Category: Game Design

Posts about game design

How to Create Random Tables for Any RPG

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I recently had a comment on my YouTube channel asking how I make my random tables for solo RPG. I made a video in response, and this is the blog post version of the same content. Hopefully, these methods are helpful not only for solo role-players, but for GMs who like to generate content at the table as well.

Creating Name Tables: The Basics

If you’ve watched Sphere Hoppers (especially recent seasons), you might have noticed my name tables for characters, planets (or spheres, as they’re called), settlements, and deities. These are D100 tables with two columns. Roll twice, combine the results, and—voilà!—you have one of ten thousand unique name combinations. Here’s a link to what they look like.

Step 1: Generating a List of Names

Start by gathering a list of names suited to your setting. For instance, you might want character names, place names, or deity names. My go-to tool for creating these lists is ChatGPT. Here’s my prompt:

“For each letter of the alphabet, generate four [character/settlement/god] names, drawing from a variety of cultures and fictional settings.”

Using the alphabet helps distribute names evenly so you won’t end up with a lopsided list (like too many “A” names). With four names for each letter, you get a little over 100 names to work with, giving a little room to refine the list.

See below for tips for other sources for names if you don’t want to use AI.

Step 2: Filter the List

Once I have my list, I move it to a spreadsheet. I filter out names that don’t quite fit, that are too similar to other names on the list, aren’t long enough to split, or I just don’t like them to get down to 100 names.

Step 3: Splitting Names

Then I split each name at a natural break point (often at a syllable). Ideally, the first part ends with a consonant, and the second part starts with a vowel to ensure a smoother flow when combined, but I’m not always so diligent.

Step 4: Filter Again

Now I have two columns that I sort and elimiate duplicates. The second column often has many duplicates,especially with popular suffixes like “-ona” or “-ora.” For a richer mix, I tweak some endings (e.g., “-ola” might become “-olu” or “-oli”), until I get back up to 100, focusing on a variety of letters and sounds. When I’m satisfied with the combinations, I format the table in Google Docs.

Creating Other Random Tables

Beyond names, I build tables for elements I expect to encounter in my solo adventure: species, characters, locations, or items. Here’s my approach:

  1. Draw from the Source Text: If I’m playing a specific game, I look at its world-building materials. Does it list species or classes in character creation? If yes, I jot them down. If not, I can read through the lore or supplemental material and pull out specific words to generate lists.
  2. Mining for Ideas: If the game doesn’t provide much detail, I turn to other sources. For example, I’ve used a list of buildings from the Civilization games as inspiration for points of interest.
  3. Adjust for the Dice You’re Rolling: I try to match the number of entries to target number. For instance, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, or 20 for a single die, or more if I’m using multiple digits. If you need to cut down, eliminate the options you’re least interested in encountering.
  4. Generate Additional Entries: When I’ve come up sort of my target number, I throw my current list in ChatGPT and ask it to suggest additional options that fit with what I already have.

For my Troika campaign, I created NPC tables by scouring the source text for evocative adjectives and nouns, and ended up with two D366 tables (D3, D6, and D6).

Alternatives to AI

AI tools like ChatGPT are incredibly useful, but if you prefer alternatives, here are some ideas:

  • Baby name lists or mythology sources for unique names.
  • Sourcebooks or existing RPG tables to spark ideas.
  • Fiction books similar to your chosen setting.

Wrap-Up

Hopefully this is helpful. For anyone interested in solo RPGs or oracular storytelling, I’d love to answer any questions you have. This might even spark a future video/blog topic!

Troika Tables for Solo Play

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I was asked via comment on one of my Gone Solo: Troika videos to share the tables I use to assist with solo play for Troika. While they are designed with solo play in mind, they could certainly be a resource for GMs who want to come up with things on the fly at the table.

Here’s the link to the Google Drive folder.

Some explanatory notes:

Some of these tables assume the use of an additional oracle to come up with ideas. I used story cubes, but you could easily use Mythic Tables, tarot cards, or anything else that you know works for you to help inspire new ideas.

01 Troika Cheatsheet

This is just a one-page rules reference.

