The Elements of RPGs

There aren't many hobbyist game devs working on role-playing games (RPGs). For those who are, it's useful to think about what the different parts of an RPG are, and how they fit together.

I won't talk about plot or characters; this blog entry is strictly about gameplay. Getting gameplay right in an RPG is hard enough without the burden of writing and editing a plot and characters.

There are 5 elements to any RPG:

• Roles
• Enemies
• Skills
• Items
• Exploration

Read on for their explanations.

Roles

The role is who the player plays as.

Many games other than RPGs also have roles, e.g. the paddle in Breakout. What makes roles different in RPGs is that they are not only player-controlled, but hold skills and items.

Enemies

The enemies are obstacles that must be overcome to progress in the game.

Enemies are the bread and butter of the gameplay of an RPG, since overcoming them is what separates an RPG from being interactive fiction. Enemies are overcome by player decisions, and using skills and items.

Common RPG enemies are rats, bats and wolves, though this definition is broad enough to include puzzles, traps, doors and other obstacles to progress.

Skills

Skills are intrinsic powers held by roles to defeat enemies.

Most RPG players think of skills as 'special abilities' that you sometimes choose in combat. However, this definition covers any intrinsic power the roles have, like their stats. Here, strength, intelligence and dexterity count as skills, as do hit points and magic points, and spells. This definition also covers the broader cases of 'enemies', e.g. an "unlock" spell could open a door.

The important part about skills is that they're cultivated by the player over the course of an RPG. Earning and choosing skills is a long-term reward for certain player actions.

Items

Items are extrinsic powers held by roles to defeat enemies.

Items include not only expendables, but also equipment and items that progress the game.

Items have purpose similar to skills: to defeat enemies. However, items can often be freely gained, switched and dropped, whereas skills are semi-permanent.

Item are collected by the player over the course of the RPG, and are also often rewards for certain player actions.

Exploration

Exploration is the discovery of new things.

This is usually the biggest draw of RPGs. It covers many of the rewards a player is given for playing the RPG successfully. Finding a new town or dungeon? Exploration. Discovering a hidden passageway? Exploration. Finding new dialogue branches? Exploration. Revealing new skills to choose from? Exploration.

Exploration is the sense of 'newness'. It's also the biggest part of an RPG to create, so it helps to have tools and/or other help to make it.

Conclusion

The gameplay of an RPG consists of guiding the roles to defeat enemies using skills and items in order to facilitate exploration.

The important thing to remember is that 90% of all this happens behind the scenes. Hobbyist game devs looking to make RPGs often fall into the trap of copying what they see from other RPGs, which eventually fails because they only see 10% of the game. Instead, they should think about how roles, enemies, items, skills and exploration work and interact in their design.

Roles, enemies, items and skills should be planned as much as possible before descending into making an RPG. Exploration is an exception, since it's extremely large relative to the rest of the game, and it doesn't affect other parts of the gameplay that much.

Finally, if you're just getting into making RPGs, get these elements right first! An RPG with workable gameplay but cruddy plot and characters is at least playable, the opposite is not.