History SoYouWantTo / WriteATabletopRPG

* ''UsefulNotes/{{Fudge}}'' is the universal translator between systems. Based not on numbers but on comparative adjectives (Good Swordsman vs. Mediocre Swordsman, etc.), Fudge gives you a basic system from which to design your own set of stats, skills, abilities and so forth. It's a good system to study while trying to think out what you want your system to become.

* ''TabletopGame/ApocalypseWorld'' and its [[UsefulNotes/PoweredByTheApocalypse many hacks]] are the more modern evolution of the the Forge ideas formulated in UsefulNotes/The2000s. Their design facilitates player-driven stories with continuously rising stakes, while providing game masters with the tools to create game worlds practically on the fly.

* You absolutely, positively, do not ''ever'' have to look at FATAL or Racial Holy War to know how ludicrously awful they are. Just take our word for it.
* For a more educational failure, Wraeththu shows the raw power of a fantasy heartbreaker designed by someone who only knew the old World of Darkness and d20. You can tell because characters have both hit points, health levels, [[BreadEggsMilkSquick ''and'' hermaphroditic sea anemones for genitals]]. Other fun tidbits: it's okay to bring BB guns to LARP as long as you know they're unloaded, roleplaying explicit alien sex acts at the table with your buddies is part of a healthy roleplaying experience, and the worst threat to Wraeththu civilization is ''ennui.'' That's right, all the fighting is done by the time the players roll up their characters, and all they have to look forward to is angsting, getting drunk and/or high, and having not-really-gay-or-straight sex.

* A very common form of failed roleplaying game is known as the "fantasy heartbreaker." In its most basic form, the fantasy heartbreaker is a game that is Dungeons and Dragons, But Not. While forgivable in games in the [[FromClonesToGenre formative years]] of tabletop gaming, even now there are always new fantasy games coming out that are slavishly loyal to ''TabletopGame/AdvancedDungeonsAndDragons''' idea of adventuring. Usually, however, they will also pick one system that needed "fixing" -- CharacterAlignment, HitPoints and [[CompetitiveBalance weapon balance]] are common culprits -- and replace it with [[LoadsAndLoadsOfRules something even more complicated]]. Imagine a Doom clone being made nowadays -- as in 'literally' trying to clone Doom, ignoring everything that came after, including full 3D, mouselook, and enemies smarter than suicidal fireball-flinging lemmings, simply because that's all the author has played and assumed nothing else has changed much since then. Except they also decide that HitPoints are unrealistic, so they bolt on [[HealThyself a complicated first-aid system]]. That's what a fantasy heartbreaker looks like. The primary methods of combating these are through research and being up on your game design.

*** ''NEMESIS'' takes place in the modern day, and is particularly designed with an eye toward Delta Green. Combat is more visceral than in Call of Cthulhu, it has a much more specific and brutal sanity system, and it introduces the option to play supernatural monster-fighters a la ComicBook/{{Hellboy}} or the Wiki/SCPFoundation.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Fudge}}'' is the universal translator between systems. Based not on numbers but on comparative adjectives (Good Swordsman vs. Mediocre Swordsman, etc.), Fudge gives you a basic system from which to design your own set of stats, skills, abilities and so forth. It's a good system to study while trying to think out what you want your system to become.

* A very common form of failed roleplaying game is the "fantasy heartbreaker." In its most basic form, the fantasy heartbreaker is a game that is Dungeons and Dragons, But Not. While forgivable in games that followed the [[formative years FromClonesToGenre]] of tabletop gaming, even now there are always new fantasy games coming out that are slavishly loyal to 2nd edition Dungeons and Dragons's idea of adventuring. Imagine a Doom clone being made nowadays--as in 'literally' trying to clone Doom, ignoring everything that came after, including full 3D, mouselook, and enemies smarter than suicidal fireball-flinging lemmings, simply because that's all the author has played and assumed nothing else has changed much since then. That's what a fantasy heartbreaker looks like. The primary methods of combating these are through research and being up on your game design.
** Note that this does not include deliberate genre throwbacks to 1st or 2nd edition Dungeons and Dragons. Heartbreakers are games designed with ignorance of all but perhaps a handful of games outside the player's personal experience.