If we were to completely wipe the slate clean and begin work on a brand new TTRPG system, the first thing we would need to do is set what our objectives are. What I mean by objectives is a goal that is broad and describes what we want the game to do for the players.
Objectives are meant to represent our philosophy about how to best facilitate fun for a group getting together to play our game, whether that be online or around the kitchen table. Your objectives should always be created keeping in mind that the game is, in fact, a game, and that it is being played by real people. Objectives could include things like: "Each player should be actively engaged and participating in the game", "Character creation should take no more than 5 to 10 minutes", "Combat should take more than X number of minutes", or "Limit the number of ambiguous rules to as few as possible" etc.
Pretend for a moment that we are creating a new RPG. Or that someone else is creating it but you get to have some input. Whatever. What do you think is important for an RPG to do for its players? What objectives would you have if you were making your own RPG?
This thread is an extension of my previous thread Class Balance and Cupcakes
Hm. I'll chime in with some broad statements to start things off.
- The player should always have a significant number of options in any given situation. Not all options need to be created equal of course, but simply having "Fight or flee" is not enough choice.
- Each class should have a specialty, but it should not be cripplingly overspecialized. EX: Your guy can do anything, as long as it involves a pasta noodle. If pasta noodles aren't in the scenario, your character is worthless. Obviously an exaggeration, but it outlines the basic idea.
- Conversely, every class should be versatile, but not too far branched from their specialty. EX: Your pasta master also has minimal control over the realms of cheeses, sauces, and meats, but he is not nearly as good at these things as he is at doing things with pasta, and he wouldn't know what to do with frosting if it came with an instruction manual.
- Strive for clarity in everything, or at the very least make it clear when something is INTENTIONALLY ambiguous.
- When adding new things in later installments, keep in mind exactly how they interact with existing things from the core game and any previous expansions.
- Character creation should be straightforward, but with enough options to keep the player interested (as a side note, I think Pathfinder already does a very good job of this).
- Combat should be both fast and satisfying. Nobody wants to take 10 minutes killing a giant crab (slow), but they also don't want to beat the final boss in 30 seconds (unsatisfying). Strive for either multiple, quick rounds, or fewer, longer rounds.
I'll think of more later.
My own goals...
- To facilitate equal participation and engage players.
- To reduce the number of ambiguous rules to as few as is possible (hopefully none).
- To allow the game to scale the number of players upwards or downwards. This may have to have a limited margin, but there should be a minimum and maximum number of players your game can handle. And if your game can't handle a certain number of players without breaking down...Make sure you make that clear so that players know what the limitations of your system are.
- To meet players reasonable expectations that any option available to them will have meaningful benefit to them. If there is a choice available within the game, than the game needs to be able to handle it. For example, if barbarian/wizard is an option, than it should be something your game can accommodate. Otherwise, it shouldn't have been an option.
- Specialization should not mean non-diversity. Any additional resources, such as talents, perks, feats, items, skills, etc. the game grants you that are not a part of your class, should not be a tax, but rather they should be supplementary.
- Design the game in such a way that it could be played with relative ease regardless of whether it is being played at a table or online (whether by something like skype or PBP).
And I'll go ahead and +1 this one "When adding new things in later installments, keep in mind exactly how they interact with existing things from the core game and any previous expansions." and this "Character creation should be straightforward"