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Game Design Insights
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By Steve Creech
September 8th, 2003
Besides handling the marketing duties for Bastion Press, I also
serve as one of the members of the design team that brings you the
great gaming products that Bastion Press offers. Designing game
elements for d20 products is very much akin to walking a tightrope.
If you don’t maintain a balance, you are liable to fall and break
something. Those of you who have sat in on one of my game design
seminars at conventions will recall much of what I am about to
discuss in this article. Game design can be broken down into a few
basic concepts: initial idea, mechanical design, testing, and
finalization.
Ideas come from all manner of inspiration. The books you read,
the movies you watch, the games you play and even life in general
can contribute heavily to giving you ideas for neat things to
incorporate into your campaign. Who hasn’t watched Reign of Fire
or any of the Lord of the Rings movies and thought, “Hey,
that would be cool to use in my game?” One of the things that struck
me when watching the movie Signs was how it had all of the
elements to make a good adventure. The pacing of the movie was
excellent, giving viewers just enough clues to try to piece it all
together but yet needing one final piece before being able to figure
it out. Of course, the aliens become the main protagonist and make
an ideal monster to throw at your party if you are running a modern
or futuristic campaign. With that in mind, let’s tackle creating the
alien from the movie.
 Mechanical
design is the next topic on the list and is the meat of this
article. Using our alien, let’s begin the design process. The
name of the alien could be anything, but for simplicity, I’m
going to call it Alien Menace. The creature type is one of
the real keys in the decision making process. Type is
directly related to the number of skill points the creature is
allotted. If this were a standard medieval fantasy world that I was
creating for, I would likely be inclined to make the alien an
Outsider, but since we are creating for the modern world, we will go
with Humanoid. Now a bit of planning is required. Do I want
to make the alien menace an exceptionally tough and challenging
creature or do I make it something that is better for lower level
encounters. Keeping with the theme of the movie, I want a creature
that is tough, resilient, but can still be defeated by a mere mortal
man. So creation of the monster’s abilities and hit dice are next in
the process.
Unlike with a player character, it isn’t necessary to roll dice
for determining ability scores. You are, after all, the one
designing this monster and therefore, can throw certain random
elements right out the window. It’s your monster and you can stack
the deck how you wish. For our monster, I am going to assign him the
following ability scores: Str 12, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 19, Wis 11,
Cha 10. The alien wasn’t exceptionally strong, only able to
break a few boards to get into the house but not easily break down a
secured door or get out of a locked closet that was barred with a
piece of furniture. They did, however, exhibit the dexterity to
climb down a coal chute, reach through a board and grab the little
boy. They did seem to be tougher than norm, able to leap off a roof
and run through a cornfield like a deer, lending to a higher
constitution. Since they are an advanced alien race, their
intelligence is greater, but I’m not so sure about their common
sense (wisdom). You would think that a race with a vulnerability to
water would not choose to invade a planet that consists of over 70%
water. Finally, I went with a relatively neutral charisma because we
have no way of knowing the details on interactions amongst
themselves and they are just plain ugly to us.
Now that the ability scores are set, it’s time to set the
creature’s average hit dice. One key scene that demonstrated
the physical toughness of the alien was when Merrill attacked it
with a baseball bat at the end. The alien took several solid blows
to the head (at full swing no less) and was still standing, mostly.
This would lend me to believe that they are a more resilient race
and would best be characterized as a 2 or 3 hit dice monster. When
in doubt, always pick the higher number (tougher monsters are always
more memorable to players). So, I am going to set the Hit Dice
equal to 3 for our alien.
We have two key features set and using them, we can now
calculate the total required skill points and the correct
number of feats. Humanoid skills (non-classed) are determined
by the formula (2+Int modifier) x (HD+3). Therefore, our alien would
have 42 skill points ((2+5) x (3+3)). The number of feats is
the standard 1 at first level followed by an additional feat every
three levels. This means our alien gets 2 feats, one for
first level and one because it is a 3HD creature.
