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So You Want To: Write A Western RPG
The blanket term "Western RPG" covers a wide variety of video games. There is no universal formula to these and no guide will ever help you write another Planescape: Torment. This article therefore aims instead to show you several possibilities of writing and designing a simple but working Western RPG, but to make an all-time masterpiece, prepare to experiment a lot on your own.

Be sure to read Write An RPG for more general advice. Other guides, particularly Write A Story, Write A Heroic Fantasy, Write A High Fantasy, and Write A Cyber Punk Story, may also be helpful, since this guide will focus less on giving you ideas for plots and characters and more on providing a general overview of your options and important considerations when designing an RPG. Lastly, make sure you're familiar with common Role-Playing Game Terms.

Necessary Tropes

A necessary disclaimer: Tropes alone do not make a great game. Equally important are a good program code base (from the basic game loop, through graphical and physical engine, to the artificial intelligence) and high-quality artistic input, both visual (concept art, GUI art, sprites/3D models, etc.) and audio (voice acting, music). While the following guide touches on some of these points, none of them are covered here extensively as they fall outside of this wiki's focus.

Going by the GNS theory, an RPG needs five key components:

Finally, one more trope essential for exploration and thus to a free-roaming RPG experience is Take Your Time. Even though it's unrealistic, the players must know that there is no time limit for main plot missions; otherwise, they will readily miss out on most of the non-essential content out of fear that the main quest becomes unwinnable. Soft time limits are okay, though: if certain side quests are only available until certain plot events transpire but said events themselves can be postponed indefinitely, a lover of exploration would always Talk to Everyone and clear the former before doing the latter.

Once more, the seven core tropes: Player Character(s), Character Customization, World Building, The Quest, Game Engine, Game System, and Take Your Time.

Choices, Choices

Choices or Options?

This is a very fundamental decision that emerges from your own gaming philosophy and permeates the entire game's writing and design: do you offer your players choices or do you give them options?

  • Choices occur when a player must select from among several alternative paths in the game, knowing that once they do, other paths will be barred to them. Choices tend to have far-reaching consequences and improve the Replay Value. This style is better suited for story-driven RPGs.
  • Options are non-exclusive optional content, which can be experienced and explored without affecting other options to any significant extent. Options extend a single playthrough duration and work best in exploration-driven free-roaming RPGs.

To illustrate the difference, let's assume you make a fantasy RPG where the player can contract lycanthropy or vampirism. In a choices-driven game, the player would have a chance to turn their character into a werewolf, and if they refuse, into a vampire later on. If they refuse again, they will have to finish the game as a human. In an options-driven game, they will be able to turn into a werewolf or a vampire at any time after discovering this possibility. They may even be allowed to reverse their condition or become a vampire-werewolf hybrid in the same playthrough.

Fantasy or Sci-Fi?

Since the exploration is the backbone of RPGs, it pays to start by defining the setting first. For many reasons, most RPGs out there belong to the genre of Speculative Fiction, specifically its two most prominent subgenres: Fantasy and Science Fiction. One huge reason is the tradition—read, Dungeons & Dragons and other pen-and-paper games that all had some form of magic at the core. Also, because RPGs aim to abstract complex concepts (e.g. good and evil) and interactions (e.g. physical combat) with simple mathematical mechanics, some Willing Suspension of Disbelief is required to make the setting come alive—and that is much easier if it is fantastic to begin with.

The differences between fantasy and sci-fi are many (see Analysis.Speculative Fiction) but so are the similarities, and it's not without reason that the Sci-Fi Counterpart meta-trope exists. One difference that may be important for World Building and plot writing is that in fantasy, Older Is Better, while in sci-fi, it's usually the bleeding edge technology that trumps everything. Accordingly, while in a fantasy RPG, the hero might be searching for an ancient artifact to destroy an even older evil, a futuristic RPG may revolve around the hero building a space superweapon to repel the invading Sufficiently Advanced Aliens.

For the default templates of fantasy and science fiction settings, see Standard Fantasy Setting and Standard Sci Fi Setting, respectively. In the following sections, a generic Heroic Fantasy setting will be assumed for the purpose of simplicity unless stated otherwise. Keeping the above in mind, it shouldn't be too difficult to translate the recommendations for fantasy RPGs into their sci-fi equivalents.

Single Character or Player Party?

Will the player control a single Player Character or an entire Player Party?

  • Single-character RPGs allow the player to delve much deeper into Character Customization and, by design, offer more flexibility therein. It also facilitates a larger gameplay diversity, as the player can choose to play as a straightforward One-Man Army, take the stealthy approach, or resolve most quests diplomatically, without worrying about other party members' skills going to waste.
  • Party-based RPGs tend to focus largely on tactical combat, because party means character specialization and combat is the only middle ground that fighters, mages, and thieves have in common. There is little point, for instance, in including a realistic stealth system, if the party thief is the only one who can use it while the rest must stay back, twiddling thumbs.
  • The middle ground between the single-character and party-based approaches is a single-character RPG with temporary recruited followers. While essentially single-character, the game allows the player to bring NPC assistants along on quests. The difference to party-based approach lies in the much smaller degree of control and customization of NPC followers by the player and in that the player does not have to rely on them to win.

Does the player create their character(s) from scratch or choose from a set of predefined characters?

  • Created characters are by far the most common alternative for the primary Player Characters in Western RPGs (in fact, only one major RPG series in recent memory averts it). Creating the entire party, however, while popular in the past, has gone out of favor in the past decade, probably because it takes a lot more time than most players are ready to invest before getting to the actual game.
  • Predefined NPCs are the most popular alternative for party members nowadays and an inevitable one for temporary followers. While the player does not create them, they can be customized after recruiting them, offering a nice trade-off between being able to start playing right away and still shape the game to your liking.

If you let the players create their own characters, following aspects of Character Customization are expected:

  • Name. If you have voice acting (which you probably shouldn't, see below), you may have to invent a gender-neutral moniker to refer to the character in spoken dialogue.
  • Gender. It's up to you whether you make it purely aesthetic or affecting the gameplay.
  • Race (if non-human sentient species inhabit your setting at all). Consider the racial benefits/disadvantages of each playable species during the World Building stage (see below).
  • Appearance. If your engine doesn't support facial customization, the player should a least be able to select a character portrait from an avatar gallery, import a picture from their hard drive, or customize the character's color scheme.
  • Class (optional). More on this below.
  • Alignment (optional). Ditto.
  • Background (optional). Ditto.
  • Stats, skills, and perks. Ditto.

