Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Dear Mike & Monte
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Morrus" data-source="post: 5759384" data-attributes="member: 1"><p>Look at the cover of the 1E DMG. Cartoony does not come into it. That's friggin' <em>iconic!</em></p><p></p><p>Which brings me to request #11 (and I can't believe it wasn't in my list - it's the BIGGEST one):-</p><p></p><p>11) Make it a book you can <strong>read</strong>. Not a reference book or dictionary; not a magazine (which I clearly remember Scott Rouse enthusiastically explaining to me at Gen Con just before they launched it - "<em>we're going with a magazine reference style! It's all dynamic! Bullet points! Lots of white space!</em>"; I tried not to let my face fall too much. I used to reread the 1E (and, indeed, the 2E) books again and again. They had paragraphs of text and everything! I have never read the 4E books; I've merely used them for reference. They're books of lists.</p><p></p><p>I think the biggest lesson to learn here is the difference between a book and a powerpoint presentation. A book should not be a powerpoint presentation. Too "modern". Face it, RPGs aren't a modern phenomena - re-engage with a cool retro vibe rather than try to fit it into a shoe that is the wrong size.</p><p></p><p>I recognise that one of the goals was clarity. I submit that one of the primary enjoyments of the game was discussion over interpretation of rules. This was as much fun as playing the game itself, and taking it away is a bad move. I'm not saying that one should obfuscate things, but one should feel free to wax lyrical and let the players enjoy discussing what you wrote. Hell, you can make a career out of explaining what you wrote! (OK, that's silly, and clearly over-the-top, but sometimes a choice between clarity and poetry is not as clear cut as an IKEA instruction manual; sometimes it's about the pleasure of <em>reading</em> the damn thing).</p><p></p><p>C'mon - what's better for an author than readers discussing what you wrote?</p><p></p><p></p><p><img src="http://www.deigames.com/dmg1st2ndc.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Morrus, post: 5759384, member: 1"] Look at the cover of the 1E DMG. Cartoony does not come into it. That's friggin' [I]iconic![/I] Which brings me to request #11 (and I can't believe it wasn't in my list - it's the BIGGEST one):- 11) Make it a book you can [B]read[/B]. Not a reference book or dictionary; not a magazine (which I clearly remember Scott Rouse enthusiastically explaining to me at Gen Con just before they launched it - "[I]we're going with a magazine reference style! It's all dynamic! Bullet points! Lots of white space![/I]"; I tried not to let my face fall too much. I used to reread the 1E (and, indeed, the 2E) books again and again. They had paragraphs of text and everything! I have never read the 4E books; I've merely used them for reference. They're books of lists. I think the biggest lesson to learn here is the difference between a book and a powerpoint presentation. A book should not be a powerpoint presentation. Too "modern". Face it, RPGs aren't a modern phenomena - re-engage with a cool retro vibe rather than try to fit it into a shoe that is the wrong size. I recognise that one of the goals was clarity. I submit that one of the primary enjoyments of the game was discussion over interpretation of rules. This was as much fun as playing the game itself, and taking it away is a bad move. I'm not saying that one should obfuscate things, but one should feel free to wax lyrical and let the players enjoy discussing what you wrote. Hell, you can make a career out of explaining what you wrote! (OK, that's silly, and clearly over-the-top, but sometimes a choice between clarity and poetry is not as clear cut as an IKEA instruction manual; sometimes it's about the pleasure of [I]reading[/I] the damn thing). C'mon - what's better for an author than readers discussing what you wrote? [IMG]http://www.deigames.com/dmg1st2ndc.jpg[/IMG] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Dear Mike & Monte
Top