Let's do some crowdsourcing.

If you were to design a RPG, which questions would you want to have answered early?

I'm aware, that this can become quite broad, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Just give me what you got.


I'll start:

"How does the game handle character death?"

"How does the game map character abilities in the game world?"

"Does the player character have attributes? If so, which ones?"

Why is your first question important to know early in the process?

Here are mine:

"What is my core resolution mechanic going to be?"

"How realistic do I want my game to be?"

"If there is magic in the game, how powerful and/or prevalent is it?"

Quote from: Graewulf;1047292Why is your first question important to know early in the process?

Because it can have wide-reaching effects on the type of game I'm going to make. Are you d-e-a-d at 0LP? Or are you dead after being unconscious for 6 combat rounds at -12LP? Can you die at all?

Probably not as important to other people, but for me it is.

Is your game more universal? Or is it more focused on a specific genre? If so, which one(s)?

Are you using an already-established system? If so, which one? If not, why not? If not, what are you hoping that your system will help you do better than one of the freely available already-established systems out there?

What are some specifics of the system? (This will vary. If using an already-established system, I'd like to know if you're using any optional bits, additions, or variations in order to get it to do what you want. If using your own system, then I'll want more info on how the basic system itself works before going into anything secondary.)

How does your game handle death? Do you have only one option, or do you have options to easily allow us to toggle the lethality up or down as desired?

If you have a specific setting, what is it? What sets it apart from other settings in the same genre? What kinds of adventures does it most readily support?

What kind of choices are the players going to be making a lot?

How can I make those choices be interesting?

What are the characters expected to do together?

I start with flavor and setting first then move to mechanics.

1) What is the theme/genre of the game? What is the setting?  I might design a post apoc differently than a police detective game.

2) Is this meant as long running game or one shot/episodic sessions?

3) What general issues motivate the players/characters?

4) Are there character classes? Is there level advancement and if so is it a general level or in specific skills?  Are there experience points, etc?

5) Will the mechanics be based on something that essentially already exists or will there be ground up building?

My first question would have to be: Why am I designing my own game? What am I trying to do that cannot be done with an existing system?

Quote from: HappyDaze;1047396My first question would have to be: Why am I designing my own game? What am I trying to do that cannot be done with an existing system?

Good one!

Yeah, the initial question will be whether you really need a new system for what you're making.

Quote from: RPGPundit;1047847Yeah, the initial question will be whether you really need a new system for what you're making.

This is the big one. "Am I reinventing the wheel here when Firestone has the market cornered"

Others are:

Is this better served using an existing open source system or a system I can permissions for.
Does it rely on a single gimmick?
Is it appealing to more than just me and my friends?
How difficult will it be to afford artwork?
Can I get more than just me and my friends to edit it?
How difficult will it be for play testers to work out the bugs (Also, how hard will it be to teach newbies the game?)
Do I have an idea for the setting that isn't just Generic Fantasy/Scifi/Cyberpunk #528 with the serial number filed off?

Quote from: Warlord Ralts;1047852This is the big one. "Am I reinventing the wheel here when Firestone has the market cornered"

Others are:

Is this better served using an existing open source system or a system I can permissions for.
Does it rely on a single gimmick?
Is it appealing to more than just me and my friends?
How difficult will it be to afford artwork?
Can I get more than just me and my friends to edit it?
How difficult will it be for play testers to work out the bugs (Also, how hard will it be to teach newbies the game?)
Do I have an idea for the setting that isn't just Generic Fantasy/Scifi/Cyberpunk #528 with the serial number filed off?

Yeah, all those are good questions.

Why would I want this?
Why would other people want it?
What is my market niche and is it already filled/could a page of conversion notes get an existing product to what I wanted?

For example, I like Savage Worlds and fantasy settings. All I'm really missing from Savage Worlds is more Utility magic, magic item creation, and Domain management. But the Hellfrost books kind of already provide most of that. So I don't really need to brew much to get what I want.

I did not really understand the question at first, and then i thought of the questions i did ask when i started on my own rpg originally, namely:
* How do i make the combat system as fast as my favourite miniature-/Boardgames?
* How do i include a lot of possible variation, without slowing the game down too much, nor go freeform?

I suspect this is not the kind of questions you expected, but frankly, all other questions were secondary.
EDIT:
Oh, at that time, i had already indirectly answered HappyDaze's question:

QuoteMy first question would have to be: Why am I designing my own game? What am I trying to do that cannot be done with an existing system?

with :
"To my knowledge, it does not exist already, because if it did, i'd just play it instead."

Well, that's another thing: if you are planning to design your own game, you should try to have a relatively vast view of existing RPGs. I don't mean you must know every RPG under the sun, but if all you've ever played was, say, D&D3e and WoD, you probably don't know enough about what's out there.

That's how you end up with those games where people talk about how unbelievably innovative they're being by not using character classes, or something.