple more ahead of that, but let's assume they've played something before. 

I got onto thinking about this topic after running Primeval Bastionland this weekend. I was playing with a group well-versed in RPGs, so perhaps I got complacent. The pre-game teach went like this:

• Okay so it's a world of Myth, like a version of Early-Medieval Britain from stories rather than history
• You're Knights sworn to an oath, let me read it out
• You get Glory at the end of the game if you've upheld your oath, so remember that
• Here's what your Ability Scores mean
• HP is Hit Protection, helps you avoid being wounded
• You're all a random Knight, which gives you equipment and a secret unique to you, just let me know if yours doesn't make sense
• Also you'll take on these Burdens, each of which can be relieved in a specific way, if you have 3 or more that's bad
• You have these 3 Gambits that all Knights can perform, they're on your sheet too
• Here's the hex map and what the different icons represent
• Each day has 3 Phases, Morning, Afternoon and Night. Going out at night is bad.
• Each Phase you can move 2 Hexes if you start or end in a Shire or Holding, otherwise 1 Hex. 
• Oh and the Myths mentioned in your Oath are generally found out in the wilds, but you can ask around about them too.
• If you're ever stuck it's a good idea to look for a Seer, they're usually in a Holding. 

Now I don't think the players were especially phased, but it's a world apart from how I start games of Into the Odd or Electric Bastionland.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing. I want Primeval to be its own thing, and that thing requires a few more specialist tools than I'd use in the other games. 

But looking back at this list, I do think a lot of this stuff could have been held back for explanation during the game when/if they became relevant. For an item to get onto the MVT it needs to be something that players need to know in order to get started in the game, or it should be something that would present an unpleasant surprise if discovered later on.

So, once more, how trim could I make the Primeval Bastionland MVT?

• You're Knights sworn to an oath, let me read it out
• Here's what your Ability Scores mean
• HP is Hit Protection, helps you avoid being wounded
• You're all a random Knight, which gives you equipment and a secret unique to you, just let me know if yours doesn't make sense
• Here's the hex map and what the different icons represent
• If you're ever stuck it's a good idea to look for a Seer, they're usually in a Holding.

With the following getting explained as they become relevant:

• Also you'll take on these Burdens, each of which can be relieved in a specific way, if you have 3 or more that's bad
• You have these 3 Gambits that all Knights can perform, they're on your sheet too
• Each day has 3 Phases, Morning, Afternoon and Night. Going out at night is bad.
• Each Phase you can move 2 Hexes if you start or end in a Shire or Holding, otherwise 1 Hex.
• You get Glory at the end of the game if you've upheld your oath, so remember that

And the following getting cut entirely unless somebody specifically asks:

• Okay so it's a world of Myth, like a version of Early-Medieval Britain from stories rather than history
• Oh and the Myths mentioned in your Oath are generally found out in the wilds, but you can ask around about them too.

I feel like even very game-crucial elements like day phases and hex movement can be held back, because you can count on the players asking about them once you start the game. 

It's one thing to dump the travel rules on players before they've even started playing, it's another to have them ask "so how far away is this hex" and then explain it to them with some actual context behind it. 

Likewise, it might seem odd to remove the setting blurb, but I feel like there are enough context clues given in the rest of the intro, and they'll keep coming thick and fast as they explore the world. 

Holding back the explanation of Glory is another strange one, but the players already know their Oath, so they should be on board with that. I'd mention Glory before the end of the session for sure, but I don't think it needs to go right at the start.

Going through this process has made me feel much more confident about running another game of Primeval, and I'd recommend it for anybody dreading that first session. 

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This post was originally sent as a reward to all Patreon supporters, and is released freely on this site the week after its original publication.

If you want to support my blog, podcasts, and video content then head over to my Patreon.