Complete Kobold Guide to Game Design

Description

Wolfgang Baur, Monte Cook, Ed Greenwood, Mike Stackpole, and other industry veterans have the answers you asked for...and the advice you need! You'll learn how to create great new adventures, monsters and magic for your RPG campaign, and maybe even design your own game. The Complete Kobold Guide to Game Design offers 240 pages of in-depth essays on what makes RPGs tick. Get time-tested advice from the top designers in the industry. This compilation includes all three volumes of the Kobold Guide to Game Design series—now with all-new material by Wolfgang Baur, Mike Stackpole, and others! From core rules and magic systems to fantasy adventures, monster design, playtesting, and much more, these 40 essays cover every aspect of RPG design in clear, accessible language, to show you what it takes. The City Book Review called it "highly recommended for gaming nerds everywhere"! Pick up the Complete KOBOLD Guide to Game Design today, and starting designing your RPG tonight! Winner, 2012 Gold ENnie Award, Best RPG-Related Accessory Cover Title Page Copyright Table of Contents Foreword Section 1: Game Design 1. What is Design? 2. Designing RPGs: Computer and Tabletop (Colin McComb) 3. The Process of Creative Thought 4. Design that Matters 5. Seize the Hook (Rob Heinsoo) 6. The Infinte Onion 7. Fortunate Accidents 8. Basic Combat Systems for Tabletop Games (Colin McComb) 9. More Empty Rooms 10. Fantasy Realism 11. Designing Magic Systems (Michael A. Stackpole) 12. How NOT to Design a Magic Item 13. Location as a Fulcrum for Superior Design 14. Worldbuilding Section 2: Enhancing Adventures 15. Crafting a Dastardly Plot (Ed Greenwood) 16. Challenge and Response 17. On the Street Where Heroes Live (Ed Greenwood) 18. City Adventures 19. The Underdark 20. Maps, Monsters, and Bottom-Up Design 21. Monster Hordes 22. Hardboiled Adventures (Keith Baker) 23. What Makes a Night Arabian? 24. The Mystery of Mysteries (Nicolas Logue) 25. "The Anvil in the Dwarf's Soup" (Willie Walsh) 26. Using and Abusing Misdirection 27. Stagecraft (Nicolas Logue) Section 3: Writing, Pitching, Publishing 28. The Three Audiences 29. Shorter, Faster, Harder, Less 30. Buckets in the Sandbox 31. Collaboration and Design 32. Myths and Realities of Game Balance (Monte Cook) 33. Pacing 34. Playtesting 35. Promises, Promises 36. Failure and Recovery 37. Why Writers Get Paid 38. Talent Won't Save You... 39. The Magic Bullet for Publication 40. Creative Mania and Design Despair Kobold Guide to Board Game Design Back Cover