Design

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The Joys of Automation

I don’t think any sane individual could write something like BIND without automation tools. Games with a similar scope require a team.

Having a Bash at Travel in BIND

They say you have to playtest, but they forget that I’m a lazy man, so when it came to travel rules, I didn’t feel like simulating a bunch of journeys. So it’s time to get the computer to do the work for me.

Extrapolation & Necessity

When designing Fenestra, I noticed it had no magical universities. I really mean ’noticed’, rather than ‘stipulated’, or ‘invented’.

The Module Decalogue

Ronald Knox wrote ten rules on how to avoid ruining a murder mystery with an unsatisfying solution. They apply very well to writing and running RPG modules, with a little alteration.

Designing around Spike-Traps

When making things, once in a while you spot a pit-trap laden with spikes, and screech to a halt to think about the route ahead carefully. When making chairs, I guess people test by sitting in the chair. Writers and RPG designers can’t get this kind of snappy feedback, so I guess we’re all a bit fumbly when testing solutions. I certainly am.

Print it Yourself

I’ve decided against having online printing available for BIND. This may change, but here’s the thinking so far:

Consumers of BIND

I’ve rather gone off the notion of ‘collectibles’. Collectible RPG books are special because they can’t meet the demand. We can’t all have a copy of those original D&D books, or whatever swanky thing White Wolf brought out with the expensive full-page art.

One Roll Only

RPGs should avoid asking people to roll dice more than once for any result.

Subraces Should be Cultures

Referring to elves as a ‘race’ makes perfect sense. They’re clearly different from the other humanoids, have their own features, and biological properties and oddities.¹

Spreadsheets are Great

Whenever I’m unsure about a rule, I pull out a basic spreadsheet, and start populating numbers.

Fate Points in BIND

Remember that book or film where the protagonist received a nasty wound, then persevered, and won the day? Well that can’t happen in RPGs, and that’s a shame. So my solution is Fate Points (FP).

The OGL is not Open

The Open Gaming Licence (OGL) does not in fact produce terribly open games, so I wish people would stop referring to such RPGs as ‘open source’.

Weaving Stories

Classic RPG adventures suffer from chronic flaws. When PCs should to go somewhere, they don’t. When they should take interest in an item, they ignore it. Any NPC who will lead them to a secret cave in Chapter IV gets stabbed in Chapter II because the players thought he was up to something. After all the carnage, they decide to flee to some random area they heard of from last session, leaving the DM totally unprepared. No amount of preparation seems to stop the random b-lines the players make.