Should I run a series on how to write your own free RPG?

[Rob Lang]

Title says it all, really. Would you be interested in reading a series - from scratch - on how to write your own free RPG? Do you think it's a process that can be boiled down to a tutorial series? Would it be useful? Do you think it might help people get off the drawing board and from idea into game?

All thoughts warmly welcomed.

[Chainsaw Aardvark]

[Kinslayer]

I'm curious to know what the focus of the project will be. Setting construction, interpersonal actions across the table, game theory, comparative merits of systems, layout of the book, dice mechanics, marketing, character archetypes, and many other different aspects of game design could be explored. It's quite a bit to try and cover all of these things, and those are just the ones off the top of my head. Are you planning on addressing the benefits and features of different aspects of game design--such as 'lite' versus 'crunchy' systems--or will you be espousing a best-practices methodology?

[Rob Lang]

@Kinslayer - If I do it, I will go into as much depth as I can. The aim is really to help people get a free game out of their heads and onto paper. Not really about marketing a paid-for game. Nou doubt there will be a lot of crossover but I will be concentrating less on target markets and coming up with ideas that might sell. Free games have the delight of being as wonderfully bizarre as your mind will allow as you're not trying to sell to a segment.

@CA, I have indeed seen your tips on the Lab. Duely noted. I intend to write it like a fill-in-the-gaps and as simple as possible. I don't think lite vs crunchy arguments are useful beyond helping them decide what depth to go into mechanically.