How it’s Done, Done…
This is the second in a series of behind the scenes looks into the TTRPG game design and development process, specifically the creation of a brand new character class for an established game.
If you’re just joining the blog and missed part 1, you can head back there now. For everyone else, let’s continue.
Last time around, despite getting sidetracked once or thrice, we looked at what it might take to build a D&D/A5E character class from concept to publication. I ended with a simple mindmap that captured some of what I want to accomplish with the class.
Moving on to lesson 1.2: Inspiration, I realize how intertwined these first few steps are. It’s a bit of a chick and egg conundrum as in “how can you have an idea if you weren’t first inspired?” but then “how can you document your inspiration without it already being ideation?” So ultimately I need to think of the Ideation step as sort of a quick word vomit with no preconceived notions of what’s right or wrong, what will work or won’t, what is feasible or not. The Inspiration step then is a more thoughtful review of certain aspects of the idea. Why does the idea really resonate with me? What external or internal sources serve as inspiration for the idea? What images and character portrayals emulate the idea? What songs convey in lyrics and or music the themes of the idea? How can I make the idea come to life in 2, 3, and 4 dimensions? Enter moodboards and playlists, which is the assignment for this lesson.
Capturing an idea in multiple types of media can be a valuable mechanism in the development of anything creative. While we can’t take sayings like “a picture paints 1000 words” or “Mozart makes babies smart” hyperliterally, music and imagery do activate different (if overlapping) parts of the brain than simply seeing or hearing words. Even ignoring scientific neuroresearch, experientially we know some stuff just hits differently. Hearing someone talk is different than listening to a song is different than seeing someone’s face.
By creating a song list and or pinning together a collage of images, we create a visceral memory of sorts, something we can return to over and over again that will hit us with just the right feels and remind us of what our idea means on a nonverbal level.
For my class, the “Spiritualist” (current working name), my primary inspiration comes in the form of a movie and its soundtrack. Secondary sources come from a television show and its main cast of characters. If you’ve been paying attention and are reasonably aware of pop culture today, you have probably figured out what both the movie and the show are. If not, I’ll hang onto revealing that for the time being with the promise you won’t be in the dark for long. Suffice to say I’ve watched and listened to the source material enough to where creating a mood board or playlist is rather redundant given the constant imagery popping up in my head and earworms buzzing around my brain.
So I’m skipping this for now, but I might still come back to this step later and add a playlist and moodboard when all is said and done. A little physical evidence for reference never hurts in the long run.
Lesson 1.3: Design Goals is an interesting one and admittedly not always a part of my documented process. When inspiration is flowing and ideation is easy, design goals sort of fall into place naturally. But it’s easy to make too many assumptions which come back to throw wrenches in the creative works later in the process. Min requirement stuff first:
Design a class and 2-3 subclasses/archetypes that are compatible with D&D5e and/or Level Up A5E.
The class is playable and balanced against existing classes
A few other things that probably should be obvious but can sometimes be overlooked:
The class is fun to play
The class is not overly complex to interact with (related to but not the same as being fun to play)
The class fits within a niche that isn’t yet filled (an important one that I’ll touch on in more detail below).
The archetypes are unique and distinct from one another.
The class could support additional archetypes.
The design is constructed with publishing in mind (we’ll come back to this in the next lesson).
Some personal favorites:
The source material is evident and identifiable in the class without being too obvious or in your face.
Feature names are thoughtful, thought provoking, and clear; outright puns (or near puns) are acceptable (encouraged even) in limited doses.
If I want to build a PC that feels like a specific character from the source material (which I do), the class allows me to do so.
And finally a few failsafes*:
The class takes no more than 3000 words to convey
Each archetype takes no more than 1000 words to convey
The class is playtested prior to final publication (this one feels like cheating since I know it’s a lesson later in the course).
The class does not introduce brand new mechanics or mini-games that are incompatible or at odds with the core ruleset.
*Note: I can at my discretion override these any or all of these failsafes as long as the overall class design supports it AND the class playtests successfully (i.e. receives positive reviews, especially in areas where the failsafes have been overridden).
OK. If this sounds like a bunch of arbitrary rules, well that’s because it is, but based on my experience these are the goals that will help me achieve what I want. I mean I know why I’ve set these parameters and boundaries, and some may even make sense to you, but you don't have to understand or agree with all of them or implement any of them for your projects. As long as you have your goals, stated or otherwise, that’s what’s important.
