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<blockquote data-quote="DEFCON 1" data-source="post: 9273653" data-attributes="member: 7006">I'm of the opinion that the closer your rulebook turns to a reference manual for ease-of-use in learning the &quot;game&quot; part of &quot;roleplaying game&quot;... the better that probably is for someone who actually knows how most RPGs work.&nbsp; They already understand how roleplaying and characterization and story and narrative and DM / player communication and interaction is meant to go... and thus the important part for them that is separate from that (the game specific dice bits) should be front and center and very easy to find and reference.&nbsp; That's the difference between one RPG and another that a player needs to remember-- the dicey-rolly bits-- and I wouldn't disagree with that necessarily.&nbsp; If you are already up on making the roleplaying dynamic and creative and interesting, just making sure you know how the rules work is the only other thing you need for that specific game.The problