Experiences Writing for Role Playing Games (RPG)

Worlds teeming with adventure. A framework built by a writer organized and ran by the game master, the story lived through by players. The player’s fate, in essence, the fate of the story, and the world within it are in the hands of the role of the imagination and the role of a dice. This is the realm of role-playing games.

I have been playing role-playing games for many years. I have always been fascinated by the depth of the story and making up adventures in my head. I always felt like something was missing, and how can I share these adventures with others.

I started writing adventures while experiencing different tabletop RPG genre games in college. Some were inspired by video games, others were inspired by simply going for a walk downtown lincoln. Some character backgrounds I wrote for a modern campaign setting were inspired by people I met and saw at renaissance faires.
The ability to create a world, filled with people and give adventures to them gave me a great sense of purpose and belonging. When I shared that world and those adventures with others, allowing them to explore what I created has been such a fun part of what I do.

What are RPGs
Role-playing games are a genre of gaming in which the player takes on a role and plays through the game's story. Digital game examples of RPG games are Fable, World of Warcraft, Elder Scrolls, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and many others. Typically in an RPG you create a character and enter the world. Some games have a narrow storyline like the Final Fantasy series, for example, has a story you follow through all the way to the end. The Elder Scrolls Skyrim and World of Warcraft games have different storylines you can interact with, but the order in which you interact with them is usually up to you. This is what makes a Role Playing Game attractive to many.

Role-Playing Games on the computer are restricted to the limitations of the developers and their abilities. In a tabletop RPG adventure, you are only limited by your imagination and the imagination of the storyteller. In many cases, the system rules will limit your abilities to do certain things.

If your rules system or setting doesn’t have guns, then having a character who is proficient in guns won’t happen. However, this limitation can be. How you design your character will play key elements in this. How you play your character can also influence the grand scale of a story.

For example, if you develop your character with a low intelligence, but high strength. He may be able to do a lot of damage when attacking, but when it comes to making skill checks, he may not be as good as other characters. Playing off of character traits like this while Roleplaying your character can be an enjoyable time.

What’s it like writing for RPGs
I started out writing adventures a while back. Mainly just telling stories that players could later go through. Some started off as small one-shot adventures, others grew into massive campaign story arcs. It’s been an adventure on its own coming up with creative stories and trying to focus on one adventure before another one pops into my head.

One shot adventures are those that can be done with a strict time restraint. An hour time slot that you would have at a convention, is an example of a one-shot adventure. Typically an hour or two is the time frame. In most cases, one-shot adventures are limited to one story. However, it can be part of a larger campaign, or story arc.

Larger campaigns are usually created with several sessions in mind. Some of the campaigns I’ve been on have lasted with us meeting once a week for over a year before we finished the overall story. The key difference between a one-shot, and a larger campaign is in one adventure, you simply play, the story is over at the end of a session. A larger campaign allows the player to be able to flesh out his character and how they interact with the world. Growth of character is a fantastic way to explore one’s creative mind.

A Role-Playing Game story can consist of many different themes and elements to the adventure. Similar to how a novel can have different themes throughout the development of the story, and in some cases from book to book.

Finding inspiration for adventures can be found everywhere. I have found inspiration in going to the zoo, to watching my son play. One of the game settings I Am currently working on I was inspired after going to renaissance faires and science fiction conventions.

My current projects have me writing the entire game world. Taking a framework built by the original writers, and providing narrative content to it. Sure every world can have a dragon, but what makes our dragons different to make our game world setting unique. I have written many beasts with adventure in mind. How the players will interact with these creatures is up to the players. How these creatures interact with the players is where my narrative comes into play. While some of that comes through the written story and how the GM chooses to present the material. It is not uncommon for a player or GM to need a framework on how things work in the world. I am also working on adventure seeds that game masters will be able to use as a tool to aid in their adventures.

Who am I?
Joe DeMarco, single father, aspiring writer and game designer, software tester. I am a writer on Elfwood a seafaring campaign setting from Harsh realities. I enjoy all aspects of writing and storytelling. I get my inspiration at renaissance faires, conventions, playing games with friends, and even from the adventures of watching my son play and craft his own stories through his imagination.