GAME DESIGN AND ROLE-PLAYING GAMES

Book chapter, 2024

This chapter explores role-playing games (RPGs) from a design perspective. While there are many approaches to acquiring knowledge about RPGs, designers of RPGs often consider the structural elements of a game-its rules and the entities on which the rules act-and how they will interact with each other. The Roleplaying Game is based on George Lucas’ Star Wars movie and its sequels. The benefits can be varied: name or brand recognition might mean there is an audience ready for a game. The rules of an RPG often direct players on how to approach playing it (e.g., seriously, competitively, or humorously). Having described broadly some of the challenges faced by RPG designers, the chapter will focus on three broad areas in the design space of RPGs through the lens of design patterns. Originally introduced in architecture by Christopher Alexander and others, design patterns capture common, reoccurring solutions to common, reoccurring problems in a design domain.