With 42 points to work up the skills and a maximum class skill
rank of 6, a minimum of seven skills may be selected. Going back to
the movie, let’s first apply the skills that we likely saw being
utilized. Climb is the first skill to consider using for the
creature. If you recall in the movie, the alien was first seen
standing on the roof of a barn. This coupled with the incident in
the coal chute signifies a definite need/use for the Climb
skill. Next up is the Hide skill, which is obvious as far as
use and those sneaky aliens. Jump is in use by the alien
jumping up onto the barn roof and then leaping off to disappear into
the cornfield. Listen is a good choice, as is Move
Silently (for sneaking around in those cornfields). Search
and Spot are always good choices for skills and also have
relevance based upon the movie for this creature. We now have
selected six basic skills but need to choose at least one more
because of the maximum rank limitation. A Knowledge skill
would be useful but you could also make a good argument for
Balance (think rooftop again) and for Intimidate (the
mere presence of the alien is quite intimidating to us humans). For
my purposes I am going to go with Balance and Intimidate.
A full breakdown of the skills now looks like this:
Balance: 3 ranks + (+2 Dex modifier) = +5
Climb: 6 ranks + (+1 Str modifier) = +7
Hide: 6 ranks + (+2 Dex modifier) = +8
Intimidate: 3 ranks + (+0 Cha modifier) = +3
Jump: 6 ranks + (+1 Str modifier) = +7
Listen: 6 ranks + (+0 Wis modifier) = +6
Move Silently: 6 ranks + (+2 Dex modifier) = +8
Search: 6 ranks + (+5 Int modifier) = +11
Spot: 6 ranks + (+0 Wis modifer) = +6
The choices for feats are diverse, but the selection for this
creature is actually limited. Since this is not a combat-oriented
creature, the fighter feats are not needed nor are the metamagic
feats since this is not a spellcasting class. Alertness fits
the profile of the creature well as does Run (think of the
speed the creature moved when running into the cornfield). Alertness
grants a +2 bonus to Listen and Spot checks changing each skill
total to +8.
Listen: 6 ranks + (+0 Wis modifier) + (+2 Alertness bonus) =
+8
Spot: 6 ranks + (+0 Wis modifier) + (+2 Alertness bonus) = +8
Next on the agenda is determining what Special Attacks or
Special Qualities we want our alien to possess. Recalling the
movie, the only special attack that was evident was the creature’s
use of poison. The special quality is the creature’s biggest
weakness, a vulnerability to water. I’ve heard some arguments
that it was really holy water they were susceptible to since it took
the Israelis to figure it out and drive the invaders off and all of
the water glasses around the farmhouse set out by the little girl
were considered holy because the main character was a pastor. Again
though, for the purposes of this article, we are going with just
regular water.
Defining the abilities into game terms is a necessity now that
we’ve established them. In the movie, the poison was a gaseous form
secreted by bony protrusions on the inside base of the wrist. Since
the poison was reported to be quite deadly (the boy lived only
because he wasn’t breathing at the time) assigning a high damage
value would not be out of line. For our purposes, the damage
inflicted will be 2d6 Con initial followed by 2d6 Con secondary
(temporary damage) unless a Fortitude save against DC 18 is met.
The poison may be inflicted upon a successful touch attack only. The
creature’s vulnerability to water is easily defined the same way as
vulnerability to sunlight is in that each round the alien is
directly exposed to water, it takes 1 point of damage (suddenly
makes that decanter of endless water very useful, eh?).
Let’s take a look at the creature’s statistic block now that
we’ve established several of the fields.
Alien Menace
Humanoid
Hit Dice: 3d8 + 3 (15 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
AC: 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+4
Attack: Unarmed +4 (1d3 +1)
Full Attack: Unarmed +4 (1d3 +1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft. by 5ft./ 5ft.
Special Attacks: Poison
Special Qualities: Vulnerability
to water
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +1
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 14, Con
12, Int 19, Wis 11, Cha 10
Skills: Balance +5, Climb +7,
Hide +8, Intimidate +3, Jump +7, Listen +8, Move Silently +8, Search
+11, Spot +8
Feats: Alertness, Run
Environment:
Organization:
Challenge Rating:
Treasure:
Alignment:
Advancement:
Level adjustment:
The base attack bonus is calculated by taking the HD x 3/4
(rounded up), while one saving throw is selected as the “good”.
