The Art of Game Design
Art of Game Design
Do you want to design games? Are you already a game designer? You need to read Jesse Schell’s The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses. It doesn’t matter if you want to design board games, roleplaying games, or video games, this book has tools you can use. In fact, I would say The Art of Game Design transcends the medium of games and is an excellent resource for any type of design. Even Game Masters should find this book very useful.
Schell draws from the disciplines of design, philosophy, and psychology combined with his experience in the industry to provide a set of 100 lenses through which to examine your game to make it better. This book meets my expectations on what an entire game design college program should provide.
The lenses Jesse give his readers are really just a set of questions that a designer should ask about his game to ensure it will meet the expectations of the game’s target audience. These lenses give the designer the necessary perspective that will make games great. Of course, you can’t read a book and expect it to make you a great game designer, or even a mediocre one. That takes years of practice, but applying the concepts presented in The Art of Game Design should help put you on a faster track to success.
In the future I want to revisit The Art of Game Design and take a look at the lenses Jesse Schell has come up with. Right now I want to discuss the first lens, the Lens of Essential Experience.
Lens #1: The Lens of Essential Experience
To use this lens, you stop thinking about your game and start thinking about the experience of the player. Ask yourself these questions:
- What experience do I want the player to have?
- What is essential to that experience?
- How can my game capture that essence?
If there is a big difference between the experience you want to create and the one you are actually creating, your game needs to change: You need to clearly state the essential experience you desire, and find as many ways as possible to instill this essence into your game.
The above excerpt is from page 21 of The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell.
This lens kicks everything off; posing the first question a designer should answer about his game. What is the essential experience that players should have and how do you convey that experience? A designer should probably extend this lens and make sure that any element added to the game’s design reinforces the essential experience.
Just a GM
If you’re a Game Master, you might still be wondering why this book would be valuable to you. Well, Game Masters ARE game designers. Sure, you may not be designing the rules, but you are designing the EXPERIENCE. These lenses should help you shape your campaigns into unforgettable experiences for your players. You could think of it as a Campaign Toolkit.
This book gets a full 5 flask rating and my highest recommendation!
5 out 5 Flasks!
Listening to: Testament – The Formation of Damnation – The Evil Has Landed
Kohl of Seduction
I like simple magic items that enhance or change the way things are usually done during play. The following wonderous item for Pathfinder RPG is fairly simple, and while fairly simple, doesn’t really change the game. What I feel it does do is encourage players to perhaps take the road less travelled when it comes to interacting with NPCs for vital information. In my group, we tend to steer clear of most sexual situations. Well, maybe if I drop something like the following magic item into a campaign (after having it used on them), I can foster some more interesting roleplay.
Kohl of Seduction
Aura faint enchantment; CL 3rd
Slot –; Price 80 gp; Weight – lb.
DESCRIPTION
This jet black cosmetic made from soot and vegetable oil is contained in a small round tin. When successfully (DC 15 Craft [appropriate craft] or Disguise check) applied as mascara or decoration to the eyes and face, it imbues the wearer with enhanced sexual appeal. The kohl provides a +3 enhancement bonus on Bluff and Diplomacy checks that involve sexual innuendo or seduction. A fresh tin includes enough make-up for 5 applications. If the check to apply the kohl is failed, the application is wasted.
CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, charm person; Cost 40 gp
Listening to: Lords of Acid - Voodoo-U - Voodo0-U
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Villainous Vivisection
So I’ve got a so-called villain strapped to the operating table (he wouldn’t stop squirming while I was using the scalpel) because I was wondering what makes them work. What’s makes them tick (tick-tock, tick-tock, like an evil clock!) so speak. It seems to be a fad these days, to be chillin’ like a villain. As I mop up (more like smear it around) the pools of blood this dastardly fellow leaked (how uncooperative he’s been!), I try to listen (he was screaming the whole time) to the notes I recorded during my dissection.
Anyways, I should let one of my trusted assistants finish cleaning up, I know how much they like to chew the fat while working. Hey, don’t forget to put those organs through the grinder before they spoil! Where was I? Oh yes, my notes… well I present my written report on the composition of a villain. DAMN IT MINIONS! Chew with your mouth closed, you know how much the smacking of lips irritates me!
Disclaimer
We all like to build the most effective villains for our games, but some components work better in different atmospheres. If you’re game is a light, humorous poke at the supers’ genre, then a truly nasty demon villain that eats babies may not be appropriate (or it may, depending on your group…). The underlying point is to use the components that work for you and forget the rest.
