Raptus Regaliter

Wow, my semi-regular blog posting got totally hosed by my recent lack of Internet access. My thanks for that go to AT&T, who seem incapable of sticking to a connection date. Bleh.

Anyway, on to the meat of this post.

I’ve wanted to be a role-playing game designer since I was eight years old. My dream was to grow up and go to work for TSR so that I could write D&D books for the rest of my life. Until recently, I’d pretty much given up on designing my own game .

Fortunately, people like Clyde Roher, Ryan Macklin, Sam Chupp, Mick Bradley, and a whole slew of other folks have re-inspired me to try designing my own game. With that in mind, I figured that I’d start a design diary here on Raptus Regaliter, so that I can get some feedback on where the game is at.

I’m going to keep this particular post somewhat brief, since I’m still working on specific details. I’m just going to outline some of the specific design decisions that I’ve made so far.

• This will be a short-form story game. I was directly inspired to write this kind of game after having played John Wick’s Wilderness of Mirrors. I really find this style of game to be both fun and useful. They tend to be either somewhat lighthearted or very intense, and they’re great for just killing time, or for when a player doesn’t show up for your regular game.
• All the prep work will be done at the table. I want to design something that can be just pulled out and played. So, everything from character creation to creating the main conflict to playing out the scenario will be handled right then and there. Therefore, all the character creation rules need to be simple. Hell, all of the rules will need to be simple. If it’s made to be played at the drop of a hat, it should be able to be taught to new players easily.
• I’d like heavy player authorship. I see the role of the GM in this game as something of a moderator, more than a storyteller. Perhaps his primary role will be to start things off and nothing more.

Finally, there is the actual concept of the game, the answer to the question “What is your game about?”. So the concept is this: all the players have just died, and are waiting to pass on to the afterlife, but first, they have to come to terms with their deaths. So, who’s fault was it that you died, and can you forgive them?.

So far, that’s what I’ve got. Beyond that, everything is simply a nebulous collection of ideas. But, at least I have a starting point now, and can finally move on to some of the more important aspects of designing.

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