The Summoner Trainees - Tabletop Adventure
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Description
The Summoner Trainees was the first table-top RPG I created and ran as game master. It was created for Jesse Schell's Game Design class. The only rule was that the game must incorporate a puzzle.
My table-top RPG session had a unique group of 3 players with varying levels of experience playing RPGs. This adventure was created with the intent of being understandable and enjoyable by all 3.
In addition to creating a table-top RPG story, I included a new straightforward and simplistic mechanic in order to lower the learning curve of such games for the less-experience players.
I consider this a big learning experience in creating something for multiple target audiences.
Design/Concept
Because my audience was varied in experience with table-top RPGs, I chose to simplify a lot of the game elements familiar to this genre. I created a simple self-contained storyline in order to create immediate entry in to the plot (but also allowed some room for continuation in case the plot was interesting enough to the players for them to want another episode) and accomodate a 3-hour time limit. The character personalities were left blank and character stats were kept identical to allow the players to incorporate their own personalities and play styles, which would be easier to those not familiar with role-playing in a game setting.
The storyline was kept linear to give the players a constant direction to follow as they explored paths and tested ground to see what they were capable of. While the players were killing monsters and grabbing loot, the game was very much story-driven as opposed to goal-driven, making this more like a JRPG than a western RPG, which then allowed the players, both new and old, to get in to their own characters and play their roles
In-game battles were also simplified and I incorporated a tutorial into the story. Since checking character info sheets and numbers can pull people out of the game, I created a game mechanic that allowed players to immediately determine the outcome of a battle with the dice themselves. Monsters are represented by 6-sided die while the boss is represented by a 20-sided die. Players roll multiple dice and count up the numbers to determine if they rolled higher than the opponent.
Learning Experience
As a learning experience, designing and running this table-top game taught me more about designing for multiple audience interests, which can't always be clearly defined through speculation since individuals can often be unpredictable. While having a guide and a linear plot helped, when players have free reign over decisions made, you can expect there will be scenarios you didn't expect to happen. Improvisation and thinking on your feet is important to being a game master in a table-top RPG, but difficult to mimic in a packaged game.
People also experience fun from varying elements in a game. In my particular session, one enjoyed role-play, the other enjoyed battles, while the third enjoyed puzzles, creating different peaks in their interest through the game's run.