02 Troika Book Monsters

This has several random tables. One is for rolling up a random monster from the book with associated page numbers (from the hardback numinous edition). There are 66, so that made it easy.

The next is for rolling up stats for a new monster or NPC. This is not balanced at all, so get ready for some wacky fun!

The custom damage generator works like this. Make a blank damage table with slots 1 through 7+, just like the others in the book. You roll a d6 to determine the amount of damage for the 1 slot, which will give you either 1, 2 or 4. Then for the next slots roll a d6, which tells you how much to increase the damage for the next slot. You might increase by 0, 2, or double the previous number. Repeat for each slot through 6. Then the 7+ slot will either increase damage by 1, 2, or 4. Then roll one more d6 to determine if the damage has a special property, like ranged or ignoring 1 point of armor.

Then there is a random weapon table with all damage numbers.

03 Troika NPCs

This has two d366 tables for coming up with NPCs. The first table is a list of miens curated from the book, and the second is a list of nouns curated from the book. There is a blank space on the character table. You can fill in to seed your table with ideas for your setting, or you can use your oracle to come up with new ideas if you roll one of those numbers.

04 More Troika Tables

The environment type table is meant to describe an area. This could be an entire sphere or a particular area of a sphere. You can also use your oracle in conjunction with this table to flavor it.

The point of interest table is a list of locations that assumes some degree of civilization. You can also use your oracle in conjunction with this table to flavor the points of interest.

In my campaign, the characters never left the sphere of Troika, but my original intent was for the campaign to be sphere-hopping. The How Far table tells you how far your destination is. The Travel Between Spheres table tells you how you might get there. The Landing Place tables tells you what the initial landing area is like when you arrive on a new sphere. If you are traveling by Golden Sail Barge, there is a random encounter table. Roll d66 and if you roll doubles, consult the table.

The Event table is the one I used the most in my campaign. After setting up each scene, I would roll on this table to figure out what complication happened. If you don’t want that much randomness, you could come up with a method to decide when you roll on the table and when you don’t.

05 Troika Random Spells

I was disappointed that the table in the book did not actually include all the spells, so here is a table that has all the spells in the book.

06 d66 Tables

These are blank tables to track Threads and NPCs, just like in Mythic. You don’t roll d66 each time. Simply roll d6 if you have six or fewer, d26 for twelve or fewer, d36 for eighteen or fewer, etc. If you roll a blank, use an oracle to come up with something new or choose the thread or character of your choice.

I hope you find these helpful!

Designer Diary: Rosebud Design Goals

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In this first post about my dinosaur sledding game, codename “Rosebud”, I want to talk about why I chose to send this game out into the world rather than other prototypes I am working on, and what my goals and hopes are for the project.

Why this game?

The biggest reason is chose Rosebud over other games I am working on is that, at least in its current state, it is simple. A deck of cards, a few tokens, that’s it. I figure, if I decide to go the Kickstarter route, I am going to be learning so many new things at once that keeping the components simple will streamline the process.

Second, it feels the closest to being done. This is probably going to come back and bite me in the face, but I feel like I have a grasp on where the game is, and the potential spaces where the game can grow. Is it done? No, hardly. But It is the closest out of all my designs.

Design Goals

Here are the goals I have for designing this game:

  • Simple Components: I want to keep the game as simple as possible. Mostly cards, just a few additional components.
  • Interconnected Cards: I really the the idea of a tile laying game that creates something fun to look at when you are done.
  • “I’m Losing Control!”: I want to design a game that captures that out of control feeling you have while sledding, where you don’t know if you are going to crash or not.
  • Plays up to 6: This is a personal preference. I want to design a game that my gaming group could play a lot, and we usually have 5-6 players, if not more.
  • Plays in under 60 minutes: While I enjoy a wide variety of games, I’d like this game to be on the lighter side, possibly even a filler game.

Project Goals

The goal for this project is simple: get the game out into the world. I’m still exploring different routes to do that. I’m not sure yet whether I want to approach publishers or self-publish via Kickstarter or some other means. But I will be documenting my process as I go along, which I hope will be helpful for other designers who are at the same place in their journey.