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Table of Contents
Fantasy RPG Design Challenge
The Current Challenge
*Design an RPG within the following restrictions:*
- No swords.
- No guns of any type.
- No dungeons (or dungeon equivalents, like widespread ruins).
- No undead.
- No demons or devils.
- No Conan-style barbarians.
- No elves, dwarves, or halflings/hobbits.
- The player-characters cannot be generic adventurers for hire.
- The setting cannot be just the standard Medieval Europe environment (peasants, barons, kings, Norman-style castles, horses, wagons, rolling farmland, etc.). It may include some of these individual elements.
- If your game includes monsters, beasts, or other non-sentient opponents, they must be complex and interesting, not just a handful of simple combat stats.
- If your game includes magic, it cannot use discrete, memorized spells with specific effects.
These requirements are meant broadly. Renaming swords to “blades” or barons to “lords” doesn't get you out of that requirement, and “swords” includes long knives, scimitars, katanas, rapiers, etc. If you're “skirting the line,” you're too close. Make something different.
Also, you must write the game for this contest. Do not tweak a few phrases in a game you already wrote, though you can certainly draw inspiration and pieces from other games, including those you wrote.
You have until the end of April (UTC). Post your game in a comment to this post or (better) in the Google+ Community.
In May, I'll post links to every game here and will choose a winner who will receive a PDF copy of every tabletop RPG I've ever published.
The First Challenge
Design a fantasy tabletop RPG that includes none of the following:
- Dungeon exploration
- Swords
- Guns of any type
- Monsters as simple as those in Chainmail
- Women in revealing outfits
- Barbarians
- Elves, dwarves, or halflings (added late, so optional but encouraged)
Note that swords and dungeons might exist in the game's world, but the rules cannot mention them.
Regarding monsters: If you include them, either avoid established monsters completely, or re-imagine them. Monsters must be complex and interesting, not damage sponges.
You have until the end of February 2016. Submit your game in a comment on this Google+ post or any post I write on this topic. In March, I'll post links to every game, and will choose a winner who will receive a PDF copy of every tabletop RPG I've ever published.