"[Video game] has such a fun crafting system, I wish I could design something like that for my TTRPG."

"Crafting is so hard. How difficult should it be? What should be possible to be crafted? How potent should the crafted items be?"

"Crafting can't be rewarding; the act of making something is less fun than getting and using that thing."

Three quotes I've completely made up... but which represent some of the discourse online about crafting systems in table-top role-playing games. Often, a good crafting system is treated like a mysterious and elusive beast. You think it might exist, you've even done the research, but you haven't found it yet and so it can't possibly be done, right?

Well... maybe! I don't want to get your hopes up and say this is going to be a silver bullet for all your design needs. However, I hope a comprehensive and detailed guide on crafting systems and the design considerations you should take into account — made BY a table-top RPG designer FOR table-top RPG designers — will guide some fellow designers' thought processes when it comes to designing their own crafting systems.

SO... WHAT IS THIS?

This is going to be a series of blog posts, talking (at a pretty high level) about Designing a Crafting System for a table-top role-playing game (TTRPG). This isn't a Step-By-Step Guide, a tutorial, or a collection of objective truths, it is a designer's thoughts on crafting systems, and how they could be implemented in TTRPGs. We'll look at theory, games that are out there which use a crafting system, video games we could refer to for inspiration, etc.

Once in a while, a new blog post will come out, and you'll be able to comment and ask me questions, provide a different perspective on what I've brought up in the blog post, etc. Once I feel like this project has run its course and I've said all I've had to say for a long while on the topic, all of the blog posts will be collated, refined, and distilled into a singular book, FREELY available for the TTRPG industry to use.

INTRODUCTION

We'll talk in-depth about Designing a Crafting System as a whole later, but first we need to understand what we mean with each part: Designing, Crafting, and System.

• Designing –The fundamental questions we need to be asking ourselves at all points: What is my design goal? What am I trying to achieve with this design element? Is this element achieving/reinforcing my goals or is it detrimental? Do I need this element in my game, or can I go without? Does the element need to be altered to get what I need out of it?
  • Unlike all the other definitions below, we won't be breaking down these questions here. Instead, as we look at crafting in future blog posts, we'll have our questions in the back of our minds at all points, and then scrutinise each decision with those questions.
• Crafting – Using resources at your disposal to create something you didn't have before.
  • Using  – Notice this isn't consume or deplete, but use. That is because different games might treat different types of resources differently, where some are consumed (in their entirety, like a full potion), some are depleted (used up a bit, like half a piece of the Sacred Tree™), and some are merely requirements for doing the crafting (like needing a blacksmith's tools to blacksmith).
  • Resources – This goes far beyond items. When we say resources, we are actually saying anything that is necessary to create something. The location to create something, the tools, the knowledge, the manpower, the blueprints, the staff working for you, etc. The options here are limitless.
  • At your disposal – It's simple, the resources that you are using must be available for you to use. Again, depending on the resources, this might mean different things. Maybe an alchemist owes you a favour. Maybe you need to retrieve a piece of the Sacred Tree™. Maybe you need to hire out a group of interns to complete an infernal device. Basically, you can't use something you don't have/don't have access to.
  • Create – Look, there's a few reasons this couldn't be craft. First of all, that puts us in a logical loop, where I'm using the word I'm trying to define in the definition of the word itself. Yeah, that sentence just now? That's exactly how confusing it would be. Second of all, craft has somewhat limiting connotations, and I want this definition and the series of blog posts to be relevant to as many types of "crafting" as possible. So, I've ended up on create, but make would be fine as well.
  • Something – The thing you're creating. This can be anything, and it really depends on your game and what you want to have available for crafting purposes.
  • You didn't have before – You know that thing you just created? Yeah, before this crafting process took place, you didn't have that thing. Now, this doesn't mean that it would've been impossible to attain through other means, or that you can't craft duplicates – those would be senseless limitations on a broad topic of games design – it just means that if you already had a thing, you wouldn't have had to go through this crafting process in the first place.
• System – The games architecture that surrounds, supports, and delineates crafting.
  • Games Architecture – This can be a myriad of things, but we're mostly referring to: the setting (What are the items of this world? What can/can't be crafted?), the rules (What rules/mechanics are in place for crafting in this game?), and the guidance (What are players instructed when it comes to crafting? What are non-players instructed when it comes to crafting?).
  • Surrounds – Everything on the very edge of crafting. This part of the game architecture has very little to do with crafting, but it may impact it in some way/be impacted by it in some way.
  • Supports – Everything that isn't crafting, but guides how players view crafting (whether as a viable or a non-viable option). Is crafting items really good for you, or does it not have many benefits? Is it really easy to do, or is it incredibly difficult? The extent of support given to a crafting system will often dictate how often players interact with it.
  • Delineates – Everything that is crafting. These are the tangible rules/mechanics that you have to interact with in order to craft something.

Alright, I think that's enough to begin with. I hope you've got some good food for thought when it comes to this topic, and you'll follow meso you don't miss out on the next instalments!

What do you think of my definition? Does it make sense, or have I missed a crucial component of this out? What facets of this topic should I address next? Let me know!