Make your own one-page RPG (Part 4: Selecting mechanisms)

A step-by-step guide to making your first one-page TTRPG

Welcome to Skeleton Code Machine, a weekly publication that explores tabletop game mechanisms. Spark your creativity as a game designer or enthusiast, and think differently about how games work. Check out Dungeon Dice and 8 Kinds of Fun to get started!

This is Part 4 of a series. Be sure to read Part 5 - Writing, Layout, and Design next!

In Part 3 of this Create and publish your own one-page TTRPG guide, we looked at some ways to pick a theme for our new game. You chose a title, theme, and wrote a short pitch for your game.

In this part we are writing rules and using thematic mechanisms to turn our theme into a playable game.

Available in print and PDF

Make Your Own One-Page RPG by Exeunt Press

Want this guide in a complete edition? Make Your Own One-Page Roleplaying Game is available now in print at the Exeunt Press Shop and PDF at itch.io. Written by the creator of the ENNIE nominated Exclusion Zone Botanist, this Skeleton Code Machine guide takes you through every step of the process from initial concept to publication. It offers practical advice and examples you can use.

Theme vs. Mechanism

In Risk (Lamorisse & Levin, 1959), the theme is about global war and conflict — engaging in battles and conquering nations with your armies. The mechanisms of Risk are area movement, dice rolling, player elimination, and set collection. It’s a simple example of theme vs. mechanism.

The theme of a game explains why we play.

The mechanisms of a game explain how we play.

Without mechanisms and rules it is hard to make a playable game. Some creators have explored, however, how far this can be pushed with things like lyric games.

Use an existing framework

Just like when we looked at using public domain settings in Part 3, there are existing rules and mechanisms that you can use to make your own games.

By using an existing system, a lot of the hard work is already done:

• Resolution mechanism (e.g. roll over vs. roll under)

• Stat design (e.g. two stats vs. many)

• Character design (e.g. HP or health)

• Combat

• General game structure

In some cases, like the MÖRK BORG third-party license, you are free to adapt and remix the rules into your own game. Some restrictions apply and legal text is required.

In other cases, the rules of a game are published as a System Reference Document (SRD) which gives the rules of the game for you to use in your own game. Many times (but not always) the SRD lacks any of the original game’s theme or narrative. License restrictions vary, so check the document you use for details.

Here are a few SRDs and hackable RPGs that might work for a one-page RPG:

• Lasers & Feelings: Iconic “two stat” system using d6 dice. Simple and flexible enough to fit almost any theme. Popular choice for one-page RPGs.

• 24XX: Intended for “lo-fi sci-fi”, the 24XX system can be adapted to any genre. Uses polyhedral dice and includes info on Rules, Characters, Gear, and Details.

• Wretched & Alone: Solo journaling focused on struggle and survival (or lack thereof). Uses a tumbling block tower for tension.

• Tunnel Goons: Lightweight, traditional RPG good for exploration and combat. Uses d6 dice and has a mechanism for Health/HP.

• Push: Designed for “cooperative, action-packed adventures,” Push uses a roll-between d6 push-your-luck system. Concise and one-page friendly.

• Carta: Exploration games using a deck of cards. Quite a few ways to run the game, with varying amounts of player agency. No dice required.

• Lost & Found: A solo game system for “telling the story of an object over a long stretch of time” by Mousehole Press. Artefact is a well-known example.

• LUMEN: More than just an SRD, Lumen is a “creator kit, design philosophy, and commentary” made for “action packed, power fantasy games.” NOVA is an example.

While not an SRD, check out what Grant Howitt has done with Honey Heist, Crash Pandas, and The Witch is Dead. They are packed with creativity and can serve as mechanical inspiration for your own games.

As always, licenses and permissions vary for each game. Be sure to read any license or restrictions before using someone else’s work.

Randomly generated mechanisms

None of those existing SRDs working for you, and want to start from scratch? No problem! Just use the Skeleton Code Machine Mechano-Tron!

Roll 1d6 and 1d12 and look up where you land on the table. For example, rolling a 3 and a 2 gives you “Dice Rolling.” Rolling a 4 and 5 gives you “Clock/Timer”. Using both, you’d be making a dice rolling game that also uses a clock or timer mechanism.

Roll a few and see if you get inspired!

Some of these mechanisms would be difficult to implement in such a limited space as a one-page RPG, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. You can grab some of the ideas of “resource management” not implement it all the way, similar to how Arcs uses trick-taking.

Updating your game’s description

While you usually want to focus on the hook and avoid mechanisms in the pitch, it doesn’t hurt to be able to briefly explain how your game works. Here are some examples:

• Exclusion Zone Botanist: A push-your-luck hexcrawl where you are a botanist exploring a dark and corrupting forest.

• Eleventh Beast: A solo monster hunting game in 18th century London where you push-your-luck preparing for a final dice-based combat encounter.

While too long for a quick pitch, it’s a good exercise to try to explain the basics of your game in a single sentence. Try it for your game!

📝 Exercises

Each part of this Create and publish your own one-page RPG series includes something to read/watch and something to make/try. Here’s your assignment:

1. Read about the The Carta SRD and Player Agency at Skeleton Code Machine.

2. Explore some of the wide variety of free, PUSH-powered games.

3. Download and check out at least three (3) of the free, hackable TTRPGs and SRDs.

4. Choose one of the SRDs, or use the Mechano-Tron to choose some mechanisms for your game, and answer the following for each mechanism:

   1. Does this mechanism feel abstract or thematic?

   2. How does this mechanism fit and support the theme of the game?

   3. What components would be required to implement this mechanism?

   4. Which of the 8 Kinds of Fun does this mechanism support?

5. Update the description of your new game: (1) title, (2) premise/hook, (3) some basics like stats, categories, or mechanisms.

6. Don’t worry about designing a fully working game. Just get some basic ideas together and think about how it can be structured. But if you want to finish the design, go ahead!

Continue to Part 5 next!

— E.P. 💀

P.S. You are a pasty in a coffee shop waiting to be eaten in You are a Muffin.

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