If you chose the party-based (or follower-based) approach, consider also following points:

Technology

Various Videogame Views affect Player and Protagonist Integration, so it is important to consider their advantages and limitations and choose or develop the Game Engine accordingly. Some would argue that Isometric Projection is the one and true view in classic Western RPGs but that is not the whole truth. The three most common views in role-playing video games are:

  • First Person. By seeing the world through the eyes of your character, you become that character, so most such games tend to star a Heroic Mime or a Featureless Protagonist. Gameplay-wise, 1P view is optimal for aiming and shooting, while melee combat is less spectacular. Tactical party control is often absent or limited to Squad Controls.
  • Isometric Projection (or the similar 3/4 View). This view lends itself best to party-based games, where battle tactics and party micromanagement are essential to success. Story-wise, seeing your character(s) from above indicates that you are experiencing their story or stories rather than making your own.
  • Third Person. This can be seen as the middle-ground between first-person and isometric views. With less emphasis on tactical control, 3P puts you more immediately into the action, while still distinguishing between you and your character. One thing this view shows off best is the close-quarters combat in all its gory goodness.

Hybrid forms are also possible, such as switching between 1P for aiming and shooting and 3P for melee, or zooming in and out for a classic 3P view or a quasi-isometric tactical perspective, respectively.

Once decided on the presentation method, you have following options:

Linear or Non-linear?

When speaking about (non-)linearity, three aspects of it should be distinguished:

Although the Western RPG genre gravitates towards non-linearity in all aspects, it is not without dangers. A Wide-Open Sandbox, for instance, can rapidly become a Quicksand Box if the players cannot find their bearings before it is opened. Allegedly non-linear plots, meanwhile, often end up with purely cosmetic branching (e.g. fighting essentially the same battles in different uniforms) because designing extra levels for the sake of a plot branch that half of the players won't even see is deemed too costly at the production stage. And as for the non-linear level design, a whole lot of games (especially party-based) fail to provide any incentive for non-combat solutions.

Keep in mind that it is possible both to set a perfectly linear story in an extremely open game world, and to tell a densely branched storyline with multiple endings in a linear sequence of levels, while the levels themselves may or may not contain various paths to victory—in both cases. Know your own preferences and strengths and decide how much non-linearity you want to have accordingly.

Levels and Experience

One of the defining traits of the RPG genre is that the player-controlled characters become increasingly more powerful as the game progresses. This is often but not necessarily represented by the Character Level, which is a all-round handy tool, both for the ease of reference ("you should avoid that area until level 10+") and for the in-game Dynamic Difficulty via Level Scaling. While potentially infinite, many developers choose to put a Cap on character levels, if not to prevent the character from getting too powerful, then simply because there are no meaningful ways to improve a character past a certain point.

There are three popular systems defining how character levels are gained:

  • Experience Points are abstract tokens that the player characters gain as they overcome in-game obstacles (see below). When a certain (ever-increasing) number of XP is accumulated, they reach the next level and are rewarded with points to distribute arbitrarily among their stats and skills.
  • The Point Build System eliminates the middle man (XP and levels) and awards skill points right away; their distribution, however, is still completely up to the player. Because such systems tend to reward quest-solving over combat, the amount of skill points to be gained is usually finite.
  • In the Training System, player characters increase their skill scores by repeatedly applying said skills in-game. Such systems tend to feature very high skill score caps with a linear skill level progression (no skill trees).

In the latter two systems, Character Level becomes superfluous but is often included, nonetheless, for the ease of Power Level assessment. This is usually done by dividing the total number of skill points/levels gained since the character creation by a two-digit number (often 10). In some games, Level Ups occur automatically; in others, they have to be triggered manually (often by resting), so the player can postpone the irreversible character build decisions that come with it.

Experience and skill points are usually gained by following activities:

Of these three, combat in particular lends itself to Level Grinding, especially with in games with Random Encounters. While you should never force your players into extensive grinding, remember also that voluntary grinding creates a sense of accomplishment and investment into the game. Depending on whether you want your players to concentrate more on the story or on the gameplay, you may either discourage them with Anti-Grinding features, or facilitate entertaining grinding opportunities for them.

The trick to entertaining grinding (and any repetitive activity in games) is to prevent it from becoming a chore for as long as possible. For one, grinding must be just random enough to force the player to adapt their tactics on the fly, but not enough to turn it into a Luck-Based Mission. Secondly, practice makes perfect: in every encounter, the player must have an opportunity to visibly improve their performance or learn a new trick. Grinding only turns into a chore when every battle takes exactly the same time, nets the exact same amount of XP, and the player starts to feel there is nothing more to learn.

Stats, Skills, and Perks

While Character Level alone offers a succinct scale to assess a character's power, it does not say much about what the character actually can or cannot do. A character built for combat has different abilities than one built for stealth. To further customize the power progression, practically all game systems include character statistics (attributes) and skill scores:

  • Stats offer relatively small bonuses to a large spectrum of success checks. They often come in the form of The Six Stats: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma (or similar).
  • Skills offer large bonuses in a limited field of expertise, such as Swordplay, Lock Picking, Persuasion, Acrobatics, etc.

In Tabletop RPGs, stats play a major role because they simplify the calculations needed to make a success roll. For the same reason, they often remain static for the duration of the game. However, a computer has more processing power than a Game Master's calculator, so the importance of stats in role-playing video games have been diminishing over the years in favor of skills, which facilitate a much more flexible character evolution. There are two common skill mechanics in RPGs:

  • Skill scores are like stats but more refined. They are rather broadly defined (e.g. Acrobatics, Stealthy Movement, Sword Fighting) and can be leveled up multiple times by investing more skill points or repeatedly using them. Higher skill scores increase the effectiveness of the corresponding basic actions (jumping, sneaking, swinging swords), but said actions can always be attempted, even if the character's skill score is low or zero (after all, you don't need special training to simply hop, hide, and swing a blade).
  • Perks, a.k.a. "traits" and "feats", are distinct moves, spells, auras, and permanent passive bonuses, from which the characters only benefit after they learn them—so one may be a sword fighter but unless he knows the Feint technique, he cannot use it in combat, period. These perks are often grouped into "skill trees" and cannot be leveled up beyond the initial skill point investment, the size of which may vary with the complexity of the perk. Some perks, however, can be upgrades of their respective prerequisite perks rather than new techniques.

