Make a Game

Find a game you really like, one that every time you flip through it fires a different creative neuron. Could be OG GLoG, could be a GLoG hack (for me it was the wonderful BONES), could be something like LotFP or DCC, hell, could even be DnD 4e.

Go through that game closely. Take notes on specifically what you like and why you like it. Take notes on what you don’t like and why you don’t like it. Figure it out, get an intimate knowledge of what it is and what caught your attention. Perhaps play it (though if you’re an experienced DM/mechanics wonk, this may not be necessary).

Take the system and rip it apart. Take out every little chunk that annoys you, that you don’t like. Treat the game book like a broken watch. Salvage the good parts, replace or refurbish the bad parts, perhaps with parts from other watches. Make the game you’d most like to play. Make the game whose philosophies fir your DMing style.

IT’S OKAY IF THAT CHANGES OVER TIME. It’s okay if there’s no “canonical version” of your new rules, it’s okay if it changes every campaign, or every month, or even every session. It’s okay to have multiple hacked games going on at once, to have many projects and many styles and many frontiers of exploration. Go and play.

When all that strange warping is done (but it’s never really done, is it?), you’ll have something of your very own. Maybe it’s not a full game, maybe it’s three full games, maybe it’s something so unique that it can only exist in you and your player’s minds, but that’s YOUR SPECIAL THING. That’s a type of RPG magic you can make sitting in a room by yourself. That’s something to treasure, to always be working on, a masterpiece in motion.

Is it a GLoG hack? Probably not. GLoG is a very specific genre, honestly speaking. When many people say GLoG hack, they’re using a shorthand for “hey, this magical little game thing I made is vaguely compatible with similar other magical little game things on (insert grounds here)”. GLoG hacks aren’t a genre, they’re a shared language you can pull from. Just like 5e class options and archetypes are a shared language you can pull from. Just like generic, fluff and lore based game ideas are a shared language you can pull from. Your thing cannot, by definition, be defined by something else. What languages and resources you choose to make vaguely compatible with are entirely up to you. Don’t feel restricted to calling your thing a “GLoG hack” if that’s not a title you like. Hunt around or make one that you do like.

Play around. Make something. Inspire someone. Contribute something new. Mash things together. Think about your game. Allow things to happen organically, but don’t be afraid to throw a wrench in the bicycle tires. Don’t be afraid to make it vague or mechanically incomplete. (“You turn into a creature of metal and bone” is enough. Figure out the rest at the table.) Start simple and flower outward, or start big and work your way in.

Make a game. Make it yours. That is the spirit at the core of GLoG, and SWORD DREAM, and FLAILSNAILS, and OSR, and RPGs, and life. Defy labels. Make something. It will be phenomenal, I promise.

Relevant LINKS throughout this sentence, most of which are GLoG-geared, but don't feel compelled to hop into the Cult of GLoG if it ain't your jam. Also, here are BONES and MARROW for reference.

Have fun storming the castle.