Antagonists vs. Villain
Let’s get one thing straight; villains are the bad-asses of the bad-guy universe. If you look at the bad-guy universe as a Venn diagram, the big circle is the general antagonists set and then a much, much smaller circle, a subset of the general antagonists, is the villains. Villains are a special breed.
Antagonists
Antagonists are anyone who becomes obstacles in the player characters’ path. They could range from the diligent guard blocking access to a location (just doing his job) to the thug who beat up one of their grandmas and left her for dead. It could be the bard in the corner singing out of tune so loudly that the PCs cannot hear what the thief in the corner is saying to her boss. An antagonist just someone (or something) like makes life more difficult, but doesn’t necessarily have a lasting effect on the campaign.
The Villain
Actual villains should probably remain relatively rare in a campaign, otherwise they lose their effectiveness. The single factor that make a villain distinct from lesser antagonists is the fact his goal(s) is the direct anti-thesis of the PC’s ultimate goal(s). A villain is the arch-nemesis of the player characters, and he actively tries to defeat them.
Mechanisms of Good Villains
I have collected, preserved, and placed in labeled jars full of formaldehyde some of the common components of effective villains. These are some of the most rotten elements that comprise many of the most hated and feared villains.
Cult of Personality
Many villains become powerful leaders and influential people of station through their commanding presence and charisma. They may use sex appeal or oratory skills (no it’s not the same, pervert!). This usually means any dialog with a villain should be real and memorable. Not to mention the hoards of zealous followers willing to lie down and die for their liege.
Truly Threatening
If a villain doesn’t pose an honest threat the player characters, then he’s a mook (as opposed to a villain). A villain should strike fear into the hearts of the players, not just their characters. A villain actually uses sound tactics in and out of combat and he orders his minions to do the same.
Corresponding Intensity
This is really a reflection of the game’s attitude and atmosphere. A villain should be just as intense as the player characters (or more so if they are a bunch of gimpy roleplayers). If the characters are see the world as black and white (and they are white), then this guys is the blackest black. If everything is seen in shades of grey, this guy is nebulous too. If everything is tongue-in-cheek comedy, then the villain should be dark humor.
Shattered Mirror
This is a reflection of the player characters. Sometimes the best villain is a photographic negative of one or more player characters, or what they believe in. The villain should be a perverse mockery of all the good traits of the characters.
Lingering Humanity
Some villains still possess a shred of their humanity (or elvenity, or whatever) that they had before they became the cruel bastard they are now. Perhaps they have a soft spot for children (or gully dwarves), or like ice scream an awful lot. This is a great way to get players to feel sympathy for a villain.
Twisted Endings
So your players have slain the big bad evil guy, but wait… this guy was actually the good captain who was undercover trying to find the real bad guy? Oh yeah, the truly despicable villain will throw the player characters with excellent red herrings. What did you just say, you’re my mother!? Nooooooooo!!
Tragic Origins
Give the player characters a greater understanding of their nemesis and have them discover the tragic origins of the villain. Perhaps he grew up in an orphanage where the Sisters of Mercy wouldn’t give him any ice cream but would pound down pints of Cookies’n'Cream in front of him, oh the torture! So now he will drown any nun he sees in hot sticky cream.
Hidden Enemy
Occasionally is it can be fun keeping the villain unknown and working from the shadows. The player characters are always baffled until he finally slips and makes a mistake. Then you reveal the villain in all her glory, hopefully crushing the PCs’ spirits with hopelessness.
Scaling Power
Usually, I am not a proponent of scaling elements in the world with the progression and power of the player characters. I like an organic or natural world. But the natural world isn’t completely static, and an ambitious villain will most definitely progress in power too; quite possibly at a faster rate than the PCs depending on how unscrupulous she is.
Memorable Name
Well you can’t have a terrifying villain with a hokey name, unless that’s the atmosphere of the game. If your villain has been designed properly, merely using the name in normal conversion should elicit emotional reaction from your players.
Cinema & Novels
Let’s face it. Roleplaying games are NOT movies or books. That’s a good thing, because playing an RPG is dynamic art that always creates a unique experience because you (and the rest of your group) are the one creating it. It’s just that some of the tools and techniques used in cinema and novels don’t work as effectively when used right out of the box.
Presentation & Revelation
Directors and authors often center parts of their stories away from the protagonists and focus on the activities of the villain. This is great because it allows them to develop the villain’s character and compel the [passive] audience to connect with the adversary.