Refer to Skill Scores And Perks and Analysis.Skill Scores And Perks for an outline of the major differences between the two, examples of their implementations, and further classifications, respectively. Following decisions will be the foundation of your Game System:

  • Which character skills are relevant in your adventure? Avoid including skills likely to become a Dump Stat by ensuring that each skill becomes necessary or at least useful at some point in the game. Better yet, let the characters' skills determine their path through the game for increased Replay Value.
  • Will you implement them as linear skill scores, branching perk trees, both, or a hybrid form?
  • How many stat/skill points does the player get to distribute on a new (level 1) character? Is it randomized? Is Min-Maxing possible?
  • How are new skill points/levels/perks acquired in the course of the game? If you have skill points, do combat and non-combat skills draw from the same or separate point pools?
  • Is there a Skill Point Reset option? While utterly unrealistic, this feature lets the players fix messed up builds and try out new things without restarting the game. It doesn't have to be readily available, of course.

Last but not least, one more trope deserves a mention: while rare in the Western RPG genre, the Equipment Based Progression is a viable alternative to Character Level progression.

Class-based or Open-skilled?

One of the aspects of role-playing is the role that a character plays in exploration and combat. Depending on that function, the character will develop in different directions: a warrior, for instance, has different strengths and abilities than a smuggler, but both are inferior to a wizard in mystical matters. To facilitate such functional specialization, many RPGs implement a Character Class System or a Class and Level System.

Classes are character templates that more or less rigidly define which skills the character can improve with each Level Up. Very rigid class definitions, where certain skills and equipment are exclusive to certain classes, induce Crippling Overspecialization and enforce inter-class cooperation within the Player Party. More lax class restrictions, e.g. where only certain classes gain bonuses from certain equipment/skills but others can still use them, enable more rounded builds and are thus better suited for single-character games.

A classic fantasy class template is the Fighter, Mage, Thief (a.k.a. warrior, wizard, rogue) plus the hybrid classes, e.g. Magic Knight (F+M) who may or may not double as Combat Medic, Swashbuckler (F+T), and Ninja (M+T). For more options, see Fantasy Character Classes; for a futuristic game, refer to Modern Day Sci Fi RPG Class Equivalents instead. In terms of combat potential, magic-wielding classes tend to outpace the non-magical ones at high levels for various reasons; if desired, you can counteract that by giving your high-level thieves and fighters clearly superhuman, albeit still non-magical abilities, especially when it comes to Prestige Classes.

Of course, you don't have to include character classes in your game at all, especially if it is a single-character adventure. A system that allows the player to invest gained skill points into any skill there is in the game offers maximum freedom and flexibility of Character Customization but may overwhelm a new player, akin to a Quicksand Box. Hybrid forms, where the choice of "class" merely results in the player starting the game with a number of points already invested into certain skills that make sense together, may alleviate the initial bewilderment.

Alignments, Karma Meter, or...?

Similarly to how classes are an attempt to demarcate the role a character plays in exploration and combat, Character Alignment was an attempt by early tabletop RPGs (particularly, Dungeons & Dragons) to define their role in dialogue and other non-violent interactions with Non Player Characters, such as Quest Givers and party members or followers. Since Ultima IV and Fallout, digital RPGs have gained a more dynamic tool of assessing a character's moral standing in form of the Karma Meter.

If social interactions are important to your game, including an alignment system or a karma meter can increase the diversity of dialogue, as NPCs would probably react differently to the player character's presence depending on their reputation. If you use a karma meter, try to avoid No Points for Neutrality unless the plot itself requires the player to reach either end of the morality scale. If it doesn't, then there is no real reason why players who prefer the middle path should be put at a gameplay disadvantage.

The evil path also tends to be done rather poorly in the majority of RPGs. Since traditional fantasy plots are rooted in the classic Good Vs Evil dichotomy, the writers expect most players to take the good path by default, and don't bother writing separate plotlines for truly evil characters. Instead, the "evil" characters tend to behave like the good ones, except they are rude and mean to everyone. If you find yourself hard-pressed to integrate a truly evil path into your game (which is by definition considerably different from the good one), then ask yourself: do I really need a morality aspect in it?

Crafting

Just as it is possible to improve characters by gaining levels and increasing stats and skills, it is also possible to equip them with more powerful and deadly items. Showering the player with random Plunder and selling predefined gear at the in-game shops is standard fare in Western RPGs, but some additionally let the players create their own equipment via Item Crafting, which comes in four variations:

  • Consumables creation. Consumables like Healing Potions and Mana Potions are usually available in quantity from loot and shops but occasionally, that is just not enough and item crafting is the solution.
  • Equipment modification. Applying various modifications and upgrades to improve the properties of an item acquired from loot or trade effectively creates a new item. These modifications can be either permanent (e.g. enchantment) or reversible (Socketed Equipment).
  • Equipment creation. The ultimate item crafting, wherein pieces of equipment are created from scratch by the player out of looted or purchased raw materials.
  • Spell creation. A rare form where magic-wielding characters can design their own spells by combining predetermined effects and balancing out the casting costs.

Crafting is an essential mechanic in an RPG with Equipment Based Progression, though any form of it runs a high risk of being either completely useless or completely broken. Choose wisely which (if any) types of it you want in your game.

Puzzles and minigames

The four core gameplay modes of RPGs (see Gameplay Designer section) usually don't directly involve activities that require either fine motor skills, good timing, or a precise choice of words, such as picking locks, disarming traps, hacking into computer systems, gambling of any kind, convincing NPCs to help in specific situations, more generally manipulating their Relationship Values, brewing potions, etc. The player's role in these actions is usually limited to selecting a character with the appropriate skill and ordering them to use it, with a background skill check determining the outcome.

However, you can also let the players participate in such activities more immediately by abstracting them into puzzle-like minigames based more or less loosely on their real-life counterparts, e.g. a lock-picking minigame revolving around setting lock tumblers, or a hacking one based on capturing network nodes while avoiding detection. If you decide to include any minigames, define also how the character's skills improve the player's chances of success. Do higher skill scores provide hints to the solution, reduce the chances of critical failure/detection, increase the time limit or the net gain from success? Is there a (hidden) Luck Stat for gambling? Can certain puzzles be solved automatically or bypassed entirely with high enough skill scores? Are there consumables or gear items that give further bonuses in minigames?

Note that the above is not a recommendation to include Stock Video Game Puzzles, which are more often than not shoehorned into gameplay for the sake of Fake Longevity. Try to avoid stock puzzles unless you can disguise them well enough to come across as natural parts of the setting.

