RPG Design Patterns

Needless to say, the research for this book entailed reading a lot of role-playing games. But, comprehension did not come easily. Picking up a new game and thumbing through its pages to extract the important bits was often painful. Game authors use popular terms like “attribute,” “skill,” and “trait” inconsistently. So, understanding an author’s intent required digging through the game text and then translating the terms into a common vernacular. Note that some of these terms are written up as full-blown design patterns.

Attribute

A gauge that is a common characteristic, a commonality. (See, gauge definition, Attribute design pattern.)

Character

A persona in a game portrayed by a player, including possibly the Game Master.

Characteristic

An aspect of a character. A character’s name, height, age, beauty, and strength are some possible characteristics.

Common Characteristic (Attribute or Commonality)

A characteristic common to all characters of a given type in a game. A character’s name, height, age, beauty, and strength are frequently common characteristics. Most games directly state the attributes and other commonalities characters possess. Some games provide different sets of attributes for player and non-player characters. Such games partition PC’s and NPC’s into different types.

Conflict

Contention between characters, players, and/or game forces, especially contention that shapes the game’s plot. This includes opposition between two or more players concerning what facts should be introduced into a game world.

Contest

A conflict that is resolved through mechanical means (e.g., dice rolls, comparing numbers, etc.).

Derived Attribute

An attribute whose value is determined by a formula. Typically the formula uses other attribute values to generate a number.

Drama

An outcome based purely on story considerations. A drama based conflict rolls no dice and compares no numbers. Outcomes are exclusively determined by what would be most entertaining for the participants.

Flaw

A selected characteristic that is specifically not also a gauge. A character either has a flaw or he does not. Flaws are structurally very similar to gifts. But, flaws are generally considered detrimental to a character rather than beneficial.

Fortune

An outcome that is at least partly based on random factors. This may include rolling dice, drawing cards, or some other random value generator.

Game Master (GM)

A player assigned responsibilities different from other players. These responsibilities commonly include acting as the final authority in disputes, playing NPC’s, describing scenes, etc. Some games have no Game Master. (See the Game Master design pattern.)

Gauge

A graduated value generally associated with a name. Commonly the graduated values are numbers, but this is not always the case. (See the Gauge design pattern.)

Gift

A selected characteristic that is specifically not also a gauge. A character either has a gift or he does not. In general, gifts are considered beneficial to a character’s well-being. (See the Gift design pattern.)

Handicap

A selected characteristic that is also a gauge and is generally considered detrimental to a character’s well-being. Handicaps are structurally similar to skills, in that the only major difference is that handicaps are detrimental to characters whereas skills are beneficial. From a design pattern perspective, virtually anything that can be said concerning a skill also applies to handicaps. So, the Skill design pattern applies to handicaps as well.

Karma

An outcome based on non-random value comparisons. A karma-based contest directly compares two values to determine an outcome.

Non-Player Character (NPC)

A character portrayed by the Game Master as part of that role.

Optional Characteristic

A characteristic that is not common to all characters of a given type.

Player

Any person participating in a role-playing game.

Player Character (PC)

A character portrayed by any player while not assuming the role of Game Master.

Primary Attribute

An attribute whose value is set directly by a player rather than being derived by a formula from other attributes. Commonly Primary Attributes are used in formulae to determine the values of Derived Attributes but their own values are not determined by formulas. Typically, primary attribute values are generated by die rolls or set by spending some resource.

Rank

The specific value of a gauged skill, handicap, or ranked trait. Also used as an adjective in place of gauge when describing such skills and traits (i.e., “Horsemanship is a ranked ability.”) (See the Rank design pattern.)

Ranked Trait

A trait that is also a gauge.

Selected Characteristic

A characteristic selected from a pre-defined list of choices.

Shared Gauge

A gauge that is shared by many characters.

Skill

A selected characteristic that is also a gauge and is generally considered beneficial to a character. (See the Skill design pattern.)

Trait

A characteristic made up by a player without drawing it from a pre-defined list of choices. (See the Trait design pattern.)

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