Game Designers, Stop Relying on GMs To Do The Work For You

Anyone who's ever sat in the big chair at the end of a game table knows that it's a tough gig running a campaign. You need to keep the plates spinning regarding the plot, all the NPCs' voices, figuring out what information your players have and don't have, and making sure you understand all the different plots and schemes the villains are running at any given time... it's a lot to balance.

However, I'm going to plant a flag in a hill this week when it comes to game design. Because there has been a trend I keep seeing when I read rulebooks that I think entirely too many designers are getting in on. Namely that a lot of us seem to be content to do half the work of designing a game and its rules systems, then clocking out for the day, expecting the game master to fill in the rest of the blank sections on their own.

What does this dial do? Meh, hell if I know!

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Make Sure The Product is Done Before You Release It

In the interest of clarity, let me say what I'm not talking about here. I'm not saying that games should try to discourage game masters from changing things to suit their table's desires, because that's absurd. Nor am I saying that we should design our games in such a way that GMs have no agency or decisions they can make within the framework of the rules or setting, or that we should somehow do away with Rule 0.

What I am saying is that we need to make sure the product is actually complete, and that it's totally functional as it stands without any additional material provided by the people who purchase it. Because that's what they paid us to do!

An example might be helpful.

Let's say, for a moment, that you were designing a car. People who buy a car acknowledge there are all different kinds of makes and models, but they still expect a machine that functions. The vehicle should start up when they turn the ignition, it should go when they put it in drive, and get them to their destination. They have to keep it on the road, and it has limitations, but it's a functional, complete device that performs the function one expects.

However, a lot of RPGs I've come across seem to be missing parts, and the fill-in for it is always, "ask your GM," or, "at the GM's discretion." Whether it's games where the villains and the PCs seem to be operating on different rules (giving the monsters powers/spells/items that simply don't exist for the PCs), games where target numbers are left entirely up to the GM to set (often without any sort of guidance as to what would be fair at any given power level), or games where character abilities out-and-out say that a player needs to ask their GM when and how it functions are all examples of cars that are missing pieces.

It's not that they don't work... but it's that if you expect them to actually work properly, all the time, then the game master has to get in and make their own fixes to the vehicle that should have been there in the first place.

Aftermarket Upgrades Need To Be Optional

An RPG needs to be a complete, functional system when it goes up for sale. The reason is because this isn't some group project you're just tinkering around with that might be fun for people... this is a product. You are selling this game, and if you've ever bought a product that was missing pieces then you know exactly how frustrating it can be trying to make it actually do what you need it to do.

Yeah, I made it work. Still pissed I wasted money on this thing.

It is understood in any rules system that players can pick and choose whatever aspects they want, changing things to suit their fancy. But that's the keyword; change. You cannot change something that wasn't provided in the first place. That's just you actually crafting a piece the manufacturer didn't give you.

For an example, you could look at my Gods of Sundara release (available in both Pathfinder and DND 5E for those who are interested). In this book I provided a blueprint to use for creating gods in this setting, and in a world that has no alignment. Every god has the usual entries like name, domains, holy symbol, and things like that, but each god also comes with 5 Pillars to represent the central ideas and commandments of all varieties of their faiths, as well as signs/portents of their favor and disfavor. Many also included Faces, which were alternative perceptions of this god under different names and appearances.

While this book makes it clear there are a near-endless variety of gods great and small in Sundara, and that players and GMs alike are encouraged to make their own to suit the stories they want to tell, I also provided a sample pantheon of gods. So, while I provided the blueprint for making one's own divinities, and made it clear they could alter as much of this as they wanted without upsetting the world canon, I also provided a full 10 gods with write-ups and faiths so that no GM who picked up this setting ever needed to create their own pantheon if they don't want to.

That is what I'm referring to. A game should have all its parts in motion, and the GM should be able to just get behind the wheel and drive without having to change fuses, find a missing 4th wheel, or troubleshoot a poorly-designed fuel injector. Because there will always be people who, when they buy a car, want to tinker around with it to see just what sort of performance they can get out of it. Other people, though, just want to be able to take a drive through the countryside. In both cases, these people paid for a complete product... so give it to them!

Speaking of Complete Products...

If this is the first you're hearing of my Sundara: Dawn of a New Age setting, the idea is that it's a fantasy RPG that utterly removes alignment, and whose goal is to focus on moving forward rather than constantly looking back into some mythical, half-remembered past. A place of strange magics, unique discoveries, and constantly shifting alliances and borders, it's a realm filled with adventure as surely as any other!

And if you've already gotten your copy of Gods of Sundara (available for Pathfinder and DND 5E), consider checking out some of the Cities of Sundara splats that started this world off!

- Ironfire: The City of Steel (Pathfinder and 5E): Built around the Dragon Forge, Ironfire is where the secret to dragon steel was first cracked. The center of the mercenary trade in the region, as well as boasting some of the finest schools for teaching practical sciences, Ironfire is a place where discovery and danger walk hand in hand!

- Moüd: The City of Bones (Pathfinder and 5E): An ancient center of trade and magic, Moüd was lost to a cataclysm, and then buried in myth. Reclaimed by the necromantic arts of the Silver Wraiths guild, this city has once again become a place teeming with life. Despite the burgeoning population, though, it is the continued presence of the undead that helps keep the city running, ensuring that Moüd is not swallowed up once more.

- Silkgift: The City of Sails (Pathfinder and 5E): Built on the cottage industry of Archer cloth (an extremely durable material used for sails, windmills, etc.), Silkgift is a place that prizes invention and discovery. From gravity batteries that store the potential of the wind, to unique irrigation systems, to aether weapons, the city positively churns out discoveries... and then there's the canal they cut through the mountains that makes them a major center of trade across the region.

- Hoardreach: The City of Wyrms (Pathfinder and 5E): A center of power across an entire region, Hoardreach is ruled over by a Cooperation of five different dragons. A place for refugees and outcasts of all sorts, Hoardreach boasts some of the most unusual citizens and creations from across Sundara. Infamous for their sky ships, which require the cast-off scales and unique arcane sciences of the Dragon Works to take to the air, one never knows just what they'll find in this city built atop a mountain.

- Archbliss: The City of The Sorcerers (Pathfinder and 5E): A floating city in the sky, Archbliss has been a refuge for sorcerers for thousands of years. It's only in relatively recent years that the city has allowed those from the ground below who lack the power of a bloodline to join them in the clouds. However, while there are certainly amazing wonders to behold, there is a darkness in Archbliss. Something rotting away at its heart that could, if not healed, bring the city crashing to the ground once more.

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