Writing My Own TTRPG

I talk about my thoughts on making a paper-and-pencil RPG and what advantages and disadvantages I might have from my experience of making computer RPGs.

Video I reference:

[CuddlyPsycho]

I originally came to this channel because I'm running a Fallout TTRPG (using Pulp Cthulhu), so I'm super excited to see this topic!

[allluckyseven]

Aw, thank you so much for answering my question! I'm so happy right now I can barely type this comment!
I think I agree with everything you said -- it's hard not to, anyways. But as a hobbyist TTRPG designer, your answer made me think of ways to implement things that CRPGs do easily that are hard to do (or that you just don't want to do, as a player or as a GM) in a tabletop/PNP RPG. Some TTRPGs deal with those things (ammo, encumbrance, inventory) in a more practical way. Kinds of items you can carry based on weight (light, medium, heavy) or size using different lists for those, and for ammo this technique which I don't remember if it has a name (probably does, most things do), but it's like, you have a die that represents your ammo, that you roll every time you shoot. If you roll a 1 in that die, you substitute that for the next lowest die (so you swap a d12 for a d10), until you get to a d4 or a d2, and then you run out of ammo.

[yuri_art_]

Main difference for me is how things are calculated, a computer can do all the long ass crazy calculations super fast, while for a real RPG it should be fast and with fewer rules.

[Drudenfusz]

As someone who works on her own TTRPG system, I have to say there is plenty of room for innovation, since it feels like most systems operate in a very narrow paradigm set by D&D, even GURPS does not look that different to me. Sure, there are a few systems that delve into narrative mechanisms, and that is what I am also doing. Not sure if that will mean my system can only ever be a niche product, or i all the people that enjoy the emotional stories in so many media could also appreciate that in their role-playing experience.

[coupdeforce]

I laughed out loud when you said "human GMs know when things are boring". Ideally that's certainly true 🤣😂

[Heeeseee]

It would be interesting to see a video about your home rules for TTRPG

[TannerFrancisFilms]

This is a fun video to see pop up after spending the last year writing and playtesting my first TTRPG. Even funnier is, its an adaptation of Fallout. I wasn't a fan of the existing options, so I decided to make my own.

[MrLarsKoch]

What should Tim's TTRPG be called?
Options below:

1 "Critical Miss: A Tabletop Tragedy"
2 "GURPS But Better: The Cain Chronicles"
3 "Roll for Fallout: The Dice Edition"
4 "Vaults & Villains"
5 "Wasteland Wonders: A Game of Questionable Survival"
6 "SPECIALly Doomed"
7 "Nat 1 Apocalypse"
8 "Raiders & Radscorpions"
9 "Crispy Bacon: The Post-Nuclear Pig RPG"
10 "Mutants, Mayhem, and Mild Radiation Poisoning"

[stragalet]

Nice!
I wrote my first TTRP when I was around 16~ it was about Blade Runner, I created a book with its cover and such even, and I added a lot more background for the “outer world”, combat rules, character types… I think we played it once or twice with friends, wasn’t super balanced, several died soon :D
then… I forgot about it… and it got lost, like… tears in the rain…

[BubblewrapHighway]

I tried this when my army buddies and I were homeless in Golden Gate Park. 😂 My magic system had 8 elements that were arranged as opposites, like the primary color wheel. Fire, ice, water, lightning, holy, dark, solar, and lunar.

[Sage-xron]

when it comes to computer RNG vs physical dice rolling/card picking, I feel a lot more people are fine with the latter because of the physical component. You physically roll the dice, or take the card, so it doesn't feel like some obscure number machine behind the scenes is screwing you over. It's more just vibes than anything actually serious

[Rigel_Chiokis]

I remember seeing two sample pages of a TTRPG rule book based on an MMORPG (I think it was for Everquest). In the online game, you had a searching or foraging skill. You pressed the key to trigger the skill and the game would say "you found nothing" or "you found <name>". That was the skill shown on the two sample pages. They had a rule with it's associated calculations, variations and exceptions that spanned almost 1 3/4 of the two pages shown. I skimmed over it and thought "there is no way I would want to go through that much work just to tell a player you did or did not find something! Give skills a level from 0 to 100. Roll percentile dice; roll less than your skill level and ta da! You succeeded! So much simpler. The book publisher was trying to mimic, on paper, what the computer software was doing. Sure, a program can run 12 calculations and account for a hundred different variables for the action you want to do and do it in a fraction of a second. A game master can't.

Another point about the advantage difference between the two is this; human imagination can generate a scene faster and with more (or less) detail and realism than a computer game can.

[kecske]

Interesting point at the end there about the "hook". Everyone seems to say you must have one, as a prerequisite. I would love to hear more on this topic.

[isaacwillbanks]

When it comes to inspiring players to be clever, Powered by The Apocalypse is so good. Their magic system is what D&D want D&D Magic to be.

[apresmidi]

Having a CRPG based on a tabletop system can be really helpful as a means to see how lots of the stacking numbers and mechanics that, as a human, I sometimes have trouble keeping track of are meant to work together. Although even this requires that the game is as faithful to the tabletop system as possible.

[innui]

Back in the mid 80's, I slacked off my sociology classes in secondary school by designing a d100 based ttrpg based on a series of strips from the 2000AD, involving an alien invasion of earth.
In many ways I regret that I never went seriously into designing ttrpgs, especially back then, when it was less polished and more experimental.

[brianviktor]

About the discrepancy of what people say they like and actually like, that affects me too. I very much like the idea of having to manage limited resources like ammunition and consumables, yet in such games I prefer to have somehow infinite resources. For example in many games I barely ever use potions, I never used scrolls, I don't even like companions. These are all things that are ephemeral assistances to problems I should be able to handle myself. This sense of self-sufficiency and self-agency are important to me.

Still, I like the idea of these things existing and being part of a game.

[oliviermavre]

About fast travel: The best part of Morrowind for me was the ability to travel on foot from one city to the next. I would prepare my gear, carefully plan my itinerary, and fully immerse myself in the journey.

About the GM role in a CRPG: How can you add a "human touch" to it? I’m creating "Choose Your Own Adventure" games in Twine with a coder to incorporate RPG mechanics, and I’m striving to capture the feeling of a real TTRPG session. In one game, I gave players the option to flat-out refuse the quest and go back to bed—or other things my players did for fun when I was a GM. What systems or ideas could enhance the player experience, allowing them to feel the same freedom and creativity as in a tabletop RPG?

[brockschannel]

I've been working on my own TTRPG game. The current prototype of it is based mostly on my knowledge of RPG video games. (It uses Fallout 1 and 2's combat system) I'm more invested on world building than gameplay design though.

[dolt]

Would be super interested to know if you are aware of solo tabletop role playing (GM-less single player tabletop RPGs) and what you think of them. I find them super interesting because of the ways they have to provide rules and information to allow a player to basically act as both GM and player at the same time, ideally without friction and without so many rules it becomes cumbersome. Solo TTRPGs as a result tend to have a lot of abstraction and utilize tables and keywords to help the player generate content procedural for themselves, which I think you might find interesting from a design perspective.
I also think it is super fertile ground for new innovations in design but it’s also such an incredibly niche subject that there isn’t much incentive to do so from a monetary perspective.