Pitfalls

  • Don't hide the numbers from the player. The transparency of your Game System mechanics translates directly into the player's fun. If a certain challenge proves difficult, the players must be given an opportunity to analyze their mistakes, plan ahead, and beat it next time.
  • Don't overwhelm the player with numbers. The amount of rules and modifiers critical to any particular play style must be appropriate to how fast you expect the players to make decisions: a real-time Action RPG should go easier on maths than a Turn Based Tactics game.
  • Steer clear of Cut and Paste Environments. Exploration is the backbone of an RPG, so the levels must be diverse in both architecture and visual style. Randomly Generated Levels may be a solution for the former but you must still use different tile/texture sets to make them visually distinct.
  • No unskippable cutscenes! Make all cutscenes skippable, and if you consider one absolutely essential, warn the players about it but let them skip it anyway.
  • An Esoteric Happy Ending may increase the artistic value of a surreal Adventure Game but RPGs by design encourage the player to understand what's going on to beat them. An incomprehensible ending in an otherwise internally consistent game is a surefire way to ruin the experience.

Potential Subversions

SoYouWantTo.Write An RPG offers a good number of ideas.

Writer's Lounge

World Building

Following aspects of your setting must be defined on paper before you start designing the actual game:

You can also include an Encyclopedia Exposita in the game, whose entries reveal trivia about your world as the player explores it. You may even reward diligent explorers with extra Experience Points for each entry they discover.

Suggested Themes and Aesops

The themes and aesops depend mainly on the genre of the story you are telling and the conflict/dilemma you are exploring in it. Since Western RPGs can tell pretty much any kind of story, they can teach pretty much any moral lesson. Stock themes in the genre include:

...and many more. Just refer to stock aesops of the particular story genre you are writing in.

Potential Motifs

Arc Words, Driving Questions, and Arc Symbols of any kind. Refer to Planescape: Torment for classic examples of both ("What can change the nature of a man?" and the Symbol of Torment).

Additionally, the soundtrack provides ample opportunity for motifs, be it for certain events, locales, or characters.

Suggested Plots

A classic main quest in many, many RPGs is to save something—but what exactly depends on the genre. In High Fantasy, it's usually about Saving the World; similarly, it's saving the galaxy in Space Opera. In Heroic Fantasy, the player must usually save a kingdom or a city. In Low and Dark Fantasy, it's essentially the same, except the kingdom/city is probably not worth saving in the first place. Cyber Punk is comparable to Dark Fantasy in this aspect.

The generic structure of The Quest is as follows:

  1. Tutorial Level, usually taking place in the Doomed Hometown
  2. Opening the Sandbox
  3. Sidequesting (see below)
  4. Plot Tunnel, culminating with Disc One Final Boss
  5. More sidequesting
  6. Another plot tunnel, culminating in The Reveal
  7. Wrapping up remaining side quests
  8. Point of No Return
  9. Final Battle

In order to increase the Replay Value of your game:

Speaking of Multiple Endings, there is one kind of them that you should best avoid: the Last Second Ending Choice. While not always bad (e.g. if you explore the nature of free will and choice in the story), it makes the player feel like their other in-game decisions were completely irrelevant. It is just much more rewarding when several choices throughout the main quest determine its conclusion (or at least limit the player's options in the end).

For instance, instead of having the player decide who takes the kingdom's throne (the young heir apparent, the noble Reasonable Authority Figure, or the Player Character), make it an outcome of several factors, such as whether the player completed an arduous Collection Sidequest to find evidence of their character's royal descent, whether the prince or the duke are still alive in the end, whether the Alliance Meter with the prince's and the duke's respective factions is high enough, etc.

Side Quests

Unlike non-interactive media, which shun any detours from the central story, Western RPGs revel in them. Numerous and diverse side quests are one of the biggest appeals for RPG players, since they let them delve into your Constructed World and find their own adventures. Diversity of side quests is achieved by varying their length and complexity. Strictly Formula approach is OK, as long as you have multiple formulas and the player doesn't know which one you'll give them next, or whether you'll subvert it half-way. For instance, not all quests have to be started by talking to an NPC with a glowing exclamation mark blinking over their head; found documents and items, party members, even Enemy Chatter can also tip off an attentive player. Likewise, not all side quests must end with the same quest giver handing you the promised reward; the quest giver turning on you or biting the dust before you can return is a nice shift of gears from the routine (in both cases, of course, the quest must have a follow-up).

Tips on writing some specific types of side quests (see also Video Game Objectives for a more general overview):

  • Fetch Quest. This type is universally derided for being an Irrelevant Sidequest for the sake of Fake Longevity, and it indeed often is. On the other hand, a handful of straightforward fetch quests are OK to make a quick buck between larger missions, so don't ignore them. To spice up the routine, use the tips above or include "reverse-fetch quests" (where the player picks up a random item that says "Deliver me to X in town").
  • Escort Mission. The bane of all video games, it is actually quite easy to make bearable even without Gameplay Ally Immortality. Weak escorted should hide and avoid enemy attention, while strong fighters can join the player in battle, or better yet, launch weak (to avoid generating threat) ranged attacks from afar. If you have Level Scaling for enemies, make absolutely sure to apply the same scaling to allies/escorted.
  • Collection Sidequest. An average player grows bored after collecting the fourth or fifth MacGuffin, so if there are more items to collect, you should make this quest entirely optional. Also, the reward must be adequate for the amount of effort it takes to complete.
  • Cartography Sidequest. Greatly encourages exploration, especially in a continuous overworld. If you want to be nice to the player, hand out the rewards in small heaps, depending on the area explored since the last check-in, and the final reward, when 90% of the map is compiled.
  • A Homeowner Is You. An option to design and build (or simply buy and improve) a Cool House, Cool Boat, or Cool Starship in the game holds a lot of appeal. Additionally, it offers a free "inn", unlimited loot storage, and interior decoration quest rewards.
  • Romance Sidequest. Helps to get the player emotionally invested in the characters and also, to draw in the female audiences. For writing tips, see Write A Love Story. The rewards for this quest may include a Level Up At Intimacy 5, though do try to avert More Friends, More Benefits if you care about the story more than gameplay.
  • Timed Mission. Don't have side quests "expire" after a certain time or certain main story events unless the story itself demands it (e.g. unfinished assignments in the Doomed Hometown shall obviously remain so forever) and it is made clear to the players before they trigger said events.
  • Gladiator Subquest. These tend to be biased towards certain classes: if a player's main character specializes in support magic and they cannot delegate the fighting duty to another party member, the side quest will prove nothing but headache. This is, of course, less of an issue in single-character games.
  • Bonus Dungeon. Of particular interest is the Brutal Bonus Level variety with a Bonus Boss at the end. It is the one place (besides the Harder Than Hard difficulty) where having the players Rage Quit in frustration is a good thing.
  • Sidequest Sidestory. Not a single quest but a chain of related side quests that shows the player that their actions have consequences and helps bring the game world alive.