If what you want is some cool homebrew for a custom campaign you’re in or are running, that’s very different than aiming at publishing a professional 3rd party product meant for general consumption (and I’ve just discovered my first unstated goal). Your intent and your personal style can change the context and thus also change the design goals dramatically.
I do have two other unstated goals. One is to finish the class in a very short amount of time. Like in a week from now. It’s an outrageous goal which is probably why it didn’t make the initial list. Doable? Knowing me, yes. Likely? Also knowing me, no. So a toss up. Better to add it as a stretch goal. My last unstated goal is to turn a profit with the release. Much like the first goal I forgot to include (professionally publish the class), it’s one of those “always on” assumptions/goals that sort of just goes with the territory of being a 3pp publisher. While I have created content in the past purely for fun or for my home table, in the back of my mind I still think “maybe I should package that up to sell…”
Which coincidentally (or accidentally, expertly, on purpose) brings us to lesson 1.4 Publishing Options.
For D&D adjacent game content, there are a few go-to places where I can peddle my wares so to speak. Two of the more popular ones are actually housed in the same platform: DriveThruRPG (DTRPG) and The Dungeon Masters Guild (DMsGuild) are both part of OneBookshelf.
There’s plenty of information and advice out there concerning these two paths, so I’ll keep it brief:
Pros and Cons, the DMsGuild:
Offers access to WotC intellectual property for use in DMsGuild products,
Is recognized among D&D players and DMs looking to augment their D&D games as a marketplace to purchase content,
Takes a bigger royalty percentage than DTRPG,
Restricts publishing of DMsGuild content outside of the DMsGuild, plus WotC reserves the right to use DMsGuild content in any way they choose without notifying the original content creators,
Requires approval for physical (softcover or hardcover) releases,
Does not allow for alternative funding/crowdfunding options (e.g. Kickstarter, Backerkit, etc.)
Pros and Cons, DTRPG:
Does not afford access to certain WotC intellectual property for use in DTRPG products,
Is a marketplace for many different TTRPGs including D&D,
Takes a smaller royalty percentage than DMsGuild,
Has options for exclusive or non-exclusive publication,
Does not require approval for physical (softcover or hardcover) releases,
Allows for alternative funding/crowdfunding options (e.g. Kickstarter, Backerkit, etc.).
Where you publish is a personal decision, but for me, while there have been some scenarios in the past I opted to have my work published on DMsGuild, I’ve been happy with my choice since deciding to go with DTRPG as it’s overall less restrictive on my rights as a creator. (Ultimately I’d love to have my own virtual storefront as well, but that’s a project for another day.)
And with that out of the way, Lesson 1 in its entirety is complete!
Reviewing the topics of Lesson 2 (Organization, Tools and Resources, Design Bible, Marketing & Publication Strategy) most of these are things I already have in place from prior projects, so I’ll largely be skipping this entire step, or more accurately just calling the whole thing completed:
2.1: My overarching organizational mechanism for writing in progress is google drive and creating a good folder structure therein. And while I sometimes use google keep as a tool/resource, I typically convert notes to docs once I hit a certain threshold so everything is collected in one place. What I do find interesting is once writing is done and it’s time for layout, I switch gears and head over to Microsoft’s OneDrive. Go figure. Maybe one day I’ll consolidate , but for now the system works for me as-is so no point changing it just yet.
2.2: As for other tools, I use the Affinity 2 Suite (Publisher, Designer, Photos) as an alternative to the subscription-based Adobe platform. There are tradeoffs but overall I’m happy.
2.3: For a design bible, over the years I’ve worked with enough publishers and templates to have collected what I need for just about any project. If you’re just starting out though, WotC has made various style guides available on their website and the DMsGuild.
2.4: As far as a marketing & publication strategy, I have my website (with blog and portfolio), presence on several social media platforms, various discord servers, the ENWorld forums, and other communities and connections. While that sounds like a lot, to be honest, I could do with more invested activity in this area which is one reason I included the lesson. But it is sufficient for this project which I intend to be rather fast paced and pressing.
That’s 2 Lessons down, 5 to go, and the next one is the biggie: Lesson 3: Creation.
While I’m itching to dive in here and get cracking on this part of the project given my artificially accelerated timeline, this is a great spot to stop for this article, so it’ll have to wait til next time.
