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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Cergorach" data-source="post: 9759240" data-attributes="member: 725">The problem:In a nutshell, I'm 'old' (49), and have been into pnp RPGs for 35+ years. Some of the games are as old or older as I have been playing them. At a certain point all the different editions start to melt together into a hodgepodge of rules. D&D is a good example, in D&D 5e 2014 we quite often used (unintentionally) the rules of D&D 3.5e, now in D&D 5e 2024 we still keep falling back to 2014 stuff (unintentionally). With the Games Workshop miniature games it was even worse, 10 editions of 40k, 8 editions of WFB, a couple of incarnations of Necromunda, Horus Heresy, Killteam, Warcry, etc. At a certain point I was wondering during a game, was an additional hand weapon an additional attack or something else...Another issue is that some editions of games I haven't actually played, for example: I played 1e/2e/3e of Shadowrun, but not 4e/5e/6e or Anarchy (and soon Anarchy 2,0), I've read some stuff, but some of that has been many, many years ago. And the last time I played SR has been a couple of decades ago... Or I haven't played something yet, but there are many different versions, some I have had and read for a decade+, others I have read barely (example: Dark Heresy, with all it's variants, DH2, Imperium Maledictum, Wrath & Glory, new Horus Heresy game).What version would I want to play of Shadowrun? Why exactly? I can read each edition, plus all rules supplements (which are a LOT for SR), but that would first take a while, another issue is that I wouldn't be able to keep straight in my head all the rules. So I was already thinking on how I would write up each rules edition in a document for comparison. Then other systems joined the conga party, like 40k, Star Wars, etc. Another issue is that IF I play such a system again, not every edition is equally supported (if at all) in my VTT of choice (Foundry), and not every edition had equal support from a supplement point of view. So there are certain side qualifiers, besides the system itself. And the issue isn't just system xyz is better then abc, it's about if I like something better or not (subjective). So it would be beneficial to compare the rules without judgement, but in detail.The question:So the thought went from comparing one specific system (Shadowrun) across multiple editions where you would have certain similarities between the different editions. To doing that for multiple systems, which would have certain high level commonalities, but at a detail level it would vary greatly. Then I thought: "Surely someone must have had the same thought before, did someone already build this?", so out googling I went. I do see frameworks for describing games, so you can compare them to each other, but less so on a game mechanic level, and more about a general sense of game level. While usefull to a certain degree, not what I was looking for. So, has anyone made such a framework? Or does anyone have any thoughts on this?But why?:Well, if there's a framework, I can start with filling out bits and pieces without having to remember everything and could easily keep the rules editions straight. Not only to split the work, but also keep it relevant for later use. Shadowrun 1e is from 1989 for example and if I ever get my hands on Shadworun 13 in 2061 (Mr.C age: 85), I can just add to the database and compare.</blockquote>

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