RPG Writing and Design Needs a Paradigm Shift

[Swanosaurus]

It would be nice if the lore of a game was in a separate book from the rules.

I'd say this depends a lot on the rules and the setting. There are rules that would make little sense without the setting attached. I don't want a "rules book" and a "setting book" for The One Ring, for example, because the rules are tied to Middle-Earth, anyway. Also, there are a lot of minimalist rule-sets where 20 pages of rules are tweaked to fit a setting, and most of the core book is setting anyway. Not including the rules in such a book, or just the rules changes for that specific setting, would make little sense, because it wouldn't lower the page count significantly, and you'd have to puzzle the core rules and the setting-specific changes together instead of having everything in one place. The Year Zero Engine is another case in point: It has so many tweaks for each new RPG, publishing a "core book" and doing the rest as setting only books would mean you'd have tons of changes to the core rules in every setting book.
I think generally, I prefer "all in one book" but I also prefer light systems. I even like of having an introductory adventure in the core book, because typically, it shows you a lot about the idea the authors have of their game.

 

[Staffan]

I like having both explanations of rules that give some idea of what their point is, and a succinct condensation of what the rule actually says. As a very rough example, I could see a section on cover that explains how cover protects, and how much protection you get from a certain level of cover and how to adjudicate that, and then a table that gives an quick and easy reference.

 

[billd91]

I would also give away that rules manual digitally for free. Rules are not where value is.

Value for whom? Putting up rules for free may make sense for a company that's heavily invested in making sourcebooks and adventures. They're taking the loss on the effort used to generate the rules to drive sales for their other materials. But for game publishers that aren't - the rules are where the value is for them as a publisher because that's where their effort is invested.

 

[R_J_K75]

I'd say this depends a lot on the rules and the setting. There are rules that would make little sense without the setting attached. I don't want a "rules book" and a "setting book" for The One Ring, for example, because the rules are tied to Middle-Earth, anyway. Also, there are a lot of minimalist rule-sets where 20 pages of rules are tweaked to fit a setting, and most of the core book is setting anyway. Not including the rules in such a book, or just the rules changes for that specific setting, would make little sense, because it wouldn't lower the page count significantly, and you'd have to puzzle the core rules and the setting-specific changes together instead of having everything in one place. The Year Zero Engine is another case in point: It has so many tweaks for each new RPG, publishing a "core book" and doing the rest as setting only books would mean you'd have tons of changes to the core rules in every setting book.
I think generally, I prefer "all in one book" but I also prefer light systems. I even like of having an introductory adventure in the core book, because typically, it shows you a lot about the idea the authors have of their game.

To be fair compared to a lot of people on this site I've played maybe 10 different RPG systems in the 40 years I've been playing, so my opinion is based on a very small sample size. So the bottom line I think is no matter what publishers do, they'll never be able to satisfy everyone as some people want different things than others.

 

[Laurefindel]

While I agree that rules should be presented clearly, I wouldn’t want my RPG books to read and feel like manuals. I’d rather read a 1-line prose followed by a 2-line description of an ability than looking for rule 1.4.2-1

Dry manuals are dry. I need the art, the aesthetically pleasing fonts and layout, the dubious prose spicing up the numbers and keywords and most importantly, tying the rules to the fiction. There’s an art to do this and not all games master it, I’ll give you that, but modern games are so much better than they were 20 years ago in that department; I feel the paradigm shift is already well underway.

That being said, I’d love if RPG books included a cheat sheet or quick rule-reference guides (online or digital would be fine, but ideally papier as well). D&D traditionally tries to do that with their DM screens with varied levels of success.

 

[mamba]

I would also give away that rules manual digitally for free. Rules are not where value is.

oh really? the core books are the best selling ones....

 

[John Dallman]

oh really? the core books are the best selling ones....

All the players have a use for the rules. In most styles of play, on the GM has a use for pre-written scenarios.

 

[Malmuria]

Giant books full of walls of text with important information buried in questionable prose is no longer an acceptable way to present a game to an audience.

I'm judging the new 5e DMG based on whether they can keep related information to a two-page spread. The layout of the 2014 DMG is a complete mess.

 

[Reynard]

oh really? the core books are the best selling ones....

And that remains true for companies that give their rules away for free.

 

[Zaukrie]

I think walls of text are bad.....and layout is important. I feel like big companies kind of get stuck in "this is how it is done" mode and we get stuck with traditional layout and text styles, and aren't presented with better layout and text very often. I think this is especially true with things where WOTC (as an example) is worried about edge cases, instead of what 99% of tables do.

I'd like a lot more brevity, like what MCDM did with saving throws in their Flee Mortals book....but I don't expect it.

Take, for example, the new sheets on roll20 and Foundry for players....they look kind of like the paper sheets for some reason! DnDBeyond, otoh, has a tab for actions so you can see your actions, bonus actions, and reactions so you don't have to remember what's what. I get we are talking mostly about books/pdfs here, but I'm amazed DnDBeyond has this, and two companies coming out with new versions, that SEE THIS functionality, instead stuck with recreating the paper sheets to a large degree (this is an example of getting stuck in tradition, imo).

We see this in books all the time, and their PDFs. I don't expect WotC to change, but I wish they would consider how things appear and ease of use/reading more than they sometimes do (for golly's sake, don't have A RULE across multiple pages).