Presentation and Rules Are Different Things

[Reynard]

Well, it kind of is a textbook.
It is primarily a reference document, with a second purpose as a teaching text. It isn't poetry, or entertainment fiction.

I just wish they were more reference book than text book, generally speaking.

 

[Umbran]

I just wish they were more reference book than text book, generally speaking.

Yeah, that's a fair criticism. The book has to play two roles, and they are sometimes at odds, in terms of presentation.

 

[Celebrim]

Mouseguard has amazing presentation and terrible rules. The original Vampire: The Masquerade is another example; incredible presentation, horrible rules. GURPS is always very readable and feels logical but plays horribly and it quickly become apparent that feeling logical isn't the same as well designed.

I'm struggling to think of a book with terrible presentation but good rules, unless 1e AD&D counts. I would put 4e D&D possibly in that category as well, though the rules didn't appeal to me, I think they did appeal to some, but the text was bone dry and dull and the art was maybe the low point in D&D history.

 

[TiQuinn]

Well, it kind of is a textbook.
It is primarily a reference document, with a second purpose as a teaching text. It isn't poetry, or entertainment fiction.

I think that’s a choice though. That’s not the same for some other games where the designer’s voice and setting the tone of the game comes through.

 

[Reynard]

. GURPS is always very readable and feels logical but plays horribly and it quickly become apparent that feeling logical isn't the same as well designed.

GURPS does what it does very well.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I can't recall any examples off the top of my head, but there have been games that I've looked at where I was completely put off by the presentation so never took the time to look more into the system.

I was going to say that I think if the layout or related things have put me off enough, I've never really engaged with the rules completely. The closest exception to that is Star Trek Adventures where my initial reaction to the text colorations was "Gods above, I'm blind." Fortunately their PDFs include a print-friendly version that did not suffer from this.

In general, I'm pretty badly put off by font or color choices, or doing things like printing your book in landscape, to the point I've only rarely actually finished reading the rules.

I'm less likely to give up just on layout, or rather what seem like really bad layout to me usually accompanies other problems from my perspective. So I can't think of a rules set I like that I really dislike the layout; closest was the first version of PF2e where I thought some arrangement things could be better, but I didn't think it was severe.

 

[dbm]

Thinking about this a little more, the layout of Exalted makes it completely unintelligible to me. How the different levels of headings and sub-headings are formatted is totally illogical in my mind.

Which is a shame, as it’s a game I would really like to try.

 

[Bae'zel]

Mouseguard has amazing presentation and terrible rules.

Seconding this. Same with Torchbearer.

What is with Burning Wheel games? Is there a minimum IQ requirement? Those games make me feel so stupid.

I've tried a few times to parse them and I just can't.

For my kids, I tried stripping things down to an almost Prince Valiant level of complexity. Eventually gave up and used a different game entirely.

 

[Umbran]

I think that’s a choice though. That’s not the same for some other games where the designer’s voice and setting the tone of the game comes through.

I feel that's a separate issue from the textbook/reference book conflicts.

But, I will note that while some games have an intrinsic setting baked in, D&D doesn't. The game has always aimed to be open to each table having its own setting and playstyle, so writing that focuses on just one would be working against the game's design goals.

And, to be honest, it would be hard for me to care less about "designer's voice". Author's voice is an element that I look for in, say, novels, but don't give a whit about in rulebooks. So, I won't comment on it further.

 

[Bae'zel]

And, to be honest, it would be hard for me to care less about "designer's voice".

Do folks remember Apocalypse World? The author's tone came across to me as "yeah I use the F word all the time in MY rules. Got a problem with that? This game has aTitUdE!" LOL