A place of knowledge, stored in ancient tomes. Or PDFs and links, as it may be. This is a collection of my own thoughts on classical CRPG design as well as links to texts all over the net which I found to be of interest for the same topic.

Links are ordered by date of addition.

Original Texts

On Economy – about the development of an in-game economy that balances monetary rewards so that they remain relevant the entire game

On Overland Travel – about ways to implement journeys through a fantasy wilderness

On Cities – about the creation of quasi-medieval CRPG cities

Linked Articles

Crafting a Vintage CRPG – the journal of an amateur designer creating an RPG for the TI99/4a (!). A lot of technical stuff, but also a lot of thoughts about game design. You’ll likely ask yourself the same questions. Besides, with a title like this, how could I not link to it?

Finalbossblues – This site contains introductions to numerous CRPG design topics (as well as technical advice for Enterbrain’s RPG Maker and the creation of pixel graphics).

The World of Althéa: Mini game puzzles – an entry on puzzle design in CRPGs, together with a few creative examples.

The Rampant Coyote: Puzzles and RPGs – an entry on the types of puzzles one might use. The Coyote has numerous other design postings as well.

Game Design Essentials: 20 RPGS – an overview over the design elements of genre-defining western and japanese RPGs, ten of each.

Four Layers – A Narrative Design Approach – details a method to intertwine game mechanics and storytelling.

Dungeon Theory – an extensive posting on rpgmaker.net about general dungeon design.

Upgrades and Equipment in RPGs – as the title says; there are more postings on general CRPG design on the latest two or three pages of the blog.