Hi! I’m an indie TTRPG developer and I’ve been
working on TTRPGs for about a year now. I just wanted to share my process and
what I’ve learned. Hopefully this will inspire any aspiring TTRPG creators who
haven’t yet taken the plunge into publishing or making their own games. As a
note, this is by no means a definitive explanation of how to create TTRPGs.
This is just my own method. Maybe it will help you, maybe it will inspire you,
or maybe it doesn’t apply to you. Any of those are okay. I just thought I’d
share to show what my process looks like and see if it helps anyone else.
My first piece of advice is to read. Read TTRPGs,
novels, comic books, everything and anything in different genres. Figure out
which kind of stories and settings you connect with. For TTRPGs, figure out
what kind of rules or game systems you enjoy. Also, when reading TTRPGs, keep
an eye on the formatting of the PDF or book. It could inspire your own
formatting for your own TTRPG. The most important thing you need to write your
own TTRPGs is experience with different game systems. You need to figure out
what YOU like, because odds are if you like something, someone else will, too.
Developing a concept is important in creating
TTRPGs. The first step to realizing your vision is figuring out what your
vision is. I like to start broad. What kind of setting or genre am I interested
in at the moment? Am I vibing with post-apocalyptic these days, or maybe a
cozy, slice-of-life type of game? I decide on the setting or genre of the game
as a loose concept and then I slowly add notes about what the game is actually
about, such as goals of the game, how many players, what kind of rule system I (think
I) want to use, is there any resource management like tracking Rations or
Stress. Nothing has to be too detailed at this point. Just putting words of your
thoughts and ideas on paper, even abstractly, is progress in creating your
TTRPG.
Once you have a list of notes, it’s time to
start with the details. This is around the time I like to come up with the lore
for my setting. The lore doesn’t have to be extremely in-depth, not at this
stage, anyway. Just write down something about the history of your game world,
maybe list some major characters or sample characters. This is the time to
figure out how the rules you want to use interact with the lore and the setting
of your game. For example, Miracles are both pertinent to the lore in Colossus
and to the rules system. Scouts use Miracles to perform feats of “magic” and
psychic prowess, but they gain the ability to use Miracles by the same process
that turns them into Scouts in the first place, by bathing in miasma. In Colossus,
there are rules for how to use Miracles. Your lore and/or setting should
connect to the rules of the game in some way.
You’ve probably already decided at this point
whether your game is solo, group play, or co-op. Or you may have rules for all
three in your game. I personally love creating solo games, but some of my games
have rules for playing with a Game Master. Whether you’re creating a solo game
or a group game, the important thing to work on with the rules at this point is
balance. The balance of difficulty for combat and skill/ability checks in a
solo game will look differently than the balance in a group game. In a solo
game, you really don’t want to make the enemies you battle too overwhelming, unless
you just want to make a hard game where combat is not always the best idea when
facing enemies. You should also balance how much damage your character can do
whether you’re playing solo or in a group. Now is a good time to come up with
any skills, abilities, or powers the players can learn and/or use in the game.
After you balance the rules, now would be a
good time for the first playtest. Just playtest a few combat or Ability/Skill Check
scenarios. See if the balance is right. If not, go back to your rules and fix
them, then playtest again. A common theme you’ll see here is playtesting is
important at pretty much every stage of game development.
If your game has any items, now would be the
time to make them. Come up with some magic items or helpful equipment. Decide
on if you want to make any special weapons. How do the players acquire these
items? Are they bought, found, or a reward after a successful combat encounter?
If you’re making a solo game, tables and
oracles are important. They can also be important for group play as well.
Tables can help emulate a Game Master if your game doesn’t use one. A Yes/No
oracle is especially helpful. You could also create d100 or d20 lists of plot points,
sidequests, events, NPC generators, monster generators, dungeon generators, and
Action/Theme tables. When you are making a solo game, the more tables, the
better. Tables can be fun to make, or they can be really difficult to make. I’ll
probably post an article at some point with advice on how I make tables.
Really, though, the best and most original way to make tables is to use your
imagination to come up with ideas for them. The tables should be relevant to
the gameplay and setting of your game. You can be as vague or as detailed as
you want with them. For example, Ironsworn’s tables are very vague so that it
can work with a variety of stories and settings. But Mork Borg’s tables tend to
be very specific to the kinds of circumstances you’ll run into in its own unique
world. You should decide how vague or how detailed you want your tables to be
based upon the gameplay and setting of your game.
Now that you have the lore, notes, gameplay,
tables, and have playtested extensively, you should put everything together in
a first draft. I start with a Table Of Contents and list everything I need to
describe or detail or explain in my game under the Table Of Contents. These are
the headings for each section I plan to write about. I may add or remove
headings and sections as I go, but I always start at the beginning, which is
usually an Introduction chapter that explains what the game is about briefly and
quick rules for gameplay and dice rolling. Then I go in order of the Table Of
Contents, with explanations of the rules and settings and tips under each
heading. I refer back to my notes constantly as I write.
Once the first draft is done and all of your
game’s information is in one document, go back over it a few times editing,
adding, removing, and just reading it to make sure it all makes sense. This is
the hardest part for me. After I finish the first draft, I like to wait a day
or two to look at it again with fresh eyes to notice if I’ve made any continuity
errors or grammar/spelling mistakes.
Once I’ve confirmed I’m happy with the draft,
and I’ve playtested some more to the point I’m satisfied with how the rules work
and are perfectly balanced for solo and/or group play, it is time to format the
draft. I use Microsoft Publisher, but it’s going away in October and I’m
currently on the hunt for new formatting software. If you have any suggestions,
leave them in the comments. Anyway, I format the draft into software that I can
easily create a PDF with. This is also around the time I commission art for my
project. For art, you can use public domain art, draw your own art, or hire an
artist. I used to use Canva and public domain art to make my book covers, but for
my recent projects I have hired artists and it really makes a big difference in
both sales and the overall vibe of my game books. However you get your art,
make sure to leave room for it while you’re formatting your game book in Publisher
or whatever other software you use.
Now would be the time to make any character
sheets that you need. Again, I use Publisher for that, but you can also use
Canva and transfer the character sheet into Publisher then make it into a PDF.
I don’t have much advice for making character sheets. Mine aren’t great, they’re
just useable. Maybe look at other games’ character sheets for inspiration on
formatting.
After that, I like to wait a few more days and
look over it all one more time before committing to it. Once I’ve done that,
and playtested the game one last time, I transform the game and any character
sheets into PDFs. Then once more I look it over as a PDF, both on my laptop and
my phone, to make sure everything is correct and that it looks good.
Now it’s time to publish it. You can publish it
on your website, on itch, or on drivethru. At least, those are the options I’m
familiar with. Each website has its own process for publishing and will guide
you along.
Anyway, those are my tips for creating and
publishing your own TTRPG! I hope it helps and inspires other budding TTRPG
creators. Like I said earlier, it’s not the definitive way to do things, but it’s
my way, and it works for me. Whatever works for you, works perfectly.
