Design Update #1 - The Concept

So, we’re making a Tabletop Roleplaying Game!

In the first episode of Wait, Roll That Again!, we spoke to Morgue Davie about the basics of game design, and he talked about finding the “rainbow” that defines our game.

Let’ find that rainbow! At the end of the episode, I teased the project we’ll be working on. A game about imagination, creativity, and friendship, a game about Halloween!

I loved Halloween as a kid. The holiday wasn’t a huge thing in the countries I grew up in, but as a kid with an incredibly active imagination, playing dress up and pretending I was a hero, Jedi or monster was one of the ways I expressed myself. I want to make a one-shot length game intended to capture that feeling we got when we put on those costumes.

I intentionally defined the game as “spooky” during the episode. The idea is, I would love for this game to be a game people play when they’re not super keen for a more terrifying game. Low horror Halloween is still good Halloween!

If you haven’t had the chance to listen to the first episode of Wait, Roll That Again, here’s the first episode, also available on your favourite podcasting platforms.

The Game’s Elements

To delve into this concept, I’ll use a framework proposed by TTRPG designer (and fellow Substacker) Pam Punzalan in their article The Elements of TTRPGs: A Starting Point. This framework allows a designer to essentially find that rainbow Morgue was talking about in our conversation, by asking a series of questions about your concept. These questions can be roughly divided into conceptual and mechanical elements. Today, we’ll go over the conceptual questions to nail exactly what we want the game to achieve.

Fantasy: “What experience or experiences do you want your game to bring to life?”

Halloween is not just about monsters and candy, it’s about creativity and friendship too! My goal is to capture the feel of a group of excited kids braving the night in their home-made costumes, and working together to defeat whatever Halloween can throw at them.

World: “What is this Game About?”

I think the game is set in a version of our real world, but with the presence of magic and mystery. The modes of play the game will focus on are combat, fighting animated Halloween decorations that stand between our costumed heroes and their candy, and solving mysteries.

Body: “Who is the game written for?”

When I sat down to think about this question, I kept thinking about my own group of players. We’re all creative people, working in music and film and other mediums, and I really want this game to celebrate that creativity. So I want to write this game to work for that audience primarily.

Principles: “What is this game REALLY saying about the real world?”

This is certainly a tricky question. All art reflects perspective, even a TTRPG has something to say about the creators view on the world. Because theme can be a thesis statement; a summary of what someone believes about the way the world should and could be. I’ve mentioned friendship and creativity as guiding pillars for the game’s concept. The game should be collaborative and empowering, and I think that’s a rejection of rugged individuality that our cultures seem to prop up. I want the strengths of this game to come from working together and using each other’s strengths.

So, where does that leave us?

The game will be a game about using creative powers to fight monsters and solve mysteries, all while emphasizing that real power comes from our relationships to one another. You’ll play as an excited kid working on your costume and setting out with a group of friends, and supporting other another as you face down the night. Figuring this out has been really really fun! Even though this doesn’t directly tell us about the games mechanics, it informs the kind of mechanics we want to use. If we’re able to figure out that rainbow, defining the experiences that we want the game to replicate, we’ve got something to check our mechanics against.

Thanks for reading, I hope you check out the first episode, and come back next week for episode two, where we’ll be learning how we can study other TTRPGs to help with our design!

Here’s the latest episode in-case you need to catch up before next week!