It might seem obvious, but to help the player keep track of all the side quests, do include a journal that updates their status in real time so that it is immediately obvious what to do next. Players who like to take breaks between game sessions will be eternally thankful for that.

Interactive Dialogue

Before writing any dialogue for your game, consider following technical questions, since they will influence your writing process:

  • Will you have Dialogue Trees or keywords-based conversations? Dialogue trees convey the feeling of a personal conversation better, while keywords offer a lot more freedom in discussion topics.
  • How do exceptionally high/low social and mental stat scores (Intelligence, Charisma) affect dialogue? Are there exclusive dialogue options for super-smart characters or limitations on dialogue for characters of far-below-average intelligence? Is it possible to play a mad character?
  • Similarly, how do high skill/reputation scores affect the dialogue trees/available keywords? Do they unlock additional hidden options (persuasion, intimidation, haggling, seduction, etc.)?
  • Do persuasion attempts succeed automatically if the character can use them, or do they appear in the dialogue trees by default but provoke noncommittal reactions unless a background skill check is passed?
  • Is there a supernatural counterpart to regular persuasion/intimidation checks, like Compelling Voice or outright Mind Control? Are some NPCs immune to it?
  • If the player can pick deceitful options in dialogue trees, do these receive special treatment? For instance, can an NPC see through the lie if a skill check is not passed? Is it possible to use the same words (e.g. a death threat) both in earnest and as a bluff? What effect does intentional deceit have on the Karma Meter? What if it's a white lie?
  • Are there Relationship Values tracking each NPC's disposition towards the Player Character? How can they be raised/reduced (favors, bribes, mockery, etc.)? How are they affected by the PC's stats/skills, faction memberships, previous conduct? What topics will NPCs only talk about at high disposition? Will they attack the PC on sight at zero disposition?

You can also use dialogue trees to let the player interact with environment beyond merely exchanging words with NPCs. If your engine cannot render complex or non-standard interactions (or you don't have the budget for elaborate cutscenes), you should instead describe them textually, through the dialogue window and let the players imagine them as they would in a novel. Interactive dialogue does not have be an isolated mini-game irrelevant to other gameplay modes—you can very well mix it with:

  • ...combat, e.g. by giving the player a dialogue option to punch an NPC in the face and deal damage proportional to the PC's strength against NPC's toughness—all without ending the dialogue.
  • ...stealth, e.g. with a dialogue option to distract an NPC before pickpocketing them, with the dialogue then branching depending on whether appropriate skill checks have been passed.
  • ...exploration, e.g. by letting the PC "converse" with a broken mechanism, with the "dialogue" options being to examine it, to attempt fixing it, to apply items from inventory to it, etc.

In short, the dialogue window is an extremely powerful tool that you should exploit to give the player a rich and unusual game experience.

Sequels and Expansions

It is no secret that of all video game genres, RPGs are most likely to spawn Long Runner series without succumbing to Sequelitis, mainly because their fleshed-out settings provide solid Sequel Hooks galore, while their Game Systems are complex enough to remain recognizable and entertaining even as video game technology evolves. The longest continuous Western RPG series peaked at ten core titles, and the oldest still-running series counts five at the moment. So chances are, if your first game is even moderately successful, you will end up making more of it. This usually comes in two forms:

  • Expansion Packs run on the same Game Engine and Game System as the core game and provide additional content. Some are standalone adventures set before, after, or in an Alternate Timeline of the main campaign; others are integrated into it. You can usually produce an expansion pack or two for every successful core game without much thought.
  • Numbered Sequels often run on a new or heavily upgraded engine and feature brand new conflicts and plots. The Game System also tends to evolve, though major overhauls are ill-advised. On a side note, most fantasy RPGs prefer Roman numerals for their sequel numbering, while the sci-fi genre favors Arabic ones; there are exceptions, of course.

Naming is important for both expansions and sequels. Most RPG titles follow the convention of "[series title] [installment number, unless it's the first game]: [subtitle]". Subtitle is optional for core games; omitting it helps avert Colon Cancer when making expansions, since they are usually identified only by their subtitle. If you have trouble coming up with a story-relevant subtitle, you can always use the name of the geographic region the installment is set in (this also works well for entire series' titles) or just take a Stock Subtitle.

Another universal recommendation is the saved game import, which was, in fact, invented by early Western RPGs in the first place. On one hand, this feature helps avert the Bag of Spilling (another reason why you shouldn't completely overhaul the Game System); on the other, it lets the players keep their personal story canon across installments, averting Cutting Off the Branches. While you as the developer will have a lot more story permutations to think about, your players are going profit from this all-around.

Departments

Gameplay Designer

At the most basic level, the RPG gameplay consists of four distinct gameplay modes:

  • Exploration mode is the default one, wherein the Player Character (and company) explore the environment under minimal danger and collect free-lying resources, such as treasure and alchemical ingredients.
  • Combat mode is entered when the PC attacks or is attacked and presents a high danger situation. Running speed and health/mana regeneration (if present) may be impeded, distinguishing it from the outwardly similar exploration mode.
  • Stealth mode is usually triggered proactively by the player and is associated with the highest danger, when getting spotted results in immediate defeat. Movement speed is decreased even further and things like shadows and cover may become important.
  • Dialogue mode is entered when the PC speaks to or is spoken to by an NPC and is associated with the "dialogue window" that displays available prompts and the NPC's responses. Other events are usually suspended until the dialogue is over.

Returning to the exploration mode (even briefly) is usually required to transition from one of the other three to another. Since dialogue has already been discussed above, let's concentrate on the other three.

