Designing an RPG with Kids: Tracking Points

We’ve done quite a few iterations on this part of the game, which is such an integral part of keeping track of how you, and your character, are doing.

Point totals and allocations are so great, because they give players a sense of accomplishment, show them that resources are finite, and plus there’s math involved as you add, subtract, and divide.

Here is the points tracking sheet that we have so far. You’ll notice that it’s got a nice big area for writing down what you’ve done and how many points you either earned or spent. Then, you figure your totals and allocate your points across a number of character attributes – as well as a “bank” where you can store points you don’t want to allocate or you want to spend on yourself for say, video game time. We do this on a daily basis, and points that are spent on yourself (like, TV or video game time) have to be earned the same day. Points spent on your character, though, can be earned whenever.

This format came from watching my kids write their points down on their own piece of paper. I had this really clever (not) form that I had created but it didn’t come close to what they were actually doing. This also allows some “scribble space” for when they need to add a series of numbers or something.

You also pull your numbers down from one day to the next, which gives you a nice picture of how you are doing from day to day. The kids seem to really like this feature.

Next, we will be creating the “catalog” of items that can be acquired with points, and a way to “give” them to your character. Again, we’re keeping this simple and I’m letting the kids drive the format.

Designing an RPG With Kids: The Character

Big Hat-Tip here to Geek Dad and the Geek Dad Book, where I saw a much more elaborate version of this idea that reminded me of the days back in high school when a segment of the population spent a huge amount of time playing Dungeons and Dragons and of my own love of game design and gaming.

At our house we’re designing an RPG or Role Play Game. The origin of this game was to add something on top of the Walk!Woof!Wag! cards, although in our case it has expanded well beyond that. But here’s how we got started.

The Character.

Each player gets to create a character, which is a very talented dog. You get to pick the breed and give it a name. Your dog has a class, which is Mystic (seeing-eye dog), Warrior (working dog), Minstrel (show dog) or Thief (stray dog).

My kids picked out their dog’s name, breed and class pretty quickly – my daughter’s is a Pomeranian Mystic, and my son’s is a German Shepherd Warrior.

Your dog has attributes to which you will apply your points. These are: Doghouse, Treats, Tricks, Toys, and Love, and a Bank for all-purpose points. Your dog wants to lead a balanced life, so you try to keep all the attributes pretty close in value.

The points will be used to “buy” things for your dog, which fall into all those categories. For example, a dog bed for the Doghouse, a special ability under Tricks (like maybe going invisible), and other fabulous things. You can also “bank” points to decide on later.

Here’s a free Character Sheet PDF to get started with. Next we’ll look at how you earn and spend points… and remember, this is a framework but you’re welcome to add your own ideas that work for you and your family and friends.

 

How Would You Illustrate this Story? Chapter 4

Earlier I posted links to the first three chapters of “Escape from Nowhere” as inspiration for you to think about how you might go about illustrating it -

Here they are:

Chapter 1, Violet’s Room

Chapter 2, A Disappearance

Chapter 3, Igor’s Repair Shop

Now I’ve added the fourth chapter as well, here it is:

Chapter 4, A Trap Door

What do you see in your mind as you read this? What do the characters look like, how would you illustrate it? Everyone sees a story a little differently…

Drawing a Comic: One Frame at a Time

Drawing a comic is a lot like creating a little movie inside your head and then putting it down on paper.

You have to consider what you are going to reveal to the audience and when, and how much you want them to learn in each frame. In this example from my sketchbook, there’s a sort of classic buildup – a girl arrives at her door, hears something, turns around – but then there’s a twist, her visitor is not where – or what – she expects. This is a lot like what you do when shooting something on film – in comics, though, you can vary the size and shape of the frame, which is hard to do on a movie screen (although it does happen – split screens, effects, stuff like that). The rest, though is very similar. So if you want to learn about how to draw comics, you can learn a lot by watching movies.

Why DroolyDog.org? Here’s Why!

I’ve updated the “manifesto” on why DroolyDog.org exists – it used to be called “The Drooly Dog Drawing Project,” but it’s expanded to be a lot more than that – so it’s time for a new one! Please enjoy – and share with your friends and family who might like to come release the Beast, and play Walk!Woof!Wag!

And while you’re reading, think about this: Did you draw when you were a kid? What was art like for you growing up? Did you ever have someone say something about your artwork that made you feel good, or bad? Was there a point where you decided that you were “not an artist?” Hmmmm….. burning questions indeed.