Finding my way in a TTRPG
This is part 1 of a 3-part series on developing a 1-page TTRPG.
I have a confession: I’m not into table-top RPGs.
Well, not until a few months ago. As some of you may have read, I did a case study on a Baldur’s Gate 3 quest previously. Despite living in places where tabletop RPGs eagerly make their rounds, I was always into the RPG side and not the complicated physical settings of this popular genre. The last time I played a table-top was Call of Cthulu with four others and a patient, hand-holding GM in Sweden four years ago. Besides that random encounter, BG3 has been the only game that’s caught my attention.
Recently, I was forced to stop playing my annoyingly-confident, owlbear-loving heart-of-ice druid from the Sword Coast after encountering a quest-breaking bug in Act 2. While waiting for a patch, it so happens that the one-page RPG Jam coincides with my inability to play the sole TTRPG I’m decent at, so what can a beginner do to fill that gap?
Try making my own, of course! After playing a couple one-pagers and watching JP Coovert’s reviews, my new impetus spawned an idea for a travel game.
This series will follow my attempts at creating a fun, decently playeable game. From outline to writing scenarios and hopefully playtesting, join my beginner’s mindset to learn something I know almost nothing about!
Diceless or Dice-yes?
As a certified noob, I don’t have any dice. And no, I won’t buy one just to lose it. I do have two apps though. And a gold Yes/No coin.
Taking this newness in my stride, my first priority was to create a game that could be played by people like me - no dice, but definitely a cellphone. And some change.
So off I went to Youtube again, watching Diceless TTRPG how-tos that I understood about 40% of. Good enough.
Good enough for me to decide to make a game that was rooted in a basic coin-flip/d6 roll mechanic, no math, and journalling-based.
The Adventure
I was born with wanderlust. Literally — my parents had me after coming back from another country, and I have moved over 10 times (and stayed at numerous hotels and BNBs from a rough estimate). Since I was laid off however, this year marks the first since the pandemic that I haven’t travelled. Moving back home doesn’t count!
However, all is not lost — I’m going to Tokyo on my birthday in-between moving countries. Happy Millenial-aged me!
(I say this as I eat tamago-kake gohan for dinner like every Persona college student out there.)
Spurred on by this trip-citement, the game scenario came surprisingly easily:
You're a travel photographer invited by a small country to promote their diverse sights with your photos. With only one day left and no luck so far, you're banking on your remaining 12 hours to sightsee and take amazing photos that will be front and centre on their official website.
My goals were to:
Add room for player actions: Taking a photo, visiting places and encountering events
Add a clear start and end state: A timed deadline in the form of hours and action points
And most importantly, encourage player imagination:
For the last goal, I wanted to engage players to write their own journey. By taking photos and describing the locations and interactions they have with guided prompts, they are engaged to “co-write” the gameplay together.
The aim of the game is for you to journey to these locations and describe the unique places and people you meet while taking photos. The game ends when you have reached the 12th hour or run out of stamina points. There is no "right" or "wrong" way to describe what you see, who you meet, or what photos you take. Enjoy the journey!
And that’s all for now. In the next part, I describe my process of working through the gameplay system. Which… I’m still struggling with. Wish me luck!