Why would I make a roleplaying game?
Context is paramount in narrative design. So let me give you some context.
Who’s this guy to tell me about RPGs?
Reader, let me tell you a bit about myself. I'm a copywriter and marketer by trade. I have fallen in love thrice in my gaming life. First, when I rolled up my first character (a weretiger elven wizard). Second, with the narrativist story game explosion of the 2010s. And most recently, I fell for the OSR when I joined a Lamentations of the Flame Princess game in 2015.
I have been playing tabletop RPGs since 2nd edition D&D, read my Heroes Unlimited source books until their binding gave out through middle school, and you can find my face in Unknown Armies 3e. I joke that my longest and healthiest relationships have been with my weekly game (nearly 8 years and counting).
Why Make a Game?
Like you probably do, I read games for fun. There are more than I will ever play, but I can dream. And each is a beautiful reflection of the author — it's a way to understand the author, and I imagine for many, writing a module or game is a form of self-expression. They don't see the adventures they want, and with unmet gal, they fabricate the machines that tell those stories. Isn't creativity such an audacious concept? To look at the world and say "nah, this ain't enough, it needs more of my ideas in it".
Roleplaying games are many things to many people, but ultimately they boil down to telling stories with your fellow players. So to make a new roleplaying game or module means you don’t think the kinds of stories you want to hear are out there.
Either way, these stories we create matter to us. What we play out at the table can be everything from power fantasy to trauma processing, a way to try on new identities or build confidence and communication skills.
I have made games in the past that help me process my experiences (shout out to BitterSweet!). I played enough GMless story games that I felt I could fashion one. And now I find myself with the same itch for traditional tabletop RPGs — the OSR/NuSR and the like.
Inspiration
No ideas are wholly new — we just combine things in novel ways. I was driving up the highway and Invisible Light by the Scissor Sisters came on my shuffled songs. I have known the song for a decade. And yet, that night, as the lyrics painted an image in my imagination, I thought "but what if an adventuring party was there?". Inspiration didn’t flood my brain. It didn’t jump to the page fully formed. But the premise stuck with me. I had not seen this idea before in the way I’m imagining. And I wanted to hear those stories.
So that's where I started — "an adventure set in the world's biggest party".
Reader, I don't know where it will take me yet, but I am excited.