Build Your Own RPG

A role-playing game generator in 200 words

written by Andrew J. Young (@ThatOneGM)
The two tables below were submitted to the 2017 200-Word RPG contest. The text in this box is supplemental.
First, roll a d6 for each column in the first table. These results tell you the world in which the game begins, the nature
of the characters you’ll be playing, and the initial goal of those characters. Then, roll a d6 for the second table. This
result tells you either how to resolve actions or (in one case) what role-playing prompts to use for each scene. These
two tables should give you everything you need to run a short RPG, but feel free to combine or add elements that
better reflect the kind of game that you want to play.

d6 Setting Characters Characters Objective

(adjective) (noun)
1 Neon Neo-Tokyo cityscape Retired Gun-priestesses Depose the Phantom Queen
2 Luxurious Castle d’Amour Undercover Gladiators Find your new home
3 Massive draconic empire Glam-rock Fairies Recover the Imperial Codex
4 Sleepy French village Cyberpunk Demigods Clear your names
5 Heavy metal apocalypse Parkour-savvy Geniuses Rescue your sibling(s)
6 Haunted pirate starcruiser Teenage Dinosaurs Escape the Burning

d6 Gameplay
1 Characters have 3 unwavering principles. For important actions, roll 1d6.
You succeed on 4+. Sacrifice a principle (before rolling) for +2.
2 For important actions, roll 1d6. Success thresholds vary by method:
Violence (2+), Deception (3+), Confidence (4+), Compassion (5+).
3 Create 5 NPC bonds each. After important actions, roll 1d6 to test a bond:
1–2, it breaks; 3–4, it changes; 5–6, it strengthens.
4 Each player has 3 tokens. For important actions, you only succeed if someone else spends 1
token. At 0 tokens, your character dies.
5 Each scene, draw cards for starting emotions (heart = bitterness, club = horror,
diamond = sympathy, spade = suspicion) and intensity (two = lowest, ace = highest).
6 Characters have 5 vices, numbered 1-5. For important actions, roll 1d6.
If you roll a vice’s number, you must indulge it

All text in this work released under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
Visit creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 for more information.
I hope you enjoyed Build Your Own RPG. For more of my RPG content, visit thatonegm.weebly.com.
For 200-word RPGs by other game designers, visit 200wordrpg.github.io.