How to make an rpg forum

[speaks]

I don’t know anything about role playing or how to make a forum RPG could I get a walk through in this?

[Kami]

Jul 15, 2021 8:22:07 GMT -8 speaks said:

I don’t know anything about role playing or how to make a forum RPG could I get a walk through in this?

There isn't one specific way to make a forum RP, though before I answer the question I have ask if you're sure you want to run a forum RP?

Take it from me: I've run forum RPs for almost two decades now and they are really difficult forums to run. They require a much heavier time, mental, emotional, and creative commitment from its admins than other forum genres because every interaction that makes an RP forum successful requires collaborative storytelling with one or more people on top of the other commitments a forum admin has (advertising, etc). It is far easier for an RP forum to die off quickly than any other forum genre in my experience, because there's no such thing as passive or casual participating for the admin or any of the members.

Most RP forums are shut down by the 60 day mark because admins burn out, are dissatisfied with activity because their site didn't become immediately active with a variety of people / characters to play with, etc. There are some RPs out there that go through six months to a year, maybe even longer, with only a meager amount of participation.

It's a lot of hard work, sometimes a lot of heartache, and requires a level of dedication to see success that most forum admins don't have to invest, all for the high probability of a low return on that investment. The most successful forums are the ones that either a) catch lightning in a bottle for their fandom / genre / idea, b) the ones that work for months and years despite all the roadbumps, or c) both.

I'm not discouraging you from creating one, far from it. I use PB almost exclusively for roleplaying forums! But I also want to levelset expectations and be realistic about it, especially if you've never participated in an RP forum as even a member. I don't want to see you become unhappy with RP because your first exposure to it is trying to admin your own site and trying to juggle figuring out how RP even works on top of the needs of your community, that will have certain expectations of you and the forum as a whole.

Basically, I just want to make sure you're making an RP forum because you absolutely want to and are ready for the unique challenges RP forum owners face, as opposed to doing it just because they're popular and you want to have a successful site.

If you're totally sure you want to run an RP, I'd be more than happy to share my life's work my enthusiasm for them with you!

[speaks]

Good to know. It will take a lot of consideration before I take on a big project. I’m looking to explore as a member first but I don’t know really where to start.

[speaks]

I would like to make a simple card and dice battle game

[Kami]

Jul 15, 2021 10:22:38 GMT -8 speaks said:

Good to know. It will take a lot of consideration before I take on a big project. I’m looking to explore as a member first but I don’t know really where to start.

Jul 15, 2021 10:23:59 GMT -8 speaks said:

I would like to make a simple card and dice battle game

Could you elaborate on this? This sounds more like a text-based game as opposed to a roleplay, but I don't want to make any assumptions.

[speaks]

A text based game where you use dice to decide an outcome. Something simple as opposed to a full on role playing game something with a simpler story and battle and more casual play.

[Kami]

Jul 15, 2021 10:39:45 GMT -8 speaks said:

A text based game where you use dice to decide an outcome. Something simple as opposed to a full on role playing game something with a simpler story and battle and more casual play.

I think this is a different thing from an RP forum, honestly?

A roleplaying forum is generally minimal on the dice rolls barring certain genres, and more focused on collaborative storytelling. People create characters, backstories, and RP in groups as well as one on one creating individual character stories, plot events, etc. based on character development. Dice rolls are generally used if folks wanted to add an element of randomness (eg: Pokémon RPs) to a situation, but all RP forums are heavy on the roleplay aspect. RP forums are not often similar to RPG video games as far as the mechanics.

It sounds like you're looking more for a game where players roll dice to determine how they progress rather than players having agency of choice, and I don't see much emphasis in your description about character interactions / back story / plot.

If that's the kind of game you want to set up, that's totally cool! But I would avoid calling it a roleplaying game as that has certain connotations.

Something like that should be fairly simple. The vDice plugin should do a lot of lifting in that regard. Otherwise, just make sure to create content that lets people know how to play, how to use vDice, what the rules are, what the basis of the game is, and create areas for them to play & discuss.

Some tips would be:
- if you want to keep it simple, don't create an elaborate lore / backstory / worldbuilding otherwise people will probably have questions.
- there's a good chance that people will be less inclined to participate in a forum that heavily relies on dice rolls. most people looking for "RP forums" are looking for narrative-based ones (even games like Dungeons and Dragons are heavy on narrative over dice rolls, even though dice rolls are used), so you'd have to make a concentrated effort to look for people looking for text-based games as opposed to roleplaying games.

I hope that helps! 

