EDIT: I added a poll.
I am planning to run Lazers and Feelings soon, and it got me to thinking about how little/few rules one might need in order to effectively play a TTRPG. So I am curious what others thing.
Note: for the purposes of this discussion, I think the G part is important. That is, it should still be a game (as opposed to a simple storytelling exercise) so there must SOME rules and something that looks like success or failure (although those concepts are fuzzy in RPGs). But with that in mind, what is the bare minimum level of rules you need to feel like you are playing a TTRPG?
These aren't hard and fast definitions, but I'll throw out some terms to help us in our discussion:
Minimalist: Basically, a core mechanic. You don't need anything more than the barest of bones.
Light: Core mechanics are great, but you need a little more than that: a couple subsystems to cover broad topics, maybe a short codified list of character and/or NPC abilities, etc..
Moderate: In addition to a core mechanics and some subsystems, you need a moderately robust body of rules to cover a relatively broad range of stuff likely to be covered in play, and/or you want some stuff for character building.
Heavy: You like rules! Dice mechanics and sub systems and character abilities and special exceptions oh my!
Dense: There is a rule for everything. You don't want to adjudicate, you want to look up the rule for the situation and know that no matter how out there the situation, there is a rule to cover it.
Note that the density or heaviness of rules is not necessarily tied to the intuitiveness of those rules or whether the core mechanic is strong throughout versus disconnected subsystems. This is more a question about what the rules in the game book(s) cover from a situational and character standpoint, not how clean the rules themselves are from a mathematical design standpoint.
I am planning to run Lazers and Feelings soon, and it got me to thinking about how little/few rules one might need in order to effectively play a TTRPG. So I am curious what others thing.
Note: for the purposes of this discussion, I think the G part is important. That is, it should still be a game (as opposed to a simple storytelling exercise) so there must SOME rules and something that looks like success or failure (although those concepts are fuzzy in RPGs). But with that in mind, what is the bare minimum level of rules you need to feel like you are playing a TTRPG?
These aren't hard and fast definitions, but I'll throw out some terms to help us in our discussion:
Minimalist: Basically, a core mechanic. You don't need anything more than the barest of bones.
Light: Core mechanics are great, but you need a little more than that: a couple subsystems to cover broad topics, maybe a short codified list of character and/or NPC abilities, etc..
Moderate: In addition to a core mechanics and some subsystems, you need a moderately robust body of rules to cover a relatively broad range of stuff likely to be covered in play, and/or you want some stuff for character building.
Heavy: You like rules! Dice mechanics and sub systems and character abilities and special exceptions oh my!
Dense: There is a rule for everything. You don't want to adjudicate, you want to look up the rule for the situation and know that no matter how out there the situation, there is a rule to cover it.
Note that the density or heaviness of rules is not necessarily tied to the intuitiveness of those rules or whether the core mechanic is strong throughout versus disconnected subsystems. This is more a question about what the rules in the game book(s) cover from a situational and character standpoint, not how clean the rules themselves are from a mathematical design standpoint.
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