Hey guys, me again. If you remember the last thread on how to PLAY an RPG, this will be fairly similar, only focusing on the creation/narrating aspects of the game.
PART 1: All rules about being a player still apply!
PART 2: BASICS OF CREATION
a) Every RPG has the same basics. They all have storylines and player's. If your RPG is missing it's storyline, it will not get many players. If your player's have no storyline, more are less likely to join.
b) When click the 'New Topic' button and are planning on creating a new RPG, first ask yourself a few questions I) What is this RPG about? II) What sets your RPG apart from other current RPGs? III) Why will the community stick with my RPG? IV) How many players are welcome to join my RPG? V) What will I do if people ask for change in my RPG? VI) Will my players interact with each other or be on their own? All of these questions are important, and must be known BEFORE creating your RPG. If you do not know the answers to these questions, DO NOT MAKE YOUR RPG!!!
PART 3: THE CHARACTER SHEET
When you create your RPG, you generally have the players of your RPG make characters. This is generally done through the use of a character sheet. Of course, there are other ways, but that will not be covered. You will need to find those for yourself.
A basic charactersheet has the character's age and several attributes. You can also add a description of the character and different types to the character to make the game more interesting. A general character sheet may look like this.
EX --> Name: Level: 1 Hit Points: (Your Vitality) Strength: (Your ability to deal damage) Defense: (Your ability to resist damage) Agility: (Your speed in battle)
Above, you can see a VERY simple character sheet. You, as the creator, may ask the players to use a certain number of points, say 10-15 for this one, where every point used in Hit Points = 5 hit points. The player would copy your character sheet, and make one similar to this, using 13 points:
EX --> Name: Zedugai Level: 1 Hit Points: 20 Strength: 5 Defense: 2 Agility: 2
This would be posted, with slight differences by the player, on EVERY POST that they make in character, and EVERY POST that YOU make responding to their actions. ONLY YOU can change their sheet once the RPG is started, unless you say otherwise.
PART 4: CONTROL
a) You are in control of the RPG at all times. Never back down to the players if you do not want to. That doesn't mean ignore thier suggestions, but if they declare an outcome of an action, you don't have to go with it. YOU decide outcomes, THEY decide thier actions.
b) If a player asks you a question about the game, or why something happened, answer them. When you do this, you start to become much more popular with the RPG community, making newer RPGs much more popular, with more characters and richer storylines.
PART 5: CONTINUING YOUR STORY
If your adventure takes off, you need to keep changing and adding to your storyline. If at any time you get stuck, ask your players, for they are likely to know how they want to play in your adventure. Don't be araid to ask your players! They don't bit! Most players are looking to be interacted with more than just through the story of the game.
PART 6: MOVING ON
If you ever want to move on from your adventure, first consult your audience. If most of the players would like to continue, you have a few choices. You can find a player that verymuch enjoys the RPG to run it for the rest of it's existance, or you can ask me. I enjoy running RPGs of any kind, unless they are based off of Twilight :P. Aside from that, you can also ask your friends if they would like to help you out and run it.
PART 7: VACATION
Always alert your player's when you will be absent from the RPG for some time. If you are going for more than a week or so, you should probably have one of the better players run it for a while while you are gone.
Well, that's my tutorial. I hope you learned something from reading it! Please comment if you have any questions about creating an RPG. You can also contact me through my 'about' page.
One of the things I find important in an RPG is freedom. If you are too obvious about leading your player with a rope, they probably won't like the RPG. If you give them several options for things to do, or let them free roam in some RPGs, it can help the player feel like THEY are the ones playing the game.. I just feel sad that most of my RPGs only get 1 active person.