[speaks]

I’m into Oracle cards so I would like to do something with that where as players progress a story is built from play.

[Kami]

Jul 15, 2021 11:12:27 GMT -8 speaks said:

I’m into Oracle cards so I would like to do something with that where as players progress a story is built from play.

I think basically what you need to do is decide on the following (these are rhetorical and not something you need to answer for me, but rather to keep in mind for yourself as you set up):

- What is the game premise?
----- In other words, what is the setting of the game and why does the player care?
- What are the game mechanics?
----- How does one play the game?
----- What are the rules of play?
----- How do players progress the game / story?
----- How do players interact with each other?
----- Are there any special conditions in gameplay?
----- What are the metrics for success?
----- When is the game "finished" (if it's finished)?
----- How is the game played with multiple players?
----- How will story be handled when new players join?
----- How will story be handled when players drop out?
----- How do players get rewarded / penalised for success or failure?
- How will the game be sustainable?
----- How will players receive a return on their investment?
------------- In other words, how are players rewarded for their participation?
----- How will the story scale based on player advancement?
----- How will the game sustain itself in the event the game runner / admin / staff team cannot participate for a time?
----- How do you prevent players from becoming bored?

Effectively, creating a game that is mechanic-reliant in order to build a story & progress events, is akin to actually doing game design so while this is a less complex path than creating a true roleplaying forum, there are still a lot of nuances that should be explored.

I hope the above is helpful! For whatever it's worth, I turned my passion for RP into a career in video game production so I'm more than happy to assist with Food For Thought on both fronts (:

[Lynx]

Jul 15, 2021 10:58:23 GMT -8 Kami said:

Jul 15, 2021 10:39:45 GMT -8 speaks said:

A text based game where you use dice to decide an outcome. Something simple as opposed to a full on role playing game something with a simpler story and battle and more casual play.

I think this is a different thing from an RP forum, honestly?

A roleplaying forum is generally minimal on the dice rolls barring certain genres, and more focused on collaborative storytelling. People create characters, backstories, and RP in groups as well as one on one creating individual character stories, plot events, etc. based on character development. Dice rolls are generally used if folks wanted to add an element of randomness (eg: Pokémon RPs) to a situation, but all RP forums are heavy on the roleplay aspect. RP forums are not often similar to RPG video games as far as the mechanics.

Yes and no. The old style tabletop RPG's run along the lines the OP is talking about. We have some running on one of my forums. It is classified as an RPG, but it does have a mixture of dice rolling and roleplay - as the characters do have to RP with other characters as well as NPC's. The dice aspect is used to determine things like: Initiative; "To Hit" rolls; and Damage rolls.

While RP forums may be mostly focused on collaborative storytelling (I will not argue nor dispute that ), I just wanted to point out that there are forums that are considered RPG forums that may also follow the old tabletop style of RP - which is what it sounds like (to me) the OP is describing.

[Kami]

Jul 16, 2021 7:59:38 GMT -8 Lynx said:

Jul 15, 2021 10:58:23 GMT -8 Kami said:

I think this is a different thing from an RP forum, honestly?

A roleplaying forum is generally minimal on the dice rolls barring certain genres, and more focused on collaborative storytelling. People create characters, backstories, and RP in groups as well as one on one creating individual character stories, plot events, etc. based on character development. Dice rolls are generally used if folks wanted to add an element of randomness (eg: Pokémon RPs) to a situation, but all RP forums are heavy on the roleplay aspect. RP forums are not often similar to RPG video games as far as the mechanics.

Yes and no. The old style tabletop RPG's run along the lines the OP is talking about. We have some running on one of my forums. It is classified as an RPG, but it does have a mixture of dice rolling and roleplay - as the characters do have to RP with other characters as well as NPC's. The dice aspect is used to determine things like: Initiative; "To Hit" rolls; and Damage rolls.

While RP forums may be mostly focused on collaborative storytelling (I will not argue nor dispute that  ), I just wanted to point out that there are forums that are considered RPG forums that may also follow the old tabletop style of RP - which is what it sounds like (to me) the OP is describing.

I mean I also play TTRPGs  I'm currently running a 5e-based homebrew, but have done 3.5e, Pathfinder, and other systems in the past. I'm setting up for a Dragon Age one as well. The dice rolls aren't what progress the story, it's a randomiser for specific outcomes. Critical Role, as a for instance, is a great example of that. All of those characters and interactions would still exist, it's just specific results are randomised and up to the DM how those results are expressed in the narrative. Rolling a Nat1 is in of itself meaningless, it's up to the DM to create a narrative to define what that particular botch means in the situation.

