For example, your game could be set in a big city in the year 2600 right after a war or in the middle of an uprising. This would provide a good base for creating your conflicts and objectives. Read the background story of the game out loud to all the players before playing the game. If there is specific information that the players need to know throughout the game, consider writing this on separate sheets of paper that the players can use for reference.

If you need inspiration, use history to give you ideas. Research wars, uprisings, disease outbreaks, and natural disasters.

Consider drawing the map onto an A3 sheet of paper so that it is big enough for all the players to see easily. If you feel creative, consider drawing multiple maps. For example, the first map could be an overview of the country or continent and the second map could be a zoomed in view of the city where the players live. If the game has a battle arena, draw this onto the map.

Gold, silver, diamonds, coins, and lives are popular RPG currencies. Write down in the rule book how the currency will be earned and how it can be traded.

If you decide that each character will be unique, assign the stats in advance, or allow each player to decide their stats using a certain number of points. For example, if each player had 100 points to use, they could assign 70 to strength, 20 to intelligence, and 10 to charisma. A player with high strength but low speed would be good at attacking but would be slow at running away from enemies.

Weapons, medicine, magic potions, and armour are popular accessories. Think about the setting of the game to help you come up with ideas. For example, a laser sword and a plasma shield would be great sci-fi weapons. If the game is set in the Wild West, you could give each player a six-shooter gun and led plate armour.

If you’re feeling creative, draw a picture of the character on the sheet. To make the game feel more realistic, write background information about each character, such as their age, education, religion, and interests.

Write down how the player will move on the character sheet. This helps each player to remember the rules.

Poisoned weapons and disease outbreaks are a common way that players get sick. Combat and lots of movement tend to lead to weariness and injury. Magic spell cards are another popular way of causing harm. Determine how long the damage of each effect will last. For example, if a player contracts influenza, it may last 2 turns, whereas if they have a broken leg, they may be out of action for 3 turns. Consider rolling the dice to determine the strength of the damage. For example, roll a dice after drinking poison to determine how long the effects lasts. if you roll a 1, you are out of play for 1 turn, but if you roll a 6, you miss 6 turns.

For example, if a player needed a potion to heal their wound, you could decide that they need to gather the ingredients from 3 different towns to make the potion.

Use dice to vary how much each character grows. For example, if you charm a civilian, roll a dice to determine how many charisma points you receive.