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[Kadzar]

I figured this was the best place to ask.

So want to make a multi-player forum game, but I don't know how to create rules any more complex than basic guidelines for freeform roleplay. Does anyone have any tips or suggestions?

[10ebbor10]

Make things up as you go along? That's what I do most of the time.

Also keeping rules partly unkown to the players prevents them from seeking loopholes and allows you to rebalance midgame.

[TCM]

I agree with ebbor. You need to be able to adapt, because most of the time players are going to post things that you wouldn't have thought of, which is in itself one of the great things about Roleplaying with people. It's never a good idea to railroad games. (Railroad: RPG slang for forcing players to progress the story exactly how the Game Master wants them to.)

When coming up with a game, come with a basic story. This should include setting, general rules of the universe, and then the plot. Think about what will happen in the beginning, the middle, and the end. It probably won't go as you'd expect, but it's useful to have a general plot in mind.

As for complex rules, you don't need them to start out. I suggest making a simple, basic RPG to start out with, just to get the feel of things. As you host it, you'll find all there is to know about hosting a game.

[xelada]

What kind of game are you wanting?
All you've said is you want it to be multiplayer. What setting do you want? What ratio of freeform and rules do you want? How complex do you want it? Give us more info and we will help.

[Kadzar]

Ah, thanks for responding.

Make things up as you go along? That's what I do most of the time.

Also keeping rules partly unkown to the players prevents them from seeking loopholes and allows you to rebalance midgame.

Yeah, but I'd like to have a ruleset of some sort at least for character creation so that players have some idea of what they're capable of and I have some basis for adjudicating conflict.

As for complex rules, you don't need them to start out. I suggest making a simple, basic RPG to start out with, just to get the feel of things. As you host it, you'll find all there is to know about hosting a game.

But I don't even know how to make simple rules. That's my problem mostly. I've seen games where people just make up rules on the spot, it seems, and I don't know how to do that.

What kind of game are you wanting?
All you've said is you want it to be multiplayer. What setting do you want? What ratio of freeform and rules do you want? How complex do you want it? Give us more info and we will help.

Ah, well, I guess I don't have much in the way of setting. It's mostly based off of a theme. The players are all supposed to be a group of friends that all grew up together in the same village. Then, for some reason (which I have not yet figured out) they need to all travel together somewhere. Part of the idea behind this was that characters could have a shared background, and could freely make up details at any moment in the campaign, and any player character involved in the story could give their side of the goings-on if they disagreed with how they were portrayed. I would very much like it if the game mechanics rewarded players for telling these stories (possibly by giving them some success in any current challenge that the story relates to).

The actual setting isn't very fleshed out. I know I don't want just another generic European medieval fantasy setting. All the players would be human, and they would have heard rumors that certain people from certain other places may not be quite human, but there are no explicit elves or dwarves or goblins.

As for rules, as I said, I want something for character creation (though, if stories of past adventures somehow define characters, maybe that isn't so necessary) and rules for resolving conflict. I don't want fights to drag on; if they can end in something other than death or knockouts, that would be a bonus. I also would like a system where some player can be non-combatants and not be rendered useless.

[Flying Dice]

For character creation, you could have players give you a bio and derive skill and situational bonuses from that.

[IronyOwl]

My advice would be to start with what you want the game to be like or do, then try to figure out what kind of mechanic or system would allow or encourage it.

For instance, instead of trying to develop a combat system out of thin air, just try to figure out, roughly, how you'd like it to flow. How fast do you want it to be, how swingy, how much skill, equipment, or situational factors influence the result, etc. Then try to figure out what kind of system would make that sort of thing happen, and refine that into an actual system.


EDIT: Oh, and don't be afraid of simplicity. Rules don't need to be complex or all-encompassing to function well.

[Kadzar]

For character creation, you could have players give you a bio and derive skill and situational bonuses from that.

But I don't want them writing up complete bios before the game starts. I want the game to be about the players collaboratively coming up with their shared backstory retroactively though poignant reflection. I'm not actually sure how this would even work out story-wise, but this idea is like a mindworm that wants to turn into a butterfly and explode out of my head.

[Doomblade187]

For character creation, you could have players give you a bio and derive skill and situational bonuses from that.

But I don't want them writing up complete bios before the game starts. I want the game to be about the players collaboratively coming up with their shared backstory retroactively though poignant reflection. I'm not actually sure how this would even work out story-wise, but this idea is like a mindworm that wants to turn into a butterfly and explode out of my head.

There's not much way around them writing it beforehand if they see the character sheet, as far as I know, but if you want you could ask for only stats at first and ask for backstory once you've established the starting situation.

[Flying Dice]

For character creation, you could have players give you a bio and derive skill and situational bonuses from that.

But I don't want them writing up complete bios before the game starts. I want the game to be about the players collaboratively coming up with their shared backstory retroactively though poignant reflection. I'm not actually sure how this would even work out story-wise, but this idea is like a mindworm that wants to turn into a butterfly and explode out of my head.

There's not much way around them writing it beforehand if they see the character sheet, as far as I know, but if you want you could ask for only stats at first and ask for backstory once you've established the starting situation.

Or start without stats and gradually add them as they fill in their past and act in the present.

[Hastur]

I have the perfect system for you to use. Its called Monostat for its simplicity, you roll a 1d2, thats like... a coin. Heads they suceed and tails they fail! all you need is is a coin and you have the whoel system in the palm of your hand!