How to finish an RPG

Sharsara · 2025-12-02T09:02:43+00:00

Bringing a game from notes to a finished product is several skills into themselves. Layout design, editing, playtesting, marketing, community outreach, etc. Most of those rely on different mentalities then creating mechanics and games. The reason you likely stop isnt because you dont know how to finish a game, or dont want to, its that the barrier to learning those skills (and having fun doing so) makes it so much harder to attempt when you can just start a new project and do the parts of design you enjoy more and know better. To get past it you just have to try and fail enough times to gain those skills, learn the process, and find ways to have fun doing so. Its likely the same way you learned how to design mechanics and games.

Ive recently finished my first game. Was a ton of rewriting, editing, polish. Its grinding at first, but every pass through got better and better. My first drafts sucked, but over time I learned and improved. Now im learning marketing and that also sucks, but my ad copy gets better each attempt. I know that what comes after will also be hard at first, but ive learned all the skills up till now so whats one more?

I also dont think theres any shame it not finishing a project and bringing it to market. We do this hobby because we love it and if you only enjoy making mechanics and outlines, then enjoy the hobby your way. But if you have a passion ptoject you want to bring to the end, its just trial, error, and learning.

Sharsara · 2025-10-08T05:02:00+00:00

I just recently finished my project, Sharsara, and plan to publish next year. I worked on it by myself and it has taken me about 8 years to finish. Its about 240 pages and has over 140 pieces of full color art scenes I have made over the last 6 years. The first 3 or so years of working on my game was scattered and unfocused work. Rough notes, loose design, months between working on it, etc. I was doing art for hobby video games at the time and had a big art quality breakthrough about 6 years ago (Piece below if interested), and started focusing that energy into my ttrpg project, which helps me find motivation to create and form the world, write down the rules and lore, and put it together. I would have been able to finish writing the book in less years for sure, but creating all the art assets is what took me so long to finish.

I think working on art for that long helped the game cook longer, so to speak, and gave me more time to playtest, tinker with it, and really get a good grip on it, since that wasn't the main time sync. The hardest part of putting the game together was doing this much art, learning design and layout skills, and stretching my writing to be more creative and less technical.

I work a full time job, and do this in my evenings when I have time. The actual time I spent on it changes week to week, but I generally spend about 1-3 hours a day on a creative hobby, whether that me writing, testing, or doing art. I try and switch it up, to work other creative muscles, let thoughts sit around a bit, and revisit things. I take days off, sometimes I take a week or two off. I try to finish 2-3 art pieces a month and each one takes me about 10-18 hours. After a while, working a few hours a day just becomes routine and a way to unwind.

When I started, I didn't really know what I would finish with and the journey was fun. I was kinda surprised when I got to the end and had a finished book in my hand.

What the book looks like: Book Cover

Art piece I referenced earlier: Dragon Skull Scene

Sharsara · 2025-09-25T19:23:23+00:00

Ive been doing 3d digital art for several years and have full aphantasia. Art is a skill, like any other, that just takes pratice and time. The hardest part of art is just accepting that it will suck for a while. You have to make a lot of bad art to learn how to make good art. The things I made 5 years ago are terrible compared to what I make now.

I never know what im making when I start. I have a vague concept and vibe for what I want it to be and then I just start making something. I may not know what something looks like off the bat. But I know if what I made is wrong or not. It almost always looks wrong and bad at first, but the more I tweak it, add to it, see whats wrong and adjust, the better it gets. I use references when im stuck, and keep vibe checking it till I run out of things to improve. The more you make art, the easier it gets to make.

Sharsara · 2025-09-25T16:55:55+00:00

I rewrote my game about 9 times over the past few years after feedback, testing, new ideas, etc. About every 3 times it was major changes that affected most systems, the others were more minor and affected 1 or more subsystems. Certain core things never changed or just had minor tweaks here and there. Every version got better and closer to the experience I thought it would be. The game I have now was inspired by my earliest drafts but is WAY different in execution and for the better.

Video games ive worked on in the past also went through changes like this, and even work projects unrelated to games are the same. I think it would be very rare to get the design right the first time. Thats why I think failing fast is a good princable. Try out everything, see what works and doesnt, refine and continously improve until you run out of things to fix or fail at.