Exploration is the most basic of all gameplay and concerns primarily how the player characters navigate through levels and which in-game tools help them find the way. A lot of the following questions will be answered by the limitations of your engine:

Combat is often considered the backbone of all RPGs and while not completely accurate, combat system is a very important element of the game. Since party-based games are inherently more geared towards combat, some of the following questions may be irrelevant to single-character games:

  • Is combat Turn-Based or Real-Time? Or is it a hybrid form: Real Time with Pause, Active Time Battle, etc.? Turn-based combat works best in games that aim to challenge the player with complex calculations, while real-time is an action-oriented approach focusing on quick reaction and decision-making.
  • When a character attacks an enemy (or vice versa), how is it determined whether the attack hits? How do the respective weapons and armor, level difference, the attacker's skills and stats, and the target's evasion skills factor into this?
  • If the attack hits, how much damage does it inflict? How much of it is mitigated by the armor? Is there a significant discrepancy between the enemies' total health and damage output?
  • Does armor break? Does the weapon wear down? On the second thought, don't make equipment breakable—the realism is not worth the permanent annoyance.
  • Are there Critical Hits? How are they calculated? What happens when one takes place (Massive Damage, One-Hit Kill, etc.)? Is there a chance of Critical Failure, as well?
  • How difficult is combat healing? Are there attacks that poison the targets or reduce their max HP? Combat is definitely more challenging (and thrilling) if the player cannot endlessly replenish health by chugging on the Healing Potion supply or running around in circles.
  • Can a character only equip one weapon at a time, or can they switch between multiple weapons in combat? Can a character wield a weapon in each hand, and if so, which restrictions apply (limited weapon choice, stat/skill requirements, accuracy/damage penalties)?
  • Can characters wield a two-handed weapon with one hand, if certain stat/skill requirements are met (or the weapon is properly enchanted)? Can one use a shield then or dual-wield two-handed weapons? Note that while Rule Of Cool makes this OK for some weapons (melee two-handers, Automatic Crossbows, automatic shotguns, and assault rifles), others require both hands to operate by design (bows, regular crossbows, bolt-action Sniper Rifles).
  • Are there Combos? If so, are they perks to be learned or can anyone use them if the player knows the inputs? Are different combos available with different weapons/weapon pairs? In a party-based game, are there Combination Attacks?
  • Is ammunition consumed by ranged weapons or are they universally equipped with Bottomless Magazines/quivers? Or a hybrid form where basic arrows/bolts and the Emergency Weapon ammo are free, but more powerful ammo/weapons make you count every shot? What types of ammo are available?
  • What effect does the distance between shooter and target have on a ranged weapon's accuracy and damage? Can the target be out of range? Can ranged weapons be fired in melee? Which penalties, if any, does a ranged weapon wielder suffer when attacked at close range?
  • Can a character target specific body parts of the enemies and vice versa? Which effects on the target a successful (critical) hit has then? The most common variation of this is the ability to hit an enemy's head (if they have one) For Massive Damage.
  • Do the same rules apply to unarmed combat as to the armed one? Is unarmed combat lethal? If you have unarmed combat as a major feature, provide at least one class/character build specializing in it but don't make a No-Gear Level mandatory for every character.
  • How does the elemental damage work? Does generic magical resistance mitigate it? Which types of elemental damage/resistance are there?
  • Which Standard Status Effects, if any, can be inflicted in combat? Can common status effects be inflicted in multiple ways (e.g. can a mage's spell, a Critical Hit by a hammer-wielding fighter, and a thief's specialized perk all inflict the same Stun effect)? Is there a Break Meter for enemies/allies?
  • Which buffs are available? Speed, damage, damage protection, etc.? Note that Super Speed in particular tends to be a Game Breaker.
  • If a spell takes time to cast, can the caster be interrupted to make the spell fizzle/backfire? Are there items/special moves particularly well-suited for this task? Is there a way to prevent enemies from using spells/moves altogether?
  • How do the enemies and AI followers decide whom to attack next and how? Is friendly AI customizable by the player? Do allied NPCs generate threat that makes them priority targets, and if so, how is it calculated? Which in-game means does the player have to manipulate threat?
  • Do the enemies attempt to flee or surrender if drastically outmatched by the player character(s)? Do companions/party members?

As an antithesis to combat, stealth often becomes utterly useless in party- and combat-oriented games. In single-character games, on the other hand, stealth is often a better (and more fun) alternative to direct confrontation.

  • Is there a "stealth mode" or do characters automatically become invisible and inaudible under certain conditions? In most western RPGs, toggling the "stealth mode" is usually preferred, even if it's just crouching down.
  • How is success at entering the stealth mode calculated? Does it have to be recalculated later on in regular intervals or whenever a new enemy comes into view? How does the level difference, armor weight, and skill scores/perks factor into this? Which actions immediately end the stealth mode?
  • Does the environment contribute to/impose penalty on stealth checks? Do shadows, greenery, and large crowds?
  • Does attacking from stealth result in instant kills or automatic critical hits? Does attacking break the stealth mode? Are there special "stealth weapons" that don't alert the enemies?
  • Do dead bodies put still-living enemies on alert? If so, how can the player dispose of corpses?
  • If alerted to intruders' presence, will the guards stop searching for them in a short while? How many levels of alertness do the guards have? Is there a way to manipulate it?
  • Can scripted plot events be triggered when in stealth mode? On one hand, there is nothing more annoying than being spotted by an enemy whose chances in actual gameplay are exactly zero, let alone having the stealth mode canceled altogether by an untimely cutscene. On the other, stealth mode can lead to massive Script and Sequence Breaking.
  • How does picking locks work? Does the character need picks? Are they one-use only? How is success calculated, based on the picker's skill, quality of the lock and the pick? How do the NPCs react if they witness a lock picking attempt? How do the lawfully aligned party members?
  • How does pickpocketing work? How is success calculated? Does the character need to be in stealth mode to attempt it? Can the victim notice a failed attempt and if so, how do they react: fight the pickpocket, call the guards, or just curse? How do other NPCs react if they witness the attempt?
  • On a different note, are stolen items marked as such in the inventory? What will NPC merchants do if the player tries selling stolen goods to them? What will the guards do if they find stolen goods in the character's inventory? Is there an in-game way to remove the "stolen" marker from items?

While it technically has nothing to do with stealth, disarming traps (and occasionally, making them) usually falls within the competence of the party thief, probably because it is almost identical to lock picking in gameplay terms. Spotting traps is a different matter, however. Are thieves the only ones who can spot traps, or can other classes do it, too? Is there a penalty on spot checks made by other classes? Are spot checks made only once when the booby-trapped object comes into view, or are checks made continuously (e.g. with each step)? Does the complexity (level) of the trap only affect its disarm difficulty, or reduce its minimum spotting distance, as well? Can a thief attempting to disarm a trap accidentally trigger it instead? One last advice on trap spotting: in party-based games, most players place the lightly-armored thieves behind armored fighters while exploring, therefore it is important to make the effective spotting distance long enough for the former to spot traps before the latter run headfirst into them.

