WARP
A sci-fi TTRPG where cooperation is key
A game should be easy to play
Following my interest for role playing games and board games, I decided to make one from scratch to expand my skillset regarding systems and gameplay design. My goal was to create mechanics and rules leading to an immersive and intuitive gameplay. I also took a minimalistic approach with the character sheet and the item cards to help the players remember their options and track their status.
Game Description
WARP is a TTRPG centered on Cooperation, Imagination and Storytelling, meant to be played by a group of 2 to 4 adventurers and one Game Master. It’s Simple, it’s quick and it’s fun! It utilizes simultaneous squad-based turns to create fast and crazy action sequences.
WARP across portals to explore various exotic and imaginary locations. Complete scenarios, assemble a powerful Squad and defeat bad guys all over the Universe. An infinite number of objective-based missions await you!
Item Cards
The use of each Item Card can be quickly understood by looking at the card’s Icon, reminding players of their options and keeping them playing, not thinking.
Roll your dice!
With WARP, my goal was to keep the game flowing as much as possible. Most TTRPG games usually get slowed or interrupted when players need to do math. In order to minimize these situations, WARP uses a simple System requiring minimal calculation from the players. All roll modifiers are either +1 or -1. After adjusting the check difficulty, players simply roll 1, 2 or 3 dice, depending on their skill level, and they succeed on the check if one of the dice reaches the difficulty number. This system makes all dice rolls (Attacks, Skill Checks and Skill Saves) fast, fun and effective.
Game Balancing
As success and failure is determined by dice rolls in WARP, finding an appropriate difficulty range for these rolls was really important. To further my understanding of probability, I learned about binomial distribution, a brilliant theory that I used to determine how the odds of success are influenced by the number of dice. Using a Binomial Distribution Calculator created by Jakub Janus and Jasmine J Mah, I compiled an Index displaying the odds of success of all the potential rolls that could come up during a WARP game. Using it as a guide, any Game Master can ajust the game difficulty according to the power level of players to create a challenging experience.
Dice Roll Difficulty Index
ENEMY & COMBAT DESIGN
Since combat is the most frequent type of encounter players will face in WARP, the enemies needed to be designed as challenging threats that get easier to defeat as players grow stronger, leading to a satisfying sense of progression.
I defined the health of each enemy type by calculating the number of hits needed to kill a creature based on average damage. Afterwards, enemy subtypes (variants) could be easily created by assigning different Armor Bonuses, Skill Levels, Equipment and Special Attacks.
Hits to Kill for each Enemy Type
ENEMY CHARACTER SHEET