Game Masters do not have that luxury. It is fairly difficult to switch away from the player characters during the game to narrate the devious actions that the villain is doing. Besides killing the pacing, it also destroys the suspension of disbelief by showing things that is impossible for the characters to know (and of course this information can then be metagamed).
However a clever GM can reveal the villain’s machinations, history, and depth of character to the player characters through the accounts of interviewed witnesses, scrying, dream sequences, scenes of aftermath, and other recreations of the villain’s actions.
Check out some other insightful posts about villains on The Core Mechanic and At-Will!
Listening to: Tony Iommi – IOMMI – Time is Mine fet. Phil Anselmo
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Elixer of Restful Slumber
I’m presenting another magical itme for use with the Pathfinder RPG. This time I wanted to provide an item that was not combat orientated or groundbreaking, but something that emhanced something fairly mundane that usually is not even though about. This elixer doubles the effectiveness of natural healing during an eight-hour rest period.
Elixer of Restful Slumber
Aura faint conjuration; CL 3rd
Slot –; Price 100 gp; Weight .5 lb.
DESCRIPTION
This potion come in many containers, but always has a midnight blue hue and appears to sparkle. Imbibing the elixer will double the effectiveness of natural healing during a full night’s sleep (8 hour period) or complete bed rest for an entire day. So a character who sleeps for 8 hours after drinking this elixer will recover twice his character level in hit points and two points of temporary ability damage per affect ability score.
A character must drink this elixer within an hour before resting. If the proceeding rest period is interrupted before it is complete, the effects of the elixer end.
CONSTRUCTION
Requirements Brew Potion, sleep; Cost 50 gp
Listening to: Ministry – Psalm 69 – Jesus Built My Hotrod
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Designing Games at a New Level
A common mechanic found in roleplaying games is the Level. A level provides a means to measure the approximate power of a character. Levels are usually designated by a number that begins with 1 or 0 and progresses an integer at a time. However, Levels could also be designated by keywords such as novice, trained, and expert. The use of keywords to designate Level is usually referred to as Rank.
Levels are keyed to another mechanic, usually Class, or Experience, or both. However, level could be associated with Skills or other Traits that can be increased through play. Though, most gamers tend to associate level as an encompassing attribute that measures a character as a whole rather than individual traits.
Advantages
The obvious (but usually overlooked) advantage of Levels is that it provides characters with the ability to increase power over time. It is a common expectation of roleplaying games, but it is not a universal trait shared by all RPGs.
Another advantage of Levels is reduced bookkeeping. By tying character statistics to a Level, it decreases the amount of values that a player needs to maintain. Having Level drive the effectiveness of abilities is a great method of simplifying the game.
The other advantage of Levels is the ability to determine the chances of character survival in against specific challenges. This allows Game Master (as well as publishers) to more easily create adventures and scenarios that are matched to the characters’ ability.
Disadvantages
The primary disadvantage of using Levels, just like any controlling mechanic, is you add a layer of inflexibility. Levels place constraints on character Traits and story gamers may not like to play games that have levels because they feel it limits their roleplay (“Why can’t my level 1 dude take out a level 30 dragon?“).
From a design perspective, you also need to decide how much of the other mechanics are limited by level. A designer can trade flexibility for record keeping by allowing more traits to be unhindered by level (which increases bookkeeping).
Example Systems
Dungeons & Dragons is probably the most recognizable roleplaying game that implements levels. Third Edition used Character and Class Levels, and every character advances Levels at the same Experience values. Advanced Dungeons & Dragons had Classes that advanced at different Experience rates.
HARP uses Levels as a method of distributing Development Points that can be used purchase Skills, Talents, and Stats. Levels are obtained by gaining Experience.
Mutants & Masterminds uses Power Levels to determine the amount of Power Points a player can spend on a character.
Echelon Decisions
With Echelon, I made the decision that I wanted Point-buy and with Powers that have Rank. Anyone who knows the Storytelling System will find this underpinning familiar. However, I wanted to break from the Storytelling System mold by providing a character Level (as opposed to the Levels of Power that are already there).
In Echelon, Levels are tied strictly to Experience. Once a certain amount of Experience has been achieved, a character gains a Level and all Level dependent Traits are recalculated. Some Traits or Powers may require a certain Level as prerequisite.
The character level will also provide a means to determine a base modifier that will be used in most Tests as well as providing a multiplier to increase the effectiveness of certain Traits (Mana & Vitality, which will be covered in a future article). Levels will help provide some built-in balance, even though my design principles maintain that balance is firmly in the dominion of the game master.