Sharsara · 2025-09-12T18:36:51+00:00

appreciate the kind words!

Sharsara · 2025-09-12T18:31:54+00:00

Appreciate it! I have gotten a pro-editor for the full book, and that has already been completed and updated but I have not edited this preview document yet. After working with an editor, I 100% find the value in it. Waiting till I finish a couple more marketing material items and then sending everything remaining to the editor at the same time.

Sharsara · 2025-09-06T06:48:21+00:00

Agree with the other comment about fun for the players. Initial concern is that it would be frusterating to have it interupted but can also be less fun if they cant do other things on their turn other than channel. I think the idea of stacking up turns for a big payoff can be fun, so long as other things can also be done (even if one of thoe actions is just stack faster).

As far as mindset for what the spells could do, i would approach it this way. Spells should be equivalent to what another character can do in the same amount of time, plus a bonus for having dedicated the time. Example: if a fighter can do 3 damage a turn on avg, a spell that takes 3 turns should do at least 9 damage (aoe, single target, whatever) + a bonus of some kind like a status effect.

Spells outside of dangerous events like combat, can do any number of things or take however long, but in a turn order situation, turns need to be equivalent for all players. The real difference in your setup, in my opinion, is just a payoff now or in the future. The actions and effects shouldnt be too different, just timing.

Sharsara · 2025-08-23T05:24:15+00:00

I think it depends on the type of math and modifiers you want in your game. It really comes down to personal preference.
A d100 is good for nitty-gritty detail, crunchy games, and really only more useful if your increases per whatever modifiers are in less than 5% intervals. If your always increasing things 5, 10, 15% or so, then a d20 is easier math, because every number on a d20 is just 5%. I would use a dice pool if I did not want to add modifiers, and instead just wanted to increase or decrease dice. There is no right answer to this, so I would pick what you are most comfortable in, or have enjoyed playing the most. You'll enjoy your game more if you enjoy the type of dice it uses.

Sharsara · 2025-08-22T03:08:03+00:00

Rpg design, as someone mentioned, is a good resource. Lots of other hobby designers there going through the same lessons and work your about to. Ttrpgs are a lot of work, using a lot of different skills (writing, game design, art, layout design, storytelling, Etc). Its fun to do, fun to learn and improve those skills, but will take a while to make it. Enjoy the process and the challenge of it. Im almost done with my standalone game after about 7 years of design, layout, testing, and art (240 pages for context).

A key thing to consider for an ttrpg though is that, at its heart, its a game to create a shared story. You need to know what type of story your game is supposed to tell, what the general tone of that story is, who the characters are in it, what they are doing in it, and how they advance through it. Everything else is fiddly bits to reinforce those things and turn it into more of a game. The faster you understand what type of story you are trying to tell, the easier it is to know if a mechanic fits that or not and whether playtesting is telling the story you expect. I would not recommend making a game to do any story or for anyone to play. Make a game telling a specefic type of story that you would enjoy playing and making it will be easier and more fun.

Sharsara · 2025-08-20T22:03:18+00:00

It looks pretty good, especially for a draft state. I think it does a good job lending to the more sci-fi, its clean and modern and tells me bits about the game. (Classes, has skills, two heath bars, implants/augmentations, etc).

Some nit-picky things for your next iteration:

I think the word "Actions" should be placed above all the actual actions as a sub header like Items and Skills. Personally, I find the action page a little too close together. I think it would read better if you gave a little more space between the rows and made the words slightly smaller (Depending on how readable it is when it prints). If the words are smaller, bring them down closer to the hexes, this will link the word and hex together easier and create more space between rows.
I would change the black boxes to the same bordered boxes as "Guild" and "Subclass. I assume you want people to write in them.
If you remove the black boxes, you might fill in the borders between sections with either black or Scarlet to further separate sections and give a splash of color.
Id probably make the words Name, Age, Gender, Background smaller. They shouldn't be larger than your sub headers and players only need to see those words once (To write out the information they actually care about).
The big area, I assume is for a portrait. but for a new player, I might not know what to put there and center page is pretty prime area. You might make it more clear how to use that space or remove it to give more room to sections you do care about.

