Why donÔÇÖt people create? GM's and players how is it going?

[LAYF]

On the subject of railroading - you can do it without your players feeling like they're being forced into your plan. Just limit their options in such a way that they CAN'T try to go everywhere and see everything.

True.. setting a game in a dungeon is one such way... easy and not noteable....

[WearsHats]

Yeah, pre-made adventure is what people always suggested to me. You've got the plot and the characters and the challenges all there for you, but you can still put your own spin on things. Most importantly, the really tricky stuff - like balancing encounters so that they're challenging without being hopeless and coming up with loot that's attractive without being overpowered - is handled for you. It's a great way to get started as a GM and learn the ropes without having to learn and plan and do everything all in one go. You can focus on playing the game. Managing encounters, running the NPCs, describing the action for the players, etc. Plenty to learn and do.

That's always what I'd planned to do. Instead, I somehow find myself creating an entire city full of conflicts, no rule set, and a sort of vague plan to basically allow the players to run around and do whatever they feel like and I'll figure out the consequences as we go. There's no way that could possibly go wrong. At least, that's what I, with my utter lack of experience, choose to believe.

Good luck, Sam!

[Prometheus]

I've played D&D for nearly a decade and I love DMing. I've roleplayed in a post by post forum before as well but never GMed one and i honestly have no idea where or how to start.
I love the goblins comic and I love everyone i've talked with on here so far, and now that school is done i have time to actually devote to a game i'd love to play one. But I really need to know what's expected of me in these games.

[thinkslogically]

Hey Prometheus Sounds like you might be interested in God School! It's starting out mostly getting to grips with making sprites, but you should also get a fair idea of how to build up a game by about halfway through the course. Alternatively, if you have any questions you want answered more quickly just post them up and I'm sure we can help.

What kind of game were you wanting to GM? (image-based / text-only? How many PCs / players? dungeon crawl / 'classic' D&D etc.?)

[Nerre]

Whatever you start: allow roleplaying to happen in it, some games are too math focused.

Only the winning side enjoys powergaming, while both sides can enjoy good roleplay.

[Prometheus]

Whatever you start: allow roleplaying to happen in it, some games are too math focused.

Only the winning side enjoys powergaming, while both sides can enjoy good roleplay.

That is actually a big motivation for my own frustrations with D&D. Don't get me wrong, power gaming is fun... but when ANYone powergames then you as a fellow player have a choice: Either power game with them and miss out on roleplaying opportunities, or take things because they are cool roleplaying-wise and fail to contribute to the group. As a DM you have a worse choice: either make encounters challenging for the powergamer and render the other players impotent, or make it challenging for most people and have the power gamer cut through everything like hot butter. (I actually write about a few of my problems with D&D in a blog I started about a month ago). Minmax is cool because he IS minmaxed, ie, there are some things he can't simply cut right through.

What kind of game were you wanting to GM? (image-based / text-only? How many PCs / players? dungeon crawl / 'classic' D&D etc.?)

I'm thinking of either a text only game (if anyone is interested in anything even remotely sci fi), or more likely a text only game which is still loosely based on D&D mechanics (ie. Everyone gets a class, misses sometimes, runs out of spells occasionally). Obviously since it's text based there's always the temptation to have the proper spell prepared and hit with every shot... but i have faith in this community. But i'm also afraid that i'm only interested in that because it's what i know and am already comfortable with.

The number of PCs is also variable, i tend to like bigger games for their inter-party dynamics so maybe 4-10 (I've DMed 6 before).

[LAYF]

So...

Necro


So....

Anyone here ever thougth of making there own game, not PbP, but a publiched game... be it card game like GAR, a computer game, board game or full rpg with 20 rule books and tokens....

Anyone here who have made such a game?

[LooksAndSmiles]

I have been advising a friend with ideas to make a complete ruleset for a fantasy themed collectible card game. Things went rather awkward and I never heard of him ever since. I don't mind it much to be honest, but it would be interesting if I saw a once finished product at some point and could tell: "yeah, I've been there". That being said, I like thinking up and making games, part of the reason I choose computer science as my main studies... Then I never have time to actually make anything. Heh. :/ I'm more of on the idea's side than on actual realization.

[BeanDip]

I used to take a bunch of printer paper, fold it halfover and staple it together to make books. Then I would write choose-your-own adventure books and pass them out. My family and school friends seemed to enjoy them but I was young then. I wrote them for most every genre except romance 'cause I was young enough that romance was still icky.

Although it never went further than the planning stage, when I was 17 I designed a board game based on Greek Mythology. The idea is that you had to prove your worth to become a God and get to Mount Olympus. To prove your worth you had to defeat challenges and do heroic deeds. You'd roll to move ahead on the board and if you landed on a "Challenge" space then you had to roll again. If you scored below 3 you lost and had to go back to your last challenge space. If you rolled above three, you beat the challenge and collected a token. If you rolled 3 then you rolled again.

You needed a certain amount of tokens to enter mount Olympus (which was the end of the board). Whoever got to Mount Olympus first and had enough tokens became a God and won the game. There were a bunch more spaces like the Tartarus space which made you lose a turn and the 13 Labors space that sent you back 13 spaces. There was also the Pegasus space which moved you forward. I don't remember the rest of the game and it never got past the note stage like I said.

Do those count?