Set Designer / Location Scout

On the most basic level, all RPG levels can be categorized into towns and dungeons. Towns are self-contained levels (except the Hub City, which may span several levels) whose defining traits are shops and safety from harm (and the player is usually forbidden to attack anyone). Dungeons, contrary to the term, don't have to be underground: any location with enemies and traps in it is one, regardless whether it's underground, indoors, or outdoors. In the recent RPGs, the boundary between the two location types has been progressively erased, with things like Dungeon Town and Dungeon Shop becoming more and more common.

It's up to you how continuous or disjointed these levels are. Two common setups are:

The variation where battles are fought on a separate screen is firmly associated with Eastern RPGs but technically, there is nothing preventing you from including them in your game, as well.

Props Department

Plunder a.k.a. loot is an essential part of most Western RPGs, so make sure to include plenty of it to reward the player for exploration and winning battles. Consider following:

  • Where do items come from: treasure chests, enemies, quest rewards, shops, all of it? What kinds of enemies drop loot: any enemy, just higher-tier ones, or only bosses?
  • Do certain enemies always drop certain items or are there Random Drops? Or a hybrid where regular ("junk") loot is random but unique items are set? Are Money Spiders and Impossible Item Drops possible?
  • Are drops subject to Level Scaling? If so, make sure that unique named items are worth the effort of getting them; in other words, that they will not be outperformed by random level-scaled "junk" loot after the next Level Up.
  • Are there stat/skill requirements for using certain items?
  • Are the items available from the in-game shops worth spending cash on or is the loot in the dungeons always superior? You can also draw a line here and say that weapons and armor found in dungeons are always better, but the shops have the best accessories (rings, amulets).
  • Speaking of shops, what is the Global Currency in your game? The default is gold in fantasy and generic "credits" in sci-fi. While slightly unrealistic, this genre convention is time-tested and intuitive to most players, so don't reinvent the wheel.
  • Is there a limit on how much loot the character(s) can carry? Is it a Grid Inventory, a weight limitation, or both? Or is it a Bag of Sharing that distributes items equally between characters? If you cap the inventory in any way, give the player a container to store the loot that is too cool to sell but Too Awesome to Use somewhere in the Hub Level.

On a side note, modern RPGs can learn a lot from the original Diablo in terms of loot. One specific danger, previously touched on in the Pitfalls section, is the overabundance of various special properties on items. Ideally, players should be able to tell at a glance whether the unique weapon they just found is better than what they've been using. The easiest solution is to reduce weapon stats to a single DPS score, but that would leave the player no freedom of choice, so a trade-off between the two extremes must be found.

An alternative source of gear is Item Crafting, which was already discussed above.

Items in RPGs generally fall under following categories:

  • Weapons. See below for more info.
  • Armor. See Costume Designer section for more info.
  • Shields. Mostly found in fantasy, always straddling the line between weapons and armor.
  • Accessories. Rings, amulets, cloaks, etc. Items that give the characters passive permanent bonuses without any other usage.
  • Standard RPG Items. These are mostly potions of various effects and other consumables.
  • Vendor Trash. Generic items that are only good for selling in shops for extra cash (e.g. non-functional gems).
  • Plot Coupons and MacGuffins. If you have a weight limitation on inventory, make sure these quest items don't weight anything and are removed from inventory upon completion of the quest. In a Grid Inventory, it's best to place them on a separate grid.
  • Stock RPG Spells. These come in form of single-use scrolls or multi-charged wands.

Coming back to weapons, there is a lot of variation between fantasy and science fiction RPGs in this department (see also Video Game Weapon Stats):

  • Fantasy RPGs place a heavy emphasis on melee weapons, while magic handles ranged combat more efficiently.
    • Each melee weapon type usually has its own application in combat:
      • Swords (one-handed, two-handed, hybrid) and daggers (one-handed only) have the best Critical Hit chance
      • Maces (one-handed) and war hammers (one-handed, two-handed) work best against armored enemies
      • Axes (one-handed, two-handed) make the most raw damage
    • Ranged weaponry usually falls into three categories (all of them two-handed by design):
      • "Short" bows have a high rate of fire but low damage output and short range—often unrealistically so for the sake of balance
      • Longbows have lower ROF, more damage, and longer range and profit from the Strength stat the most, showing best performance at high levels
      • Crossbows have the lowest ROF but hit hard and have good range, regardless of the wielder's stats, making them the best choice at low levels
    • Firearms are largely taboo in fantasy settings for various reasons (see Analysis.Fantasy Gun Control).
  • Science fiction RPGs, on the other hand, rely almost exclusively on long-ranged weaponry:

One last note on the Pet Peeve Trope of so many RPG players: So Long, and Thanks for All the Gear. RPGs are very much gatherer instinct-driven, so there is nothing more frustrating than AI followers leaving for plot reasons with all the rare items you gave them. In best case, it means reloading the last save; in the worst, the items are Lost Forever. So please, whenever characters leave the party, make sure that all the items that are not restricted to them are returned to the player (even if that doesn't make sense in-story). Also, inform the players of this in advance, so they don't freak out.

Costume Designer

When creating their RPG characters, most players customize them as much as possible in order to better identify with them. After starting the game, this customization continues via decisions like what gear and weapons their character uses. For this reason, seeing a Virtual Paper Doll in badass armor on the inventory screen brings many players a sense of satisfaction; for the same reasons, you would want to avert Informed Equipment as far as your engine allows it.

One Size Fits All is the one trope that you will just have to live with for the sake of simplicity of inventory handling. A similarly annoying issue is Rainbow Pimp Gear, which crops up when you have many types of wearable equipment that drops randomly. To counteract it, either draw all armor in the same style (which is boring) or reduce the number of gear types to a bare minimum (helm, body armor, greaves, and gloves) and give a Set Bonus for wearing gear of the same material/design.

