"Why do you write your own rules?" Topic

I know lots of us house rules our games. Others create their own games from scratch. In the latter case, why do you write your own game?

1. No published game covers the subject/period/setting.
2. Existing games are too complex.
3. Existing games are too simple.
4. Can't be bothered to read someone else's rules. fnord
5. Creating games is fun.
6. Too cheap to buy rules, too lazy to steal.
7. Existing rules don't give my elite Elf Ranger Marines the edge they deserve.

8. Get rich! Because everyone knows how lucrative this hobby is.

9. Attract a mate. Because game designers are sexy.

5. I like the mental workout you get in sorting out potential issues.

Haven't done this much, but in my little experience, it's 1 and 5.

5

I started in the 1970s when there were not many choices for WWII / Modern rules. I liked Angriff for their armor rules but not the infantry. I wanted individual infantry, like Tractics. So I started by combining the two sets; Tractics also had modern vehicle statistics that Angriff lacked.
Over time I added earlier time periods, aircraft, and even science fiction.
I wanted a set of rules that would work for any time period.

Is a WWII Japanese soldier with a sword any different from a Japanese soldier with a sword 100 years earlier?
Russian Cossacks with sabres attacking Germans any different in Napoleonic times than in WWII?
I think not, so why have different rules?
Right now I am incorporating super hero rules into the system.

Some parts of my rules are on my blog. Each section is modular and uses the same conventions so that they are easy to learn.

Mike Bunkermeister Creek
link

5. Not so much fun, more satisfying (and I like to think that the result is better than published sets).

10. Published games cover the period, but incorrectly.

5

2 and 5

11. To cater to my own set of prejudices and the outcomes I wish to see.

10 = 11

1, 2, 5.

Also, I love to see what I can do to match a them and capture elements of it that stand out (to me, at least.) Which is a little like Ragbones' 11, but in a more positive connotation. So:

12. I want to recreate the elements, themes and "feel" that I want in a period or setting.

Thus, I've created a cinematic, large fleet action spaceship combat game, a simple entry "plastic toy soldier" AWI game, and (most recently) a submarine combat card game.

1356

5

2,3,5,and 7

1,2,6 and maybe 5…

5 and another option would be because I'm not happy with the existing rules covering the subject/period/setting.

5. I find it an interesting intellectual challenge. And having written something which works, I instantly lose interest in it.

Mostly 2. A lot of "back of the envelope" rules have been written, but they can be hard to find. I keep folders and a thumb drive, and modify as required. But if what I have on hand isn't suitable, it's faster to write two or three pages than to look through 200 magazines.

10 and 11.

I find that some rules do not represent well my understanding of the situation.

5

I was familiar with rules that were excellent, but slow moving, and it was difficult to finish a game in a 4-hour convention timeslot, so I wrote rules that were similar but played faster.

5

1. 2. 5.

Wanted rules that were period specific, TYW not renaissance.
Also, wanted more granularity where there was decision making at the point at contact between units. I really learned the period, read and researched for 2 and 1/2 years before my first game.

I'm too lazy

12. Are we up to 12? I think we are. OK, here is reason 12: Because the existing rules covering the setting are an unplayable mess, and I think that I can do better with the source material.

5 and sometimes 1.

Hmm. I wonder if most of that self rule-writing is done by people in a specific geographical area.

Dan

50 years ago, the question might have been "Why do you use rules written by a complete stranger?"

10

2.5
I found that the fast play pre-dreadnought rules weren´t detailed enough, while the detailed rules were too slow. So that led me to writing my own Goldilocks rules, they´re just right.

#13: My then-young sons wanted to play with my painted mini's… I wrote up rules for plastic Army Men toys they had in their toy collections, so I wouldn't mind what happened to the mini's in use during the games.

Still playing those rules, 20 years later, still having a blast with them. Not too simple, fast moving, and enjoyable as figures are killed/eliminated, not just compromised into uselessness. Very satisfying for everyone. Cheers!

5. It's fun.

14. I have played 1000 board games and hundreds of miniatures rules. With that sort of experience I have seen a lot of mechanics and sometimes I think of ways to combine them that hasn't been done yet to get an interesting game. Or I think a game would be better with dropping in a certain system and then I change something else and then I throw it all out and make my own combo.

I've modified some exist rules but never wrote an entire set of "new" rules …