From: bkoike@sdcc13.ucsd.edu (Bryce Koike)
Newsgroups: rec.games.design
Subject: Re: net.rpg:  world design
Date: 8 Jan 93 01:56:35 GMT
Organization: University of California, San Diego

In article <C0GFq8.C97@usenet.ucs.indiana.edu> alyon@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (arthur alexander lyon) writes:
>In article <1992Dec24.001604.6727@trl.oz.au> s.mathers@trl.oz.au writes:
>>I am getting bored with talk of mechanics.  I think mechanics are of
>>secondary importance when designing a RPG, and I think you would
>>get a better and more consistent set of mechanics if you worried
>>about them only after you have a reasonable idea of where the game
>>will take place and what the world is like. (world=universe)

	I disagree.  A bad set of rules will make a game quite
unplayable.  (de-emphasis of such rules helps, but then why bother?)
I consider the rules almost as important as the background (if any).
If they don't work, if they're seriously flawed, if they choke up
every time I ask for a skill roll, then I'm going to seriously think
about playing some other game.
	Good background is nice, but GURPS has shown that it's not
everything.

>>Besides, a generic RPG game called GURPS is already been done, and is on
>>the market and doing just fine thanks.

	Not everyone likes GURPS (judging from complaints and those
who like FUDGE...grin).  And perhaps GURPS does not fit some
people's needs.  I have also found that the rules used directly
affect the game world being designed.  (Or so's my opinion on the
matter.)
	I have nothing against Yet Another Generic System.  People
have been doing the Yet Another... schtick for a long time now, I
suppose ever since D&D came out...

>>I don't want to kill off the mechanics discussion, because some good
>>ideas have come from it.  I just want to open another discussion on
>>world design, which I think will be more interesting and yield even
>>more interesting ideas.  Having said that...

	I'd like that too.  I've read some of the Novus game (forgot
who's the author...sorry!) and I've enjoyed quite a bit of it
(except that I don't have the section on damage and I can't find the
ARC table!  argh!).

>would one set in Tolkein's Middle Earth. Designing a generic or broad
>system, as I have done, is problematic when it comes to this. This why
>most games material is oriented around set, developed 'worlds'. All the
>mechanics and visuals and tone blend for a cohesive thrill.

	Yeah, it's a lot easier to concentrate on a single theme or
idea.  The more "worlds" and themes you introduce, the more you've
got to reduce the specifics for certain themes so the game system
works with other worlds...ah well.  The first thing I'd like to see
in any RPG is the ability to make a very wide variety of characters.
To be pigeon-holed into a specific style of play is very
irritating.

>More on this, but suffice to say I cast my vote in favor of some
>world-design and world-design mechanics (hurm) discussion.

	Yes!  A few things I'd like to see...

	Aliens!  (How to make them, how to make truly ALIEN aliens)
	Planets! (Yeah, I've got GURPS Space, I've read GURPS
			Uplift, but I want more...)
	How other people design their game worlds (generally this is
aimed at fantasy worlds, but specifically...this works with
anything)

>>our world is replaced by what is called magic.  I like the idea of magic
>>being based in a lot of ways on natural talent.  ie: there are a lot 
>>of OK magicians out there, and a lot of people have tinkered with
>>magic, but there are only a few magicians who have achieved excellence.
>>Think of it in the same vein as playing an instrument.  Say guitar.
>>Lots of us have mucked about with a guitar at some stage or another,
>>and a lot have given up because it was too hard, or we just didnt have
>>the knack.  Then there are the few such as Jimi Hendrix...the 'wizards'

	I like this.  Actually, makes me think of Katherine Kurtz'
Deryni books.  I've been running such a game for a little bit (well,
not now that school has started).  The players are members of a much
-disliked group of mages.  It's a matter of the have's and the
have-nots.  Unfortunately, bad experience in the past with certain
cruel mages has turned much of society against any magic
practitioners...

	Well, I hope this has started up an interesting discussion!

Newsgroups: rec.games.design