Dear Reader, This week, I’ve been thinking a lot of rulebooks and the fact that they are, you know, books. I know a few people who really enjoy reading RPG books - but I’m not one of them.
It’s been observed by many people that RPG rulebooks have the contradictory tasks of simultaneously being teaching manuals and reference guides. In the board game space there’s been a move towards printing two rulebooks for complicated games, one for learning and the other as a comprehensive index to the rules. I haven’t seen this much in RPGs. I think the LOTFP grindhouse edition did this. But it seems like a great opportunity. Better yet, make the learning guide digital, either PDF or audio/visual. We typically only learn a game once, but might look up rules many times. Why kill a tree for something used once?
Otherwise it's great to see such awesome content from someone else of Indian-origin. I've frequently found south-asians to be among the most underrepresented folks in this community. Would love to hear more about the RPG community in India.
Great thoughts this week, Thomas! This really has me thinking about what to put into a "teaching video" about an indie RPG. I'm thinking at a minimum (1) What PCs do in this game, (2) Resources needed (e.g., special dice, index cards), (3) What makes this game different, (4) The core mechanics, (5) A brief example of play, even if it's the host describing a theoretical game.
It’s been observed by many people that RPG rulebooks have the contradictory tasks of simultaneously being teaching manuals and reference guides. In the board game space there’s been a move towards printing two rulebooks for complicated games, one for learning and the other as a comprehensive index to the rules. I haven’t seen this much in RPGs. I think the LOTFP grindhouse edition did this. But it seems like a great opportunity. Better yet, make the learning guide digital, either PDF or audio/visual. We typically only learn a game once, but might look up rules many times. Why kill a tree for something used once?
Hey chief, love your newsletter. The link for Luka Rejec's post that you mention seems to be missing from your post though: https://www.lukarejec.com/2021/roleplaying-community-the-a/
Otherwise it's great to see such awesome content from someone else of Indian-origin. I've frequently found south-asians to be among the most underrepresented folks in this community. Would love to hear more about the RPG community in India.
Great thoughts this week, Thomas! This really has me thinking about what to put into a "teaching video" about an indie RPG. I'm thinking at a minimum (1) What PCs do in this game, (2) Resources needed (e.g., special dice, index cards), (3) What makes this game different, (4) The core mechanics, (5) A brief example of play, even if it's the host describing a theoretical game.