RPG Designer Diary: roll5s is Born (11)

We are making a new role-playing game. At first we thought it was going to be a new version of -U- the Game of Stories. But now, it is something new altogether. So, what made us change it? Read on.

What Happened to -U- 2nd Edition?

We were in love with it. We were going to make a more complex version of our role-playing game -U- the Game of Stories. It was playing really well. Then... we had a chat. We wanted to make a game that anyone could pick up and play. Not just people familiar with RPGs or people with creative urges. But people who want to have a different kind of experience with friends. It actually dovetailed into our conversation about classes and races in RPGs. Why did other RPGs have this? How could we make this game easier to "get into" for non-gamers and non-creatives?

So,we changed it all. It was rash, and fast, and a complete honing down of what we were doing. And it worked. So... what were the changes? Let's compare.
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Original Idea

• Have players make any kind of character they wanted. Free-form and free-wheeling.
• Use multiple attributes to flesh out and differentiate characters.
• Use 6-sided dice to determine success.
• Make challenges have various attributes or key things that player characters would have to overcome in certain situations.
• Make the rules light enough that they could appear in every book made.

roll5s Ideas

• ​Have players choose from lists of things to build their character.
• Instead of attributes, each choice gives a character a Strength with a modifier next to it.
• Use the simplest form of determining success on a die for the core mechanic: matching.
• Make challenges a single number which represents the number of dice to roll.
• Keep the rules light enough so that they could appear in every book made.

The End Result

These were major changes, honestly. it was like a whole new game. And it really worked for us. It was fun coming up with the lists of things a character could be and what Strengths they would get from them. It was great being able to write an adventure idea down and all the encounters in less than an hour. Most of all, though, it felt so smooth when a player said, "I use my Miraculous Healing to help calm down the old shopkeeper", rolled some dice, and the story continued on without as much as a hiccup in the story narrative. All-in-all, the game did exactly what we wanted to do and did it faster than we were doing it. So... this is the new game: roll5s RPG.

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What Now?

The first roll5s RPG book is a finalist in a contest right now. Once we hear some of the great judge feedback on it, we will tweak it a little, release the official game on RPGNow.com, DriveThruRPG.com, and TheGameCrafter.com for sale. Until then, we'll start sharing our thoughts about the mechanics and decisions in our upcoming Designer Diaries.

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