Game Design Journal: Pointman, Hacker & Thief

In the Game Design Journal series, we’ll track my progress on creating Pointman, Hacker & Thief, a spy-themed RPG.

It started out simply enough. I was chatting with Michael from Stargazer’s World on Facebook, and mentioned how I loved the simplicity of his new RPG, Warrior, Rogue & Mage. I asked if he wouldn’t mind my making a spy adaptation of his game. He thought that was a great idea, and off the cuff, I came up with Pointman, Thief & Hacker, based on the name of his own game.

I got to work almost immediately with the most important part of all: The cover.

See, I’m the type of person who really needs nice visuals when working on a project. If I’ve got a vision to work towards, I’ll be more likely to stay motivated. (Note, I have recently changed the name to Pointman, Hacker & Thief, due to a few people pointing out it rolls off the tongue easier. Those people are correct.)

Michael’s name is on the cover, due in no small part to the fact that I”m taking his core rules and just copying them over, replacing a few words here and there, while adding my own stuff as far as setting, new rules and the like. Also, Michael is awesome, and I’m considering putting his name on the cover of anything I do in the future, no matter what his level of involvement.

Currently, I’m working on the skills. There are  a lot more skills in this game than WR&M, due in no small part to the fact that spies spend a lot of time not killing people, whereas, for fantasy heroes, not killing is the exception to the rule.

I’m also trying to plan out how to create some simple Chase and Hacking rules to integrate into the Wyrm Roleplaying system.

There will be an implied setting in the game, and at the very end, perhaps a short introductory adventure.