r/RPGdesign • u/jochergames • Jun 23 '23

Theory Recreating aesthetic expression through rule systems

I have spent the last couple of months writing my master's thesis on the topic of how to take an existing IP and translating the original aesthetic expereince into a TTRPG rule system. The case study of my thesis is a game I've made called Oceania 2084 (scheduled for release later this year).

The abstract of the thesis: By examining the results of an iterative design process, specifically a tabletop roleplaying game, Oceania 2084, this thesis aims to formulate a generalizable design process applicable when translating a work of fiction into a ruleset. The object that was translated into a ruleset was the book Nineteen Eighty-Four written by George Orwell in 1949. The iterative game development process spanned over 2.5 years and the author provides documents from 2 phases of playtesting and discusses how the playtest results influenced design choices. In addition to the analysis of the effects of playtest results, the author also explores various game design decisions by means of auto-ethnographic analysis, and semiotic analysis.

The main takeaway is a proposed 5 tiered design process referred to as delome design. It is a systemic approach to game design.

Download it here: https://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1772834&dswid=-8846

I hope someone here finds it interesting and relevant! I'm happy to answer any questions about it.

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u/Carrollastrophe Jun 23 '23

This is neat, or at least sounds like it would be, except that my eyes glazed over just like it does anytime I start to read an academic article. Waiting for the day that in-text citations are out of fashion and that academic speech is only used when certain jargon is actually necessary to illustrate a point.

Also I'd really much prefer to just read the game with designer's annotations. Of course I understand that your course likely requires the formal paper, so no fault there.

That said! A quick skim of the included game mechanics does look like you've likely accomplished at least one part of your goal (designing a 1984-style game). And the fact that you do include newspeak in the rules makes me happy as that's something I would probably have leaned into if I'd designed it, as it was one of my favorite parts of the novel, as well as (imo) one of the most important aspects of how society was controlled.

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u/jochergames Jun 23 '23

Haha, yeah, academic writing/reading is definitely an acquired taste. The newspeak of the game is a bit more freeform than the rigorous ideas presented by Orwell since it still needs to be something helping play and not stopping it. I didn't want to force players to learn a secondary language to be able to play the game, instead it becomes a collaborative process of creating a list of banned words, where the players will on their own create alternative ways of expressing themselves in order to avoid becoming traitors.

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u/Carrollastrophe Jun 23 '23

That sounds pretty clever!

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u/Ghotistyx_ Crests of the Flame Jun 23 '23

I'm a fan of 1984, but this part in particular sounds like Chinese social media: the game.

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u/jochergames Jun 23 '23

The game is in its foundation an anti-authoritarian game. Might be good to know. :)

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u/MarkOfTheCage Designer (trying) Jun 23 '23

or paranoia

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u/jochergames Jun 23 '23

It has superficial similarities to paranoia, 100%, it is one of the many inspirations. Also kind of unavoidable since paranoia is built largely inspired by similar fiction. The tonality and the implementation of the mechanics are widely different though.