I want smaller, leaner core books.

[Aldarc]

Personally, I want to see the return of the "BECMI" style of D&D. Give me three or four boxed sets. Set 1, for levels 1 to 5. Introductionary stuff; core four stuff (Human, Elf, Dwarf, Halfling; and Fighter, Magic-User, Cleric, Thief). Then Set 2 handles level 6 to 10 and adds in Half-Orc, Gnome and something else (don't care what; Dragonborn, Tiefling, Cat-Person, Lizardman, whatever), as well as gives 'class-switching/specialization' to the other Classes, which become sort of 'advanced' versions of the four core (Paladins, Assassins, Sorcerer, Shaman, Monk, etc). Set 3 would be for levels 11 to 20, but would primarily be focused on the 'big picture' of a campaign. Things like building a Keep, Temple, Monastery, Hideout, etc. (look at what Mathew Coleville did with his "Strongholds & Followers").

This is more or less how the Dragon Age RPG by Green Ronin was published.

 

[GMMichael]

If the technical writing part is only 5 pages, why is the book 100 pages? What do those other 95 pages offer? Is is organized and laid out in a way that those 5 important pages are easy to reference?

95-ish pages of how to use the rules. Those additional pages are the result of organization and layout.

If the TV series is the sessions a group has, then the storyboard is the rulebook, and the writer's notes are the actual rules.

 

[Reynard]

95-ish pages of how to use the rules. Those additional pages are the result of organization and layout.

If the TV series is the sessions a group has, then the storyboard is the rulebook, and the writer's notes are the actual rules.

I am not sure I totally agree with that analogy, but I think I understand your meaning. And I wasn't really judging a 100 page rule book. That is plenty slim by today's standards.

I just think that there is entirely too much prose in rule books that ends up making it more difficult to understand how to use those rules in play. If your game really "requires" a lot of flavor text to establish tone, setting, style or provide examples, that's great. Give me a boxed set or slipcase edition where the reference manual is slim and well organized and all that other junk is in the other volume.

Also, just so folks understand: I am a (casual) freelance RPG author that gets paid by the word, so I get it. I just don't like it for core manuals.

 

[Marc_C]

The Fantasy AGE basic book has only 144 pages. It combines the player's info (80 pages) with a GM section with a few adversaries and starting adventure. Rules are simple and straightforward. Very utilitarian. Yet there are many options for players to choose from. With the Bestiary you can play for a long time without the need of any other book.

Savage Worlds is also very short.

 

[Undrave]

4e tried to be technical and people hated it. There's not as big of a market for dry rule books as you think, even if people can grok them easily.

All said, however, I do wonder if posts like this suggest a market for offering cheap bound prints of the basic rules for sale on newsstands and comics racks, for folks who are willing to shell out a few bucks rather than print out a bunch of pages or keep consulting a screen. As someone who used to play D&D on Boy Scout trips and long car rides, having effectively a pocket version of the rules (versus an entire box set) would be a useful addition to carry along with a small set of dice and a folded character sheet!

Lol, "comics racks" and "newsstands"

 

[Umbran]

I know most people love big giant hardbacks, but I really want to see the return of small, lean core rulebooks. There is no RPG that you could not present in a complete fashion in 64 pages with the right clarity of writing and layout.

I think you are... incorrect here. Specifically, exception based games - where character abilities are exceptions and modifications to a basic mechanic (like, say, D&D, with all of its separate class abilities, feats, and spells) can be difficult to pare down. Fate Condensed can get its entire game down to 64 pages, because the mechanics do not significantly vary from character to character.

And, I note, "clarity" and "brevity" is often not the same thing in writing. Sometimes being clear what you mean can take an extra sentence or two of explanation.

In addition, brief technical writing is often dry as the frelling Sahara. It doesn't help your document get its point across if the reader's eyes glaze over while reading it. To teach, a book must engage the reader, not merely present data.

 

[Zsong]

I only like hard a k

Hiya!

Personally, I want to see the return of the "BECMI" style of D&D. Give me three or four boxed sets. Set 1, for levels 1 to 5. Introductionary stuff; core four stuff (Human, Elf, Dwarf, Halfling; and Fighter, Magic-User, Cleric, Thief). Then Set 2 handles level 6 to 10 and adds in Half-Orc, Gnome and something else (don't care what; Dragonborn, Tiefling, Cat-Person, Lizardman, whatever), as well as gives 'class-switching/specialization' to the other Classes, which become sort of 'advanced' versions of the four core (Paladins, Assassins, Sorcerer, Shaman, Monk, etc). Set 3 would be for levels 11 to 20, but would primarily be focused on the 'big picture' of a campaign. Things like building a Keep, Temple, Monastery, Hideout, etc. (look at what Mathew Coleville did with his "Strongholds & Followers").
..
They could even do MORE Sets after that which could be 'campaign tweaking' in theme (so a Set 4: Greyhawk, or Set 4: Oriental Lands, or whatever). These sets would have specific changes to, well, whatever needed changing. Class names, race-swaps, specialized spells, skills and backgrounds, etc).
..
Lastly, add in Supplemental Sets that would handle specific and more detailed handling of various environments. So "Supplemental Set A: Underground", "Supplemental Set B: High-Seas", "Supplemental Set C: Vast Wilderness", etc.
..
These Sets could then be used however you wanted. Buy what you want, use what you want...ignore the others.
..
But that's my "perfect world of RPG supplements and rules".

^_^

Paul L. Ming

I am more a rules cyclopedia kinda guy. Boxed sets damage too easily. But I would play becmi with someone anyday

 

[Zsong]

I don’t want a rpg book that reads like a technical manual. I want rules and spells hidden within prose that describe a setting. I don’t like the video gamey/ computer science feel in a rpg. Now that just me and what I like.
I want the game and books to be a work of art.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

D&D 5e, an RPG. A set of rulebooks barely able to be lifted.

We can rebuild 5e.

We have the technology. We can make D&D better than it was. Better...smaller...leaner.

 

[embee]

D&D 5e, an RPG. A set of rulebooks barely able to be lifted.

We can rebuild 5e.

We have the technology. We can make D&D better than it was. Better...smaller...leaner.

Isn't that just AD&D 1e?