Gamefest on Yahoo Groups In the NewsSavage Worlds has become one of the mainstays of the Emerald City Gamefeast. It is reasonably crunchy but flexible enough to work with many different games without too much tinkering. However, the game does have a number of quirks and some very odd dice probabilities and so it seems worth taking an in-depth look at [...]
Filed under: Game Design, community | Tagged: RPGs, Game Design, game, dice, Probability, statistics, rules, Savage Worlds | 2 Comments »
Teaming in Risus A previous post discussed the mechanics of Risus, a free, simple RPG. It showed that skill differences were very stark in combat and an opponent was highly unlikely to beat someone of higher skill. This might give the impression that Risus has no way of dealing with such situations, but it does. [...]
Filed under: community | Tagged: dice, game, Game Design, Probability, Risus, RPGs, rules, statistics | Leave a Comment »
Risus is a free, simple, universal RPG that can be downloaded here. The rules are only a few pages long, so it’s worth downloading and reading. The game’s simplicity and speed of character creation make it a handy system for light gaming and one-shots. Despite being a simple game there are some things to consider [...]
Filed under: community | Tagged: dice, game, Game Design, Probability, Risus, RPGs, rules, statistics | 1 Comment »
“You can’t break the rules if you don’t know the rules.” -The Borribles First of all, this is not about the Rules restaurant in London. Though I’ve eaten there and the food is excellent. No, this is some thoughts about game rules. John has been writing a series on game design for this site and [...]
Filed under: Game Design, community | Tagged: dice, game, Game Design, Probability, RPGs, rules, statistics | 1 Comment »
Amber Eagar has written an article on her LARP web site, Mortalis Games, and she details out some of the basics to LARP game design in her column “LARP Design: The basics” and she makes the following points: Designing the rules for a LARP is different that designing rules for a table-top game. Don’t plagiarize, but borrow [...]
Filed under: Game Design | Tagged: Game Design, LARP, philosophy, RPGs | 3 Comments »
Introduction This is the second supplement to the Variance and Game Design article. While there are some new observations, it covers much the same ground as the first supplement but for a different system, Spirit of the Century. So if you haven’t read the first supplement you should do that. If you have and are [...]
Filed under: community | Tagged: dice, game, Game Design, Probability, rules, statistics, Variance | 2 Comments »
Introduction In my post about variance in game design I discussed the effect of rolling multiple times for combat resolution and how this reduces variability of combat results compared to non-combat results. This was supported by some simple logic and probability. However, I was interested in getting some actual numbers to back up that hypothesis. [...]
Filed under: Game Design | Tagged: dice, game, Game Design, Probability, statistics, Variance | 1 Comment »
Variance: or How Common Is Average Anyway? Introduction Most games incorporate an element of chance, usually with dice, though others use cards, coin flips, etc. While we are familiar with the concept of mean or average of a roll (a measure of central tendency), one aspect that often seems overlooked as designers search for a [...]
Filed under: Game Design | Tagged: dice, game, Game Design, Probability, statistics, Variance | 4 Comments »
This article is first of series of articles on game mechanics, specifically on how to use dice in your game rules. As role players, we love our dice. Just about every dedicated gamer has a bag or two full of all colors and kinds of dice, in all shapes and sizes. Some of us, me [...]
Filed under: Game Design | Tagged: dice, Game Design, RPGs | Leave a Comment »
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