[thinkslogically]

Never made a real-life game, just the forum ones But I've never really had any particular interest in building a game from the ground up. I like the small-scale stuff and story-telling aspects, but I think figuring out a whole set of mechanics to balance and that cover every eventuality would just end up being dull (for me at least!). I prefer playing

[ThroughTheWell]

I've made a few games. A couple made it to the prototype and playtest stage. I haven't gotten anything published yet... but maybe someday. I really like elegant rule sets.

[Aegis J Hyena]

I've made a few games. A couple made it to the prototype and playtest stage. I haven't gotten anything published yet... but maybe someday. I really like elegant rule sets.

The problem with that is that it's incredibly hard to come up with something unique anymore, it's all been done. Everyone swipes everyone else's ideas all the time and just renames abilities and such.

[ThroughTheWell]

I agree and disagree. Lots has been done, but obviously not everything. Some game ideas I had have been done better in games I later found. But, had I the time, I think I still have a good idea or 2. Some games build on concepts in earlier games, but not in a totaly derivative way. And sometimes a theme can make a game, even if the mechanics are similar.

I'd be more likely to agree with the idea that so many games get made each year that it is tougher to rise to the top. But I think good designers do it for the joy of the design, and money if it comes comes afterwards.

[Mereneth]

personally i just wish i knew how to get involved with some of these games.

[BeanDip]

Involved as a creator or as a player?

[Mereneth]

Either or. I'm an unpublished fiction writer and I love to do stuff that I can see others enjoy till the day comes i finish my book and hopefully get it on shelves.

I also like delving into the stories others create. I like to see the worlds they've spun unfold before me.

Hell, its why i'm collaborating with an artist who had a story idea but couldn't flesh it out. I'm now working on scripting her web comic and she is drawing it up and offering shared credit. First page isn't done yet, of course, but i've got several pages worth of script for her already ^^

[BeanDip]

A fiction writer! A man woman android womandroid CUTE BOUNCING DEER THING after my own heart.

Most games in the forum are quick and simple, with cool-plots, great GMs and fun characters but nothing that is super heavy on roleplaying (Curse of Gold aside). I'd like to see more roleplay heavy games in the forums with detailed plots and settings.

If you want to be involved as a player then you can wait till a game opens up or join into a free one (which is which is usually listed in the first post of the thread).

If you want to get involved as a creator there's a bunch of things you could do. You could visit the resources thread for art or do your game entirely in narrative. You could talk with the other GMs about getting things started and swap ideas. Seriously talk to the other GMs. They're all wonderful and helpful

[Mereneth]

A fiction writer! A man woman android womandroid CUTE BOUNCING DEER THING after my own heart.

I call them Draskhala xD She is my main character; her name is Riarkraa! Not really modeled after deer, though the other sentient species on the planet kinda is: Fyrilan

I might try my hand at making a game myself then. I've been writing a mini about some people effectively falling into the past and becoming velociraptors. Have to learn to live as raptors instead of humans as they still have their human minds intact and remember their previous lives just fine. 3 of them die on the first day. All the instincts are there to be raptors, but they are somewhat suppressed by the human side of things or at times amplified by the intellect driving them.

[GathersIngredients]

A fiction writer! A man woman android womandroid CUTE BOUNCING DEER THING after my own heart.

I call them Draskhala xD She is my main character; her name is Riarkraa! Not really modeled after deer, though the other sentient species on the planet kinda is: Fyrilan

I might try my hand at making a game myself then. I've been writing a mini about some people effectively falling into the past and becoming velociraptors. Have to learn to live as raptors instead of humans as they still have their human minds intact and remember their previous lives just fine. 3 of them die on the first day. All the instincts are there to be raptors, but they are somewhat suppressed by the human side of things or at times amplified by the intellect driving them.

That sounds intriguing. Where can I sign up?

[Mereneth]

Somewhere! If it will actually have interest i'll work on getting the intro stuff more solid and flesh it out more.

[Nerre]

There is currently a subforum about how to create games: http://www.goblinsforum.com/viewforum.php?f=29

Maybe this helps you even more.

[Mereneth]

That sounds intriguing. Where can I sign up?

Here!

[LAYF]

Hay Mereneth... Just wanted to say... I red your sign up.. and it sounds really cool that game/novel... I'd sign up if i knew i had the time not to fail you... but sadly i dont... sounds realy cool and i look forward a lot to read it

[Mereneth]

Hay Mereneth... Just wanted to say... I red your sign up.. and it sounds really cool that game/novel... I'd sign up if i knew i had the time not to fail you... but sadly i dont... sounds realy cool and i look forward a lot to read it

No problem. Perhaps you could join in later on when your schedule clears up. Really appreciate the interest and that you like the idea!

[Theis2]

Most games in the forum are quick and simple, with cool-plots, great GMs and fun characters but nothing that is super heavy on roleplaying (Curse of Gold aside). I'd like to see more roleplay heavy games in the forums with detailed plots and settings.

But, but..
Okay, my game is relatively new and been a bit slow lately as exams have been taking my life and some of the players but I hope for a strong return in the various games before the end of the month.

And to those who fear making games is much work with few rewards should attempt anyways as the players tend to do something to make it all worth it. (I might have been tired when I read it, but I love the moment Thinks and M0rt are in now and how Thinks reasures M0rt she has an exploding mushroom in her pocket if they have to fight)[/shameless plug attempt to get more games here]

And a bit late, I've attempted to make a game at my highschool as part of a project at one point. Can't say it went well though as it mostly was something that just had to be delt with at that point.