RPG Building, Behind the Scenes (part 3)

It’s easy to become enamored with your own rules system so much that you forget the importance of the story and the types of characters that are involved. Although Solar Echoes has a great story and interesting characters, my initial approach to advertising the game was more focused on the innovative game system. It didn’t take me long to realize that people are initially much more interested in the story and the characters—the game system is a bit of an afterthought. Once you’ve captured their attention with the story setting and the characters that are involved, then you can highlight the various ways that your rules system is different from other games out there. Remember, though, that it doesn’t matter how amazing your game system is—if you don’t have a unique, compelling, exciting setting with intriguing characters to play, people aren’t going to give your game a chance. Thankfully, the story of Solar Echoes developed rather easily, emerging from the personalities of the different alien races that were designed. Thinking about how they would affect each other and the universe around them created an interesting dynamic that would ripple across other alien cultures that were making their own particular imprint. In order for a story to have momentum, though, you need tension…