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[Chaosium] From the Q&A: What is the "Stafford Rule"?
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<blockquote data-quote="Michael O'Brien" data-source="post: 8947572" data-attributes="member: 6807727"><p>From our <a href="https://www.chaosium.com/frequently-asked-questions" target="_blank">Frequently Asked Questions</a>:</p><p></p><p><em>Q: What is the 'Stafford Rule'?</em></p><p></p><p>A: When Chaosium founder <a href="https://www.chaosium.com/greg-stafford" target="_blank">Greg Stafford</a> passed away in 2018, <a href="https://www.chaosium.com/john-wick/" target="_blank">John Wick</a> reminded everyone of the 'Stafford Rule': “The older I get, the more I hear young RPG designers say ‘Never been done before!’ And then I just point to stuff Greg Stafford wrote about a few decades ago... Greg was brilliant. He was ahead of time. You know the Stafford Rule? Every game designer knows the Stafford Rule:</p><p></p><p><em>'If you believe you've come up with a clever mechanic, Greg Stafford already did it.'</em>"</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://www.chaosium.com/product_images/uploaded_images/screen-shot-2023-02-24-at-3.00.55-pm.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p> <p style="text-align: center"></p><p>You can read John's tribute to Greg in full <a href="https://thejohnwick.com/the-grey-crane" target="_blank">here</a>.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center"><img src="https://www.chaosium.com/product_images/uploaded_images/fdrmwfavkaahjow.jpeg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="width: 507px" /></p><p>P.S. Although the 'Stafford Rule' is really about revolutionary game mechanics, we do cheekily reference it in this recent parable linking happenings in a fictional setting (Greg's Glorantha) to <a href="https://www.chaosium.com/blogapropos-of-nothing-heres-a-parable-from-legendary-game-designer-greg-stafford/" target="_blank">real world drama</a>.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Michael O'Brien, post: 8947572, member: 6807727"] From our [URL='https://www.chaosium.com/frequently-asked-questions']Frequently Asked Questions[/URL]: [I]Q: What is the 'Stafford Rule'?[/I] A: When Chaosium founder [URL='https://www.chaosium.com/greg-stafford']Greg Stafford[/URL] passed away in 2018, [URL='https://www.chaosium.com/john-wick/']John Wick[/URL] reminded everyone of the 'Stafford Rule': “The older I get, the more I hear young RPG designers say ‘Never been done before!’ And then I just point to stuff Greg Stafford wrote about a few decades ago... Greg was brilliant. He was ahead of time. You know the Stafford Rule? Every game designer knows the Stafford Rule: [I]'If you believe you've come up with a clever mechanic, Greg Stafford already did it.'[/I]" [CENTER][IMG]https://www.chaosium.com/product_images/uploaded_images/screen-shot-2023-02-24-at-3.00.55-pm.png[/IMG] [/CENTER] You can read John's tribute to Greg in full [URL='https://thejohnwick.com/the-grey-crane']here[/URL]. [CENTER][IMG width="507px"]https://www.chaosium.com/product_images/uploaded_images/fdrmwfavkaahjow.jpeg[/IMG][/CENTER] P.S. Although the 'Stafford Rule' is really about revolutionary game mechanics, we do cheekily reference it in this recent parable linking happenings in a fictional setting (Greg's Glorantha) to [URL='https://www.chaosium.com/blogapropos-of-nothing-heres-a-parable-from-legendary-game-designer-greg-stafford/']real world drama[/URL]. [/QUOTE]
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