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<blockquote data-quote="Celebrim" data-source="post: 9262457" data-attributes="member: 4937"><p>So I think we're reaching a point in RPG design where the rules are often quite concise and well laid out. </p><p></p><p>What I don't typically see is:</p><p></p><p>a) Proof that the rules create a good game. There is a really good youtube video about this where they spoof indy RPGs by how the flavor text of an RPG can often be completely awesome sounding, and inspire DMs to want to run adventures in that world, but then the game completely fails as a game because the flavor text is not at all related to the world the rules actually build, the creativity that makes the fictional setting interesting is actually a hinderance to the rules, the math doesn't work and so the rules don't work for game resolution, and the gameplay in no way relates to the fiction that was described in the text. I think the take away is "You've been tricked into buying the micro-fiction of a failed author." For me, the first thing I look for when reading a new RPG now is whether the examples of play a) actually relate to the rules and b) actually attempt to address anything other than carefully chosen idealized results in the system in the most simple idealized scenarios. It's very closely akin to what I am analyzing when I look at a new programming technology: "Is this a real solution or is this just a toy solution that doesn't scale up to real world problems? Does this really make my job easier or is this just a bunch of marketing spin?" How good the flavor text is outside of its interface with the rules is something I put zero value in now. Give me real world examples of play that look like they were generated from play, and show me how well your rules handle problems.</p><p></p><p>c) Excellent adventures bundled in with the rules. This is a subset of above, and the real proof is in the pudding thing. Can you create a scenario that actually runs well if I take your rules that you've laid out and rigorously apply them to an example of play? Or does it turn out that you've never play tested this game except for with your spouse or one best friend or something, and when you ran those scenarios you were ignoring your own rules as often as not? Because I've seen so many RPGs out there where it feels like the later. </p><p></p><p>A very big negative for me when I evaluate rules now is that it does neither of those things and additionally leaves all the hard work of crafting the back plot ("What exactly have the NPCs done?") of the scenario and fore plot ("What exactly do the NPCs plan to do next absent interference by the PC's, and what steps are they likely to take if the PC's interfere in some of the more likely ways?") entirely up to the GM. I don't know how many setting books I've seen that are just broad strokes and no concrete details and no well detailed jump start plots to get things going in their very sketchily and nebulous sandbox.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Celebrim, post: 9262457, member: 4937"] So I think we're reaching a point in RPG design where the rules are often quite concise and well laid out. What I don't typically see is: a) Proof that the rules create a good game. There is a really good youtube video about this where they spoof indy RPGs by how the flavor text of an RPG can often be completely awesome sounding, and inspire DMs to want to run adventures in that world, but then the game completely fails as a game because the flavor text is not at all related to the world the rules actually build, the creativity that makes the fictional setting interesting is actually a hinderance to the rules, the math doesn't work and so the rules don't work for game resolution, and the gameplay in no way relates to the fiction that was described in the text. I think the take away is "You've been tricked into buying the micro-fiction of a failed author." For me, the first thing I look for when reading a new RPG now is whether the examples of play a) actually relate to the rules and b) actually attempt to address anything other than carefully chosen idealized results in the system in the most simple idealized scenarios. It's very closely akin to what I am analyzing when I look at a new programming technology: "Is this a real solution or is this just a toy solution that doesn't scale up to real world problems? Does this really make my job easier or is this just a bunch of marketing spin?" How good the flavor text is outside of its interface with the rules is something I put zero value in now. Give me real world examples of play that look like they were generated from play, and show me how well your rules handle problems. c) Excellent adventures bundled in with the rules. This is a subset of above, and the real proof is in the pudding thing. Can you create a scenario that actually runs well if I take your rules that you've laid out and rigorously apply them to an example of play? Or does it turn out that you've never play tested this game except for with your spouse or one best friend or something, and when you ran those scenarios you were ignoring your own rules as often as not? Because I've seen so many RPGs out there where it feels like the later. A very big negative for me when I evaluate rules now is that it does neither of those things and additionally leaves all the hard work of crafting the back plot ("What exactly have the NPCs done?") of the scenario and fore plot ("What exactly do the NPCs plan to do next absent interference by the PC's, and what steps are they likely to take if the PC's interfere in some of the more likely ways?") entirely up to the GM. I don't know how many setting books I've seen that are just broad strokes and no concrete details and no well detailed jump start plots to get things going in their very sketchily and nebulous sandbox. [/QUOTE]
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