While I could be mistaken about the OP's intentions, the thing I zeroed in on was the fact that story / narrative and characters did not seem to have a prominent role in their description, and that their desire was to have a more gameplay oriented site. There was no mention of character stats / creation, either, just players. The RP part of RPG is still important no matter if you use a form of randomisation to determine certain outcomes or not (I even specifically mentioned those sites in an earlier post).

[Lynx]

Jul 16, 2021 8:40:47 GMT -8 Kami said:

Jul 16, 2021 7:59:38 GMT -8 Lynx said:

Yes and no. The old style tabletop RPG's run along the lines the OP is talking about. We have some running on one of my forums. It is classified as an RPG, but it does have a mixture of dice rolling and roleplay - as the characters do have to RP with other characters as well as NPC's. The dice aspect is used to determine things like: Initiative; "To Hit" rolls; and Damage rolls.

While RP forums may be mostly focused on collaborative storytelling (I will not argue nor dispute that  ), I just wanted to point out that there are forums that are considered RPG forums that may also follow the old tabletop style of RP - which is what it sounds like (to me) the OP is describing.

I mean I also play TTRPGs  I'm currently running a 5e-based homebrew, but have done 3.5e, Pathfinder, and other systems in the past. I'm setting up for a Dragon Age one as well. The dice rolls aren't what progress the story, it's a randomiser for specific outcomes. Critical Role, as a for instance, is a great example of that. All of those characters and interactions would still exist, it's just specific results are randomised and up to the DM how those results are expressed in the narrative. Rolling a Nat1 is in of itself meaningless, it's up to the DM to create a narrative to define what that particular botch means in the situation.

While I could be mistaken about the OP's intentions, the thing I zeroed in on was the fact that story / narrative and characters did not seem to have a prominent role in their description, and that their desire was to have a more gameplay oriented site. There was no mention of character stats / creation, either, just players. The RP part of RPG is still important no matter if you use a form of randomisation to determine certain outcomes or not (I even specifically mentioned those sites in an earlier post).

As I stated, I was not arguing nor disputing you.

Perhaps the way we run things is more of an exception than the rule. If that is the case, please feel free to ignore everything I've posted in this thread. I run an AD&D 1st Edition, and the players' RP is what more or less determines what I, as DM, determine where the story heads - but the players are the ones who are ultimately (in my campaign) defining the storyline itself. "What happens next" is not determined by me until after the players run their RP. Rolling a Natural 1 or Natural 20, though, does already have meaning in my campaign - of which the players know.

Bottom line, though, I think we can agree that how a campaign runs does rely on how the DM wants to run it.

I agree, though, perhaps if the OP was a bit more specific, that would certainly help.

[speaks]

I was thinking of a beginning setting and the characters and story grow from decisions made and the dice to determine success and failure and the nature of encounters hostile or peaceful aggressive or flirtatious etc.

[Kami]

Lynx - yeah i getchu, i just think either way there's still an emphasis on story / characters and some measure of player agency which to me classifies as collaborative storytelling even if there's an element of randomness from the dice rolls. i think we're saying the same thing, but i'm not excluding TTRPGs from the overall scheme of 'collaborative storytelling'. perhaps that's where we're misaligning? [thinking emoji]

speaks - that could still be an RPG if you plan to have characters and stuff like that, but i think if that's the case you should familiarise yourself a bit more with roleplaying games & forum RPGs? from your first post it seems like you don't have a lot of experience in how they work. dice rolls are really good for certain things, but you also have to make sure to balance dice rolls with player agency otherwise no one can do anything unless you're available. the stuff that MSG was describing for their RPG is a really good example of that, but if you're not familiar + you're creating a game system from scratch (versus say, following an existing RPG system like D&D or Pathfinder, etc) that's going to be a really big lift for you and anyone who decides to participate.

it might be easier first if you reframe this from a "how to make an rpg forum" to "what do i, as the person running the game, what to get out of my community"? that way you can figure out what you want to achieve first, then circle back and decide how to achieve it, and how much direct input you want to have in what happens?

Like, to me, it doesn't wholly sound like you know what you want to do beyond broad strokes. i think it would be easier to figure out how to set up your forum to accommodate the game, as opposed to figuring out how to set up your forum and then deciding on how the game should be done. does that makes sense?

[speaks]

I am interested in using characters and a setting. I have someone IRL who has agreed to help me a bit and I’m looking to dip my toe in some role playing to see what I like. Do you know a Horror monster RP?