Tips for writing your very own homebrew RPGIve said it before, We all have our own RPG, right  Well, I assume thats the case, because Ive written several, and some of them have several editions. No, Ive never published any of my RPGs  they were always written for my enjoyment, my players enjoyment, and my need to vent creative brain vapor build up. Most often, I wrote them simply because I wanted to play or run a game genre that wasnt really out yet or readily available. Sometimes I even thought I could make a better version of an existing game. In this article, Im going to talk about some of the pitfalls of writing your own RPG, and how to overcome them. Actually publishing a role playing game for profit is a whole other ball of hot magma, one that Im certainly not qualified to talk about. I am not a professional writer, and Ive never tried to sell a game. RPGs.   Unfortunately, most of them were 1. I did, however, have a few juggernauts that saw some serious game time, so Im very happy about thatBack in high school when my love hate relationship with Heroes Unlimited began, I felt that I could make a better supers game than anything else out there. Using Wordperfect, I put together 1. Supers.   Unfortunately, it ended up being nowhere near original, so I rewrote it only to find it still wasnt very original. So I just dumped the entire thing. I then created two editions of Militech, which was a brilliant combination of Aliens and Robotech. Space Marine combat and Versatile Fighter combat provided our group many hours of entertainment, complete with military rank, tons of options, and some cool ripped artwork. I even had six books printed, complete with a cool front cover. Unfortunately, I eventually killed the game because I kept tinkering with it. Id get inspired by a movie or book and then try to add those new concepts to the game. I should have just left it alone, since a lot of time went into that RPG. My last major endeavor was Nighthaven. A BladeBuffyUnderworld kind of a game. This game had all the bells and whistles. Of course, I had to have it printed in book form. We played this game through many, many sessions, and I simply liked it so very much. I liked this game so much that it went through three editions. And that is what ultimately shelved it. I kept tinkering with it, changing things, making the game supposedly better and it simply ran away from me. I really should have focused more on fluff than stuff. So, where did I go wrong with all of my games  And why am I even writing this articleRyanair is having a tough time. As Brexit threatens to turn its entire business upside down, passengers cant stop getting drunk on its flights, doing something. CO2 laser tube seen from above. Its a Synrad G482285 25 watt laser cost approx 2000 Fans in the blue enclosure absent in this photo blow air into the holes in. Well, Im getting the itch to start developing Nighthaven again, but I dont want to run into the same old problems. So, I thought about it, and then came up with some of the roadblocks and pitfalls that Ive faced in the past with the hope that I dont make the same mistakes again. If youre looking to write your own RPG for fun, hopefully youll find this useful as well. Create a to do list. Create a list of things that need to be explained in the game. This is most often a list of chapters and subchapters. I always look through other RPGs to see what kinds of things get explained in those games, to help ensure that my game will be complete. Really, in creating a list, youre creating a plan of attack, one that will help you stay on track. Dont stall.   If you get an idea, go with it. Dont worry about your idea not being original or perfectly figured out you simply have to get the ball rolling. Dont sit there trying to flesh it all out in your head. Ive sat for hours in front of my computer just waiting for the right words to mystically flow through my fingertips onto that keyboard. And you know what  Those were hours well wasted. Once you get that initial idea, just go with it. Write, write, write. Setting, Setting, Setting. This is important. A great system mechanic or character options tree might be cool, but it wont last when paired with a poor, uninspired, or under developed setting. A setting connects the player characters to the story, and thats mucho important in keeping players interested in the game. Only focus on what is on your mind. You dont have to write your game from front to back this is why you created your to do list. If youre working on a specific section like PC  Races, but then get inspired about your PC Classes, work on your PC Classes. Youll get so much more done writing about whats on your mind than if you try to finish one section before moving on to the next. Trust me. Steal what works from your competitors. Hey, if you like how Wizards formats their D D Powers section, copy it. Or, copy and alter it. Whatever.   Its ok to study whats out there, because it just might work for your game and you may even be able to improve it. On the flipside, you can also check out things from games that dont seem to work, and avoid making those mistakes. Keep it simple.   Several of my failures occured in part because I thought I could make grapple rules more realistic, or ranged combat, or falling damage whatever. All that did was add more rules to an untested RPG system. Using my obviously superior intelligence to make certain parts of the game more realistic only makes the game less playable. It makes the game clunky, and opens your system mechanic to a vast set of inconsistent rules. Just keep it simple. Again, trust me. Consider using an existing game system. In line with keeping it simple, why not make your game using an established generic system, like Savage Worlds or Stands of FATE  This is soooo much less work and more importantly less stress. Of course, if your idea of a game is based off a unique system mechanic of your own design, then by all means, go for it just remember that desiging your own system can be a daunting, time consuming, tedious task. Using an existing generic game system can easily cut out tons and tons of age inducing playtest hours. Playtest with one shots on occasion. This will help you adjust numbers, balance powers, and show you what simply doesnt work and anything that takes a lot of explanation certainly doesnt work. Players are not going to want to play the game if they cant remember the eight step process for determining initiative. Make the rules consistent. When you design your own system, a common error occurs  its very easy to focus on combat resolution while disregarding conflict resolution. Then, later youll realize that you need to figure out how to handle ability checks, skill checks, casting spells, and social interractions. Pretty soon you could end up with several different ways of handling such conflicts sub systems, when you should have devised a single mechanic that applies to just about every situation. Great Homebrew Projects Pdf' title='25 Great Homebrew Projects Pdf' />Stop making changes. After youve finished your game and distributed it to your players, resist the urge to make changes. This is the time to play the game, not work on it. Unless you find something that is seriously breaking your RPG, leave it alone. Just go with what you have and let it be. Sure, youre going to find errors, inconsistencies, and power imbalance, but your players will forgive that. 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