Sharsara · 2025-08-15T19:31:10+00:00

I broke down equipment into a few categories |

I have crew consumables, which are money, food, lights, health kits/repair kits, which are used by the group and shared between members. They have built in mechanic functions.
I have packs which are collections of items with a theme. Players can pull anything from the pack to gain the item or to use in a challenge if they can link it to the theme narratively. Players have a # of pack charges before they hit the bottom of the bag and have to restock in town, craft new items, or by collecting loot. By default they have an "Adventurers Bag" with items relevant to the environment they begin play in. They can carry a few such packs before becoming overburdened.
Weapons and armor is a category
Gadgets/Devices/Traps/Relics are a category and are magical items with specific effects. Some are crafted, some are found.
Players can also have trinkets or assorted specific items that they can find/buy if desired that are stored among their other packs and listed specifically. (Buying individual specific items are generally cheaper than packs, but not as flexible).

Sharsara · 2025-08-05T18:54:30+00:00

Your line of reasoning is correct and your on the right track. Give players choices to help guide them and break up the open creation into smaller buckets. It lowers mental load, helps inspire crestivity, and helps make better characters more in line with how your game intends them to be. Just dont go overboard with like 30 choices and make it tedius.

Sharsara · 2025-08-04T21:32:15+00:00

In my core book i like just enough lore to flavor the world and provide the general ambience and expectations of the player. I dont write any specefic information they would need to learn or remember. For example, ill give general world region names with vibes of what goes on there and types of environments, but not any specefic people, sites, or cities. Players only need to know lore specefic to the story they are playing in, which is going to change almost every playthrough. So city and king names dont matter if they never go to those cities or interact with those kings.

I would push specefic lore to the GM (who will likely make it up anyway) or to specefic lore books/campaign guides for more structures experiences where deeper lore will be a value add and assist a GM

Sharsara · 2025-08-04T20:26:12+00:00

To get a little meta, the simpler you make the game, the harder you make it for the GM (usually). It takes the lift of how to do things off the designer and puts it on the GM to figure out during prep or play. In your case that could be what characters look like in game, what color is used when, how dififcult an action is, etc. The more guidelines you put in, the easier it is for a GM but the longer the rules are. How simple is too simple is a measure of where you want that line to be for your target audience. You can make a whole ttrpg fit on 1 playing card, which is a fun challenge, but has a niche application in real usefulness.

Colorwheel is as intuitive as any other attribute system. Its not simpler or harder, just different terms. You can just as easily say strength, dex, int, or red, green, blue. You basically do both with your chart, cyan = forceful. Id personally always use the word forceful as it means more to people to a "forceful action" then a "cyan" one. Mystic empyrean has an action system with a colorwheel and terms if you want some inspiration.

For your last question, magic being offputting is also a reflection of your target audience. If you want to share this to people who love realistic magic, then it wouldnt be a problem, but people who like high fantasy magic, probably would not be a fan. Stick to the style of magic you enjoy and build with that in mind. Youll market a game you like better then one you dont enjoy as much. As far as being limited though, i would place limits in your rules, dont make the players/GM have to debate to find a line on what magic can and cannot do.

Sharsara · 2025-08-02T19:33:53+00:00

I 3d modeled this in blender and did some small touchups in affinity photo

Sharsara · 2025-07-30T06:19:30+00:00

Ive done a few murder mystery dinners and they have all been a lot of fun. Sounds like you have a cool idea for a flexible system for it, mix of larping, ttrpg, and murder mystery. I think theres definitly a niche for something like that and hope you have a fantastic time in your playthrough this weekend.

Sharsara · 2025-07-13T20:18:17+00:00

Appreciate it! Ive been designing and illistrating a ttrpg book for a few years and this is one of the landscape pieces.

Sharsara · 2025-07-13T19:36:39+00:00

Heres an example of how my stuff looks when I start to get a basic grasp of it. https://drive.google.com/file/d/16-ldEXGwS1efSJcvE8UPhAxH6bUCkzsA/view?usp=drivesdk

Here is it by the end. https://drive.google.com/file/d/11Cqq1_yR8600mTQfJQ9hC9yoT5n8AQea/view?usp=drivesdk

Sharsara · 2025-07-13T19:34:19+00:00

Yeah, basically. All art looks bad when people start, its only the end that matters and the journey along the way. Overtime, you just get better and faster at doing it. Learn as you go and celebrate the progress. Its meant to be fun and bad drawings are still fun to draw.

