Creating character templates - How's this?

Hi skalmanxl... and welcome in from the cold of lurking! :)

It sounds like your game is a dungeon-crawl/D&D type of game, like Talisman or the like. Even if it's not set in a fantasy universe, I'd imagine the basic premise is similar (players control characters with attributes and skills, collect equipment, improve themselves through experience gained through combat and quests, in order to achieve a campaign goal).

With that assumption in place, the first thing I'd look at in your system is the die roll that adds points to a character's attributes. I understand your desire for randomization, but it really winds up being "roll high, do better." From what I know of RPG-style games, upgrading attributes through experience points is usually quite an ordeal, so rolling low can be especially disasterous.

I think you'd be well-served by implementing one of the following alternatives...

a) Players can roll three times, and select the best roll.

b) Instead of rolling, players always add the same number of points, say, six points.

c) Like b) above, except that some character classes do not add up to zero. The classes that add up to less than zero offer more points for the player to add, and the classes that add up to more than zero offer less. So a human would add up to, say, -3 points, but the player can allocate 9 points. And an orc would add up to 3 points, but the player can allocate only 3 points.

d) If you have skills in the game, or some stat other than attributes, the player still rolls the dice to determine the extra allocation points. He then subtracts his roll from 12, and the result is the amount of points he can spend on skills (or money, or mana, or whatever other attributes you have in this game). This way, a low roll doesn't tank the game for the player; it just opens the door to a different way of playing.

Hope this helps!

One of the problems with RPGs in general, is that they are way too random. You roll for *everything*.

So if you're rolling for character stat improvements, and hit points, and also for combat, and encounters, saving throws, etc all you get is a big dicefest. My suggestion to you is to try and find a method to reduce the randomness to one or two factors at the most. As others have stated, you just don't feel like you have any control over the game. If you ever played Dungeonquest, you realize you really have very little real control over the game, and DQ even has a lot of the randomness of most RPG board games already reduced.

If you're going to have in depth character stats, you really must use a fine toothed comb when designing the game and make sure that each of the stats weighs equally throughout the game. For example, if after a few plays, I discover that strengh is the most used stat in the game, well then I will ignore most of the other stats and concentrate only on strength. Also I second the recommendation about using templates either stock or giving players the same # (or a balanced #) of points with which to improve their character. As with any board game, balance is the key.
Scrap the rolling for hit points too. Either make it equal across the board or properly weight and balance it along with the other stats. When players go to choose their characters at the beginning of the game, you want them to make the choose based upon their current mood or because they like to play a certain character class, not because they know one character is numerically superior to another.

Again, if you want to make a successful board version of a RPG, reduce the randomness. Remember that character choice alone represents a huge random factor in how well a player's character will do throughout the game. For instance, I may have chosen the thief, but what if I don't encounter any opportunities to pick locks or rob purses? Already I'm at a huge disadvantage just due to the nature of character selection and the inherit randomness of events in the game. Heck, if you could even remove dice rolling from combat and/or action resolution it would be a GIANT step forward in my book.

Just my 2 pence.
-Darke