Title: L4 - Game Challenge 8
Course: RITA MC - VIDEO GAME DESIGN HYBRID > Section: Resources

Challenge 8 –Tabletop RPG

Your TEAM has been selected to create an introductory-level pencil and paper RPG similar to Dungeons & Dragons, but using a historical video game as your point of reference.  Your game will be used by College and AP High School students to facilitate learning.

There are specific constraints on this project:

1. You should be able to play a full game in one hour or less.
2. Character creation needs to be really quick, but should allow some degree of customization.
3. The game should come with one “campaign” for a group of four to six players, with one “referee” (the game master or GM) who runs the play session, interprets rules, and resolves player actions.  A campaign is effectively the video-game equivalent of a mission or a quest.
4. The game will need rules to handle the situations in which players find themselves during the campaign. So, what do players do?  And how can you determine their success in those tasks?

Components REQUIRED:

- A historical video game
- Familiarity with a traditional RPG system or the willingness to learn about one

Deliverables (1)

- Character generation system
- Confrontation system, if necessary
- Other system, as necessary
- Campaign
- Game Master Rules

Suggested process

1.       Choose a video game

Games with a strong narrative are easier to convert than games that focus purely on fast-paced combat. Furthermore, games with strong character development have a good chance of surviving conversions with FUN intact.

2.       Choose and design the characters and setting for your campaign

Who are the player characters? What are their goals?  Are they meant to cooperate with each other or work against each other?  Determine which statics characters need and what these statistics are for. For instance, strength might be used determine a character’s ability to shove open a locked door. For the sake of this challenge, it is recommended you keep it simple.

3.       Create a template for creatures or enemies, if applicable.

What stats will you enemies have?  IF a character went head to head with one of these enemies, how would you resolve the situation to determine the outcome and, if necessary, who wins in violent combat?

4.       Create a template for items if applicable

What stats will your enemies have?  If a character went head to head with one of these enemies, how would you resolve the situation to determine the outcome and, if necessary, who wins in violent combat?

5.       Create the mechanics.

What kinds of things do you expect the PCs to do in the game world in order to accomplish their goals?  Make a list for each item on the list, decide if there are any limitations on that action (for example, you might decide that players can only shoot their guns if they have ammo).  For actions that can fail (leaping from rooftop to rooftop without falling) or be contested (trying to win an arm wrestling match), decide how these actions will be resolved to success or failure. This could involve luck (such as the rolling of dice) or character stats or some combination of the two.  Can any of the PCs do something that none of the other PCs can do?  Consider adding these special abilities to the characters and defining exactly what conditions trigger their use.

6.       Write down the details of the campaign.

This probably includes a character sheet for each player, as well as a set of campaign notes and rules for the GM.  It may include other things, depending on your specific game.

VARIATION:

Originally the instructors request was to create a game that could be played with a group of 5 to 7 student’s total (including the GM).  Now they have changed their minds and they would prefer a game that could be played with an entire class of up to 25 students in a single large game, with the instructor as the sole GM.

Creating a system suitable for that many players is difficult. You don’t want individual students to get bored while they are waiting for other players to take their turns. You will need mechanics that would allow students to take their turns simultaneously.