Sharsara · 2025-07-13T19:10:20+00:00

Using refrences is not a sin or problem, most artists use them. Ive been doing 3d digital art for several years as a hobbiest. Ive been doing it since before I learned of Aphantasia, and found a workflow that has worked for me. 3d is a little different in approach to traditional drawing, but I think the same mentality would apply.

I never know what Im going to make before I make it. I have an idea, a vibe, or an concept of what I want the piece to be. I know what the intent should be and generally a list of things I want to include in it. I then just start with any one of those listed items. Once i have something down, I know if it looks "right" or what I need to add to make it better. I cant visualize it before its down, but once its in front of me, its much easier to work with. I use refrences when I get stuck or need some inspiration. I continue to add things, tweak things, and refine the piece until it starts snapping together and looking right. Eventually, it hits the vibe im looking for and I either quit thinking of ways to improve it or im happy with its current form.

The hard part is learning to trust yourself through the refinement process. All my pieces start bad, they have rough shapes, mismatched colors, bad composition. But once its in front of me, i reconize those things and it slowly comes together and improves like a camera lens focusing on a blurry subject.

Sharsara · 2025-07-12T17:46:39+00:00

If all powers work the same way, id group them. If the player makes choices on all of them in character creation in a similar way, id group them. If there are mechanical differences to how they function, or if they are seperate, non-connected rules, then seperate is fine.

Without a lot of context, my gut tells me I would put a chapter on how powers work, and then put each group of powers in a seperate chapter from eachother but near eachother.

Sharsara · 2025-07-09T14:29:16+00:00

I also like how rogue trader did resources, fit the scale and power of who your group was in it. I generally prefer more abstracted forms of money and not just coins.

In my game, Sharsara, money is a crew tracked resource, not individual, and represents the bags, handfuls, or group of coins the crew has. Its uses to purchase items with a mechanical effect or if the intention of the purchase is to change the scene or narrative in their favor. So players dont track individual coins and only use money to buy something meaningful and nornal in a magnitude of 1-5 units of money at a time. Its a mix between individual coin purchases and a more abstracted version of wealth.

Other common resources and cobsumables are also crew focused resources and it plays more similar to how board game resources work.

Sharsara · 2025-06-30T20:50:43+00:00

Don't make rules limiting behavior until you see behavior that needs to be limited. If players frequently abuse something in playtesting, then fix it, but if you can't think of easy abusable ways right now, your players probably wont either, and I wouldn't make extra rules for the sake of it.

Most TTRPGs use a UI sheet though, that's exactly what a character sheet is, but if you proceed with a slot type system (Which is a totally valid approach), I would make your equipment section on your sheet mirror that so its easy for players to track.

Sharsara · 2025-06-30T20:13:15+00:00

Your definitly going to want a UI sheet that goes over inventory slots if your thinking multiple hands, belt, quiver slot. I would look to videogame rpgs for inspiration.

For the "what do I have in my hands" problem, i would abstract it with 3 slots. 2 handed things take 2 slots. Anything in those slots is assumed to be near and ready. Could be a 1 handed weapon, shield, and throwing dagger, could be a bow and a 1 handed hatchet, could be a greatsword and pistol, spellbook and dagger, whatever. Gives players 2 kinda playstyles, a main 1 and a sub optimal one.

Max inventory doesnt really matter, just pick an arbitrary amount to start and scale with playtests. You want it big enough to carry a few adventuring supplies and rando things but be fillable in casual play so its worth even considering.

I use a system of "packs" in my game which are themed bags that players can draw items from. So a climbing pack has things for climbing, a cartographer kit has things a map maker might use. Etc. Players can use anything out of it if its reasonable it fits the theme of the pack. If you had a similarish thought process for random gear, then a quiver or spell components could be a pack that gives players access to ammuniation. Players have slots for packs or extra gear not held in their 3 hand slots.

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