Mu's Unbelievably Long and Disjointed Ramblings About RPG Design Mu's Unbelievably Long and Disjointed Ramblings About RPG Design 1 / 101 Copyright 2001-Now by Howard Collins . Mu's Unbelievably Long and Disjointed Ramblings About RPG Design 1 Foreword .........................................................................................................................................6 2 General Topics ................................................................................................................................7 2.1 Holistic Game Design .............................................................................................................7 2.2 The Grandfather Clause of Stupidity ......................................................................................8 2.3 Paths Unlimited ......................................................................................................................9 2.4 Design from Tech or Tech from Design ...............................................................................10 2.5 Roleplaying = Fighting..........................................................................................................11 2.6 Limiting Player Power...........................................................................................................13 2.7 Segregating Player Power....................................................................................................15 2.8 The No Numbers Concept....................................................................................................16 2.9 Death Systems for Persistent Worlds...................................................................................16 2.10 Marking Time........................................................................................................................17 2.11 Sample Offline Activity System.............................................................................................19 2.12 Twitch Factor ........................................................................................................................20 2.13 Beware the RP Police...........................................................................................................21 3 Balance .........................................................................................................................................23 3.1 Zero Sum Rule (Shadwolf) ...................................................................................................23 3.2 Too Little is Better than Too Much........................................................................................24 3.3 Why Nerfing is Good ............................................................................................................25 4 Food Basis ....................................................................................................................................27 4.1 Everything Starts with Grain.................................................................................................27 4.2 Kingdom Size and Armies ....................................................................................................29 4.3 Geriatrics, Sexual Roles, and Agriculture.............................................................................30 4.4 Matriarchal Societies: Women's Rights Footnote................................................................32 4.5 Monsters and Food...............................................................................................................33 2 / 101 Copyright 2001-Now by Howard Collins . Mu's Unbelievably Long and Disjointed Ramblings About RPG Design 4.6 Sample Society Outline Based on Food...............................................................................34 5 Economy .......................................................................................................................................37 5.1 Reasonable Cash Economy.................................................................................................37 5.2 Taxes....................................................................................................................................39 5.3 Player to Player Economy/Vendors......................................................................................40 5.4 Keeping Magic Items Uncommon ........................................................................................43 5.5 Item Decay............................................................................................................................44 6 Weapons .......................................................................................................................................46 6.1 Diversity of Arms and Armor.................................................................................................46 6.2 Ceremonial Weapons (Shadwolf).........................................................................................47 6.3 Balancing Existing Armor and Weapon Types.....................................................................47 6.4 Battlefield vs. Personal Combat Weapons (Shadwolf).........................................................49 6.5 Full Plate Acrobats ...............................................................................................................49 6.6 Controlling the Availability of Arms and Armor.....................................................................50 6.7 Spears Rule..........................................................................................................................51 6.8 Maces Are Not Slow .............................................................................................................52 6.9 The "Adventuring Archer" Myth ............................................................................................53 6.10 About Archery (Shadwolf).....................................................................................................54 6.11 Big Weapons Are Not Swung...............................................................................................55 6.12 Realism in Combat (Shadwolf).............................................................................................55 7 Writing ...........................................................................................................................................56 7.1 The Importance of Absurd Detail..........................................................................................56 7.2 Secret and Public Lore .........................................................................................................56 7.3 Beyond Good and Evil and Stuff ..........................................................................................58 7.4 Open Ended Storylines and Player Subplots .......................................................................58 7.5 Content Beyond Powerleveling (Shadwolf) ..........................................................................59 3 / 101 Copyright 2001-Now by Howard Collins . Mu's Unbelievably Long and Disjointed Ramblings About RPG Design 7.6 The Merits of Mindless Slaughter.........................................................................................60 7.7 Repeating Quests.................................................................................................................62 7.8 Multiple World Plot Development and Contingencies ..........................................................63 7.9 Dungeon Design...................................................................................................................65 8 PvP................................................................................................................................................66 8.1 PK or NPK ............................................................................................................................66 8.2 Advantages and Drawbacks of a Fully PvP+ System ..........................................................67 8.3 The Hard Life of the Outlaw..................................................................................................67 8.4 Thieves That Work ...............................................................................................................69 8.5 Justice Systems for Persistent Worlds .................................................................................70 8.6 Justice System Problems with the Computer Referee.........................................................72 8.7 Justice System Example ......................................................................................................72 8.7.1 Penalties Table.................................................................................................................72 8.7.2 Pursuit Table ....................................................................................................................73 8.7.3 Penalty Table ...................................................................................................................73 8.7.4 Sentence Mitigation Table................................................................................................74 8.7.5 Criminal Point Reduction Table........................................................................................74 8.7.6 Release from Incarceration ..............................................................................................75 8.8 Getting