Speed was set as 40 ft. because the creature was faster than normal.
The armor class (AC) is determined by adding 10 + (+2 Dex
bonus) and +3 natural armor bonus giving a total of 15. It appears
that the alien has no natural weapons such as claws, so its attack
will be an unarmed attack giving it no additional bonus other than
strength.
Finally, the bottom part of the bracket needs to be filled in.
Environment will likely be any land because of the alien’s
weakness to water. Organization can be solitary, a squadron
(2-6) or an entire crew (7-15). Obviously, this is a sheer guess
since the numbers were never really established in the movie. The
Challenge Rating is likely a 2 because of the creature’s
weakness and overall lack of power, despite the strength of its
poison. Treasure would be none and Alignment either
neutral or neutral evil. To make the creature a bit more sinister,
I’m going to go with neutral evil. Advancement should
be by character class and Level Adjustment would be
negligible and therefore a --. So for our final creature stat block
with all fields filled in, including the description and combat will
look like this:
Alien Menace
Humanoid
Hit Dice: 3d8 + 3 (15 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares)
AC: 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +3/+4
Attack: Unarmed +4 (1d3 +1)
Full Attack: Unarmed +4 (1d3 +1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft. by 5ft./ 5ft.
Special Attacks: Poison
Special Qualities: Vulnerability
to water
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +1
Abilities: Str 12, Dex 14, Con
12, Int 19, Wis 11, Cha 10
Skills: Balance +5, Climb +7,
Hide +8, Intimidate +3, Jump +7, Listen +8, Move Silently +8, Search
+11, Spot +8
Feats: Alertness, Run
Environment: Any land
Organization: Solitary, squadron
(2-6), crew (7-15)
Challenge Rating: 2
Treasure: None
Alignment: Usually neutral evil
Advancement: By character class
Level adjustment: --
Alien menaces are humanoids from
another planet that stand approximately 7 ft. in height. They tend
to be dark green in color with enlarged skulls, bulbous eyes, small
mouths and slits for noses. Their arms are longer than a human’s and
only possess three fingers and a thumb rather than four. Alien
menaces do not speak any known languages and do not communicate
telepathically.
Combat
Alien menaces only engage opponents when they can catch them by
surprise. Melee combat does not typically work in their favor.
Often, the element of surprise is enough to catch their opponents
aware and allow them to employ their poisonous gas.
Poison (Ex): Alien menaces possess poison glands at the
base of their wrist that releases a potent airborne toxin that, once
inhaled, may suffer 2d6 Con initial followed by 2d6 Con secondary
(temporary damage) unless a Fortitude save against DC 18 is met.
Vulnerability to Water: Alien menaces find that water is
highly corrosive to their skin. Each round the alien is directly
exposed to water, it takes 1 point of damage.
Testing is the next part of the design phase. You need to find
out if there are inherent problems behind your new creation or if it
is perfectly balanced, and more importantly, really cool and
intriguing to your players and others. That is why you have to put
it through the works and make sure it is something that truly works.
Obviously, the primary playtest group will be your personal gaming
group. Maybe you are going to spring it upon them during an actual
game session; after all, there is no better way to test than
plunging right in. On the other hand, you may just grab one or two
of your friends and sit down for fifteen minutes and test out the
creation. Good testing will determine the flaws and help you fix the
problems and iron out the wrinkles. At least, you hope your group
will be honest enough to point out the flaws. With good,
constructive criticism under your wing, the new game mechanic (in
this case, our alien menace) will need only a minor tweak before it
is ready to be unleashed upon the masses of eager gamers who devour
this stuff like the addictive candy it is; to use and abuse and have
hours of fun with in their personal campaigns.
So there you have a little bit of an understanding about the
thought processes that goes into game design and development. It’s
not an easy thing nor is it a foolproof process. Mistakes can be
made during the process, but if you are fortunate, you will have
other people to serve as a sounding board to your ideas and spot any
potential problems and flaws that may exist. With luck, you’ll
create something that others find really neat, inspiring and
downright cool. Good luck and good design!
You can view all of the previous columns by clicking
here.
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