role playing game system

[userek]

Hello,
I want to create a rpg game. I'm a one person team and i would like to spend as little time as possible on things like designing rpg system because i don't even have enough time for coding ;-).
As far as i understand i cannot use something like Dungeons & Dragons without buying the license. Maybe there are some similar systems i could use without any restrictions, or maybe i could just create something very similar to d&d but different enough to avoid any possible legal issues ).
Any ideas?
Thanks

[fletchergames]

You should just create your own very simple system quickly.

What statistics and so forth you have doesn't matter too much unless your game is going to be about tweaking statistics.

If you're making a class-based system, just make 3 or so classes.  You can always add more later.

Creating a role playing system is easy.  It's just balancing it that can be difficult.  But that consists of playing the game and tweaking variables to make it work out right.

[userek]

Actually the balance is what concerns me mostly, i can image it may take alot of time. It seems i'll probably i end with creating something myself, but still, i would prefer to use something that is already balanced .

Games published by our own members! Check 'em out!

[Eli Delventhal]

Using a system someone else made (or you made, for that matter), is not going to do anything about balance. Balance has a lot more to do (in an RPG) about level design and progression.

[userek]

Well, i think the level design is also important but game system has a lot to do with balance and progression is part of it(leveling, experience gaining).

[Eli Delventhal]

Not particularly. The system needs to match the level design. Say for example that your system entails getting a new level up at an exponential increase of required experience. As in, level 1 takes 64 XP, level 2 takes 128 XP, level 3 takes 256, level 4 takes 512, etc. Although that is probably a bad system to use (because it gets astronomically high very quickly), it doesn't matter in the slightest if the monsters you have give an amount of experience approximately equivalent to the leveling up requirement.

Similarly, if you make every level up give the player 100 more hit points, then you just need to give all the monsters a damage increase of about the same.

Really all you're trying to do is keep the game from being too easy or too hard throughout the entirety. The difficulty could maybe get slightly harder as you go, but typically this doesn't happen and the developer just tries to keep it constant. The reason you keep playing an RPG is not for increased difficulty, it's so that you can a) Accomplish tasks that used to be difficult easily at a later point, and b) you can see more of the storyline.

[fletchergames]

Really all you're trying to do is keep the game from being too easy or too hard throughout the entirety. The difficulty could maybe get slightly harder as you go, but typically this doesn't happen and the developer just tries to keep it constant. The reason you keep playing an RPG is not for increased difficulty, it's so that you can a) Accomplish tasks that used to be difficult easily at a later point, and b) you can see more of the storyline.

I read a book called Swords & Circuitry, which is about computer RPG design.  It said that it's better to make the difficulty relative the player's level go up and down slightly as the game progresses.  It's supposed to keep the player's interest better.

You can have a section of gameplay that's relatively easy because you're only fighting regular monsters and then follow it with a group of powerful boss monsters.  And then you can have a simple errand quest.  And then a cave with monsters that are all a little tough compared to the player's level, so that the player has to go back to an old area and do some grinding.  And so on.

[Eli Delventhal]

That sounds about right. But, either way, you're looking at a lot more importance on the level design.

[markus.borbely]

One way to do this (but maybe a boring way) is to have all monster level at the same pace as the player. This is the way that awful (but strangely successfull) crpg oblivion.

When you design a monster, don't set fixed statistics for it. Rather, give it statistics that is a function based on its level.
When you design a level, place monsters and set their levels relative the player. Example: In this room, place 1 goblin at the same level, on on level-1 and one goblin (acting boss) of level+2.

This makes sure that if the player import a powerful character, he will have an equal match. This may be a desirable effect, or not.

Of course, some monsters will probably never show up as high level, and some will never be low level. No super-elite-gobbos and now level 1 Megademon.
It will be silly if you keep on battling the same kind of monsters over and over again, and no matter how many times I level, they are still the same challenge. Rather, you will have to vary tactics, special attacks and graphics on the monsters.

If your game doesn't have levels, use accumulated experience or score or some other measure of how good the player is.