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Message: <blockquote data-quote="overgeeked" data-source="post: 9799127" data-attributes="member: 86653">I’ve been looking at a lot of modules lately and something quickly became glaringly obvious.There are two broad categories of modules: those meant to be read and those meant to be run.Now, of course, those meant to be read are also eventually meant to be run by some fraction of buyers, but the priority is making the module a pleasure to read first and foremost. Large walls of text that flow well together. But, the amount of reading, highlighting, note taking, re-reading, rewriting, etc you’d need to do to make those modules even barely functional to run at the table is astronomical. At a guess, most referees complaining about vast amounts of prep are running modules and having to spend an inordinate amount of time and energy beating these kinds of modules into shape.Then there are those meant to be run. Modules that do everything they can to make running them at the table as easy as possible. Page layout and design, information packaging, information structure, information design, lots of bullet points, succinct writing, effective use two-page spreads, repeating maps or fragments, bold important bits, etc. These are the kinds of modules you can run right from the book without having to pour hours of work into beforehand. At present, these kinds of easy-to-run modules are mostly restricted to the OSR/NSR scenes.Why most modules still use page after page of giant walls of text you have to repeatedly pick through to actually find information is beyond me. Apparently there's a large enough audience of people who buy modules just to read that most publishers just cater to that crowd instead of the referees actually running them. Surely the people actually running the things are doing far more to promote these games than the people who're just buying and reading them.I'm curious as to why? Why are these easy-to-run modules effectively absent from the broader hobby?I also want to dig into the details of the easy-to-run modules, specifically the presentation. Making important information easier to find on the page. Making the module easier to use at the table.All that jazz. What do you got?</blockquote>

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