Speaking of materials, armor in fantasy settings tends to follow the same conventions, described in better detail under Elemental Crafting:

  • Non-armor (robes) is for the Squishy Wizard. For the purpose of gameplay balance, magic-wielding classes cannot be allowed to have good physical protection, so you should either restrict arcane classes to robes, or impose heavy penalties on spellcasting in armor.
  • Light armor (usually leather) is for the Fragile Speedster. This is usually the best choice for a stealthy rogue, who remains reasonably well-protected without incurring penalties on stealth checks.
  • Medium armor (ring mail) offers maximum protection when the character cannot afford wearing Heavy, e.g. for a combat-oriented rogue or a DPS warrior who relies on fast attacks.
  • Heavy armor (plate mail) is for the Mighty Glacier, the classic Stone Wall armor.

In science fiction, the principle choice is usually more limited, ranging from the basic Bullet Proof Vest to the high tech Deflector Shields.

Gameplay-wise, there are three ways how armor can protect the wearer from harm:

Lastly, remember that Helmets Are Hardly Heroic, so if your engine allows for face close-ups during dialogue and cutscenes, at least add an option to automatically remove helmets from both the player character and important NPCs on such occasions.

Casting Director

As discussed earlier, most Western RPG protagonists (player characters) are blank slates with tons of Character Customization piled upon them, and very few games feature a predefined protagonist (in stark contrast to the Eastern RPG genre). Since their characterization throughout the game is completely up to the player, their past is usually kept utterly generic. Too many games have featured an Amnesiac Hero to justify the blank slate part, so try to avert it unless you can put an interesting spin on it. Instead of amnesia or a generic past, give the protagonist a moderately heroic Back Story that justifies their adventurous tendencies, or better yet, write several (three or more) different character origins for the player to select from at character creation in accordance to their race, class, alignment, etc. Bonus Points if you reference the chosen origin later in the game, offer exclusive side quests, or even make the origin stories playable as Multiple Game Openings.

In a party-based RPG, the party members are a major appeal. When designing the party, two aspects should be considered: tactical gameplay and characterization. On one hand, the party members are characters in a story with their own flaws and Character Development; on the other, they are painted miniatures on the map meant to kill other painted miniatures. Therefore, the potential party selection should offer both a sufficient variety of classes to put together an optimal supporting team for the Player Character, and simultaneously be a interesting bunch to travel with. Which aspect is more important in your game is entirely up to you, though there is a general correlation here with whether the game is combat-oriented or story-driven.

Since the player ultimately controls their party in a Western RPG, most of the party members are going to be either optional or temporary. Some story-relevant NPCs, however, will be Required Party Members and it is a good idea to mix them up class-wise so that the minimal "required party" represents every class. Try to include one recruitable NPC for each class/specialization/alignment combination there is in the game (e.g. good warrior tank, evil warrior archer, good rogue scout, etc.) and let the players decide which ones they want in their party. If that makes for too many combinations due to the complexity of your Game System, reduce the combo to class/alignment and let the players re-spec their preferred party to their liking. If you add Mutually Exclusive Party Members, try to balance them out gameplay-wise, so that the player isn't placed at a gameplay disadvantage by having the "wrong" character in the party.

The party members' initial characterization can be derived from their function (e.g. the good warrior tank is probably a Knight in Shining Armor of some sort, the evil warrior archer may be a Cold Sniper with Dark and Troubled Past, the good scout is a Loveable Rogue, etc.), while their inner dynamics should be defined in terms of your favorite Ensemble Tropes. Party members are also a perfect source of exposition for whatever part of the setting they come from, as they give the player a face to associate weird country and race names with. Bonus points if the party represents the entire geographic and social scope of your setting. For a finishing touch, make it that Everyone Has A Special Move that reflects their personality and background.

If your party members are to have more than passive personalities, make them express it in dialogue, both with other NPCs and with the Player Character. If their personality is to be revealed gradually, add Relationship Values that determine whether they trust the PC enough to talk about personal issues. Rewards for gaining their trust can range from simple bonuses to character-exclusive side quests (including a Romance Sidequest). Losing trust may force characters to leave the party (in which case, remember to avert So Long, and Thanks for All the Gear). Speaking of characters leaving the party, play around with the Team Shuffle Tropes to diversify the party gameplay.

In single-character games with temporary followers, the considerations for the latter are pretty much the same, except that you don't have to pay as much attention to their characterization.

On the other side, you have the computer-controlled enemies. These come in a wide variety (see Stock Monsters) and provide Cannon Fodder for countless battles. Conceptually, the enemies can be divided into three categories:

  • Mooks are the lowest-rung enemies who die in scores and are only dangerous when they Zerg Rush the player character. In games with Level Scaling, they are permanently a few levels below the latter.
  • Elite Mooks are the souped-up (to about the same level as the player character) and often named versions of regular mooks, who pose a moderate threat on their own and may have special moves and other nasty surprises at their disposal.
  • Bosses are the rare unique enemies designed to pose a serious challenge to the player. They are usually encountered at the end of a dungeon or a quest, possess numerous special moves, and are far beyond the player character's current level.

When designing your enemies, try to introduce enough variety without resorting to the Underground Monkey trick. That includes both geographic variety and power level variety: the player shouldn't have to fight Normal Rats in the Doomed Hometown, Desert Rats in the Thirsty Desert, and Rats +20 in The Very Definitely Final Dungeon. The player should fight an enemy type, not an enemy level, so instead add poisonous scorpions as regular mooks in the desert level, and rabid mutant rats who move unpredictably and inflict nasty status effects with a bite in the final dungeon.

One last thing about the actual casting: Voice acting carries inherent risks to any game but especially to an RPG. The primary issue is that it hinders the writing and editing process, since each new line has to be recorded, re-recorded, encoded, and lip-synced, as opposed to just replacing a text file. Therefore, unless you have access to a large and efficient voice recording infrastructure (which you probably don't unless you work for BioWare), you are better off without fully-voiced dialogues. That is not to say, of course, that you cannot have major characters' introductions and the essential moments of the main quest voiced; just don't extend it to every little side quest, as well.

Sound Director

Sounds in RPGs come in three categories:

  • Spoken dialogue. See above.
  • Music. Nothing sets the mood like a good music piece. If you are not yet short on resources, hire a good composer to make background music for you. For bonus points, you can probably make an extra buck selling the OST.
  • Sound effects. Just the regular stock sounds of swords clashing, guns firing, people grunting, and screaming in pain. Do try to avoid it unintentionally sounding like Orgasmic Combat, however.

As mentioned earlier, music can provide a wide range of motifs:

Here is a comprehensive article on music composition for video games in general.

Stunt Department

Refer to Analysis.Video Game Achievements for common achievement/trophy templates. Most of them can be used in an RPG (except multiplayer—you probably don't want it in your game).

Extra Credit

The Greats

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