Brent P. Newhall's Blog

So I’m working on this tabletop RPG system, Gunwave. The goal is to make a fun group game that imitates the fast action of an anime action series with giant robots. Lots of Mega Beams, psychic blasts, and charging at your enemy while screaming about the futility of war.

A few things I’ve learned:

1. It takes time. Time to write, time to tweak, time to review, and time to playtest. A really clear rule set requires a lot of words, often re-arranged many times to achieve optimal clarity.
2. Playtesting is key. I thought I had a great system, until I sat down with some players. We had fun, but obvious problems with the system reared their head quickly. Every playtester has been worth their weight in fusion reactors.
3. Get lots of feedback. This ties into playtesting. At the end of every playtesting session, ask the players lots of questions. Ask them what worked and what didn’t. Ask them if a particular fight was fun. Ask them what could have made it better. Ask them what they’d like to see. Ask them what could be dropped. I’ve also sought advice on various RPG design forums, including Chatty DM’s Forums and RPGnet’s Game Design Forum. Lots of people are just waiting to give you advice. Much of it can be ignored, but some of it will massively improve your game.
4. Take lots of notes. Playtesters, critiquers, and friends will toss out all sorts of ideas, especially at the end of playtests. Write them all down. Many won’t work as they stand, but will give you a great idea when you review them a week later. You’ll get ideas at odd moments, too (showering, driving to work, etc.) — write those down, too, and toss them into the pile. I currently have a text file with 328 lines of Gunwave notes (the vast majority of those lines contain at least one idea).
5. Expect extensive changes. The current version of the system looks almost nothing like the first one. I completely changed the dice mechanic halfway through, requiring changes to almost every page of the rule set, and a completely new look at how every dice roll worked. And it made the game fit my goals better. Speaking of which:
6. What do you want out of your system? Define it. Fast? Simple? Comprehensive? Atmospheric? Hint: “Fun” doesn’t count.
7. Make it look nice. I use NeoOffice to format my documents, and I’ve deliberately learned a lot of neat features that make it look professional (different styles for different types of content, headers displaying the current chapter name, an automatically-generated index, etc.) Folks have commented on and gotten excited about the Player’s Handbook just because it looks nice.

If you’ve never read Keith Ferrazzi’s Never Eat Alone, well, go out and read it now. It’s an inspiring call to action, insisting that we all need to build a big network of friends and associates. Not a stereotypical marketer’s network of barely-remembered business contacts, but a close-knit (while also large) community.

He has a website, of course, but he’s also built an online forum-based community, Greenlight. It’s a place where people can talk about their problems and perspectives. Very valuable.

I must point out that it has some early-commmunity problems. Much of the content is currently requests for advice, followed by vague suggestions. A lot of folks show enthusiasm that doesn’t seem to translate into specific real-world action (there are posts like “This is a great place! I can’t wait to do great things here!” with no further action).

But that’s normal for any forum. The site already features a variety of interesting discussions, including Simple formula for success, burnout at work – balance, and kindness a weakness at work?. Well worth checking out.

I’ve had this song running through my head for the past few days: Jumbo’s “Dia”. It’s a Mexican pop song.

The reason? An awesome Flash animation called Rush 2 from Vinnie Veritas.

Vinnie is a Mexican artist who draw simple pen-and-ink drawings, mostly set in a place called “CCC City.” It’s a pulp urban fantasy setting, where teens and young adults in cargo pants and halter tops carry swords and guns, chatting and fighting and running and searching for each other. It’s wildly imaginative. Rush 2 features a “day in the life” of CCC City, while his other videos feature things like a sweet little adventure story (Ho te amo), a kite running amok through a city (Papalote), and a silly, fast-paced railroad chase (The Chase).

Every time I watch one of his animations, I smile. They’re light-hearted, with a certain kind of innocence—nobody ever dies, despite the number of guns and explosions happening every day.