Shattered Earth
A tabletop RPG system currently being developed by fantasy author Johnathan Rudder scheduled for release sometime in the next year. The system takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where the Earth's core shattered releasing an excess of magical energy that split the world into many different pocket dimensions. Like many apocalypses described throughout history, humanity survived. Each of these pocket dimensions has taken the form of the local area's mythology and/or folklore. The creatures of Earth have evolved into new races and creatures that resemble mythic creatures of old. The system is designed based upon a percentile dice system so every action taken during gameplay is based on a percent out of one-hundred.
The 1st page of the Character folio: Created By John Rudder
My Role
I am the primary race designer of the game looking at several examples of creatures throughout folklore and mythology and adapting them to be played by characters. While designing the races I worked with Johnathan Rudder to create a comprehensive list of races to be played. Some of the ones that I have personally had a hand in creating are the Golem, Sasquatch, Leprechaun, Gana Ganesh and a brand new race of my own design the Pua'akanaka, a race from the Hawaiian Islands that took on traits of a boar very similar to the stories of their god, Kamapua'a. While crafting each of these races I had to take into account how they fit into the world of the Shattered Earth: how they would interact with other races, their habits, appearances, demeanor, the types of magic that they would most be attuned to, basic abilities, and the modifiers that would be attached to them. Once the races have been drafted I continue working with Rudder as they are balanced and altered to be ready for release. This is done through both play-testing and communication between myself, the other race designers, the system designers and John Rudder himself. I have also drafted up example quests with Rudder to create a skeleton for a typical quest line that could be easily translated to a digital system. I did this with a team of four and we had to collaborate in order to craft a cohesive main quest. When thinking of the quest we had to not only keep in mind the other team member's quest arc but also the lore of the world we were writing for. I am also a member of the RudderHaven discord as a developer for the Shatter Earth being the primary race designer on the project where I answer questions and provide insight into the process of race design.
What I learned
Here one of the most valuable things I learned while working was how to work with somebody else's Intellectual Property or IP because that is something that any person starting out in the industry has to learn how to do, work with someone else's ideas that aren't your own. If what you are currently working on does not line up with the established rules of the world you are writing for then prepared to have it thrown out. An example of this that happened to me was when I had written a character whom I had dubbed the ferryman. He was a being that was alive before the Great Cataclysm that shattered the earth. Once the Earth shattered he was infused with the powers of Life and Death Magic and was a purely neutral character. What I failed to remember was that only evil characters could have power over death magic so the character ultimately had to be scrapped despite my love of the concept. It is important that when you enter the industry you get familiar with the idea of rejection because not every idea you come up with will be used due to it not working with the current design plan. It is vital that every designer learn this skill because it is vital to your success in the field you need to suppress your ego and carefully understand the rules of the world you are designing for, If you are not the lead designer, or positioned as that type of designer depending on the size of the team.