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.
Hey! Thank you so much! Yeah, I don't see many South Asians in the hobby at all! Would love to see more - glad you're here and reading it, Ash!
In India specifically, this sort of hobby gaming is still microscopic afaik. Though I'm no expert. Boardgames are way more common than RPGs - lot of the big cities have boardgame cafes and stuff like that. When I've seen RPG events and talk, it's mostly 5e - which isn't a surprise. It's definitely kind of a lonely hobby for me - I mostly get to talk about it online.
(And good spot on that missing link, I've added it now.)
Ah, then it hasn't changed from when I was growing up there. Literally no one knew about it. At least now it seems that people know what D&D is. I'm glad boardgames are doing well; that's another thing that was absent when I was still living there.
You're doing a swell job talking about RPGs online. Would love to learn about how you got into the hobby. Perhaps you already made a post about it.
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.
Thanks, Brent! It's hard for me to sit back and just theoretically imagine what a teaching video might need. I think I would just run a game for some folks new to the game and pay attention to what I tell them and what questions they have. It would undoubtedly vary from game to game.
But I think your points cover most everything! It's just a question of tailoring it for the game now.
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?
Yeah, I see a lot of potential for those twin purposes split from each other!
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.
Hey! Thank you so much! Yeah, I don't see many South Asians in the hobby at all! Would love to see more - glad you're here and reading it, Ash!
In India specifically, this sort of hobby gaming is still microscopic afaik. Though I'm no expert. Boardgames are way more common than RPGs - lot of the big cities have boardgame cafes and stuff like that. When I've seen RPG events and talk, it's mostly 5e - which isn't a surprise. It's definitely kind of a lonely hobby for me - I mostly get to talk about it online.
(And good spot on that missing link, I've added it now.)
Ah, then it hasn't changed from when I was growing up there. Literally no one knew about it. At least now it seems that people know what D&D is. I'm glad boardgames are doing well; that's another thing that was absent when I was still living there.
You're doing a swell job talking about RPGs online. Would love to learn about how you got into the hobby. Perhaps you already made a post about it.
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.
Thanks, Brent! It's hard for me to sit back and just theoretically imagine what a teaching video might need. I think I would just run a game for some folks new to the game and pay attention to what I tell them and what questions they have. It would undoubtedly vary from game to game.
But I think your points cover most everything! It's just a question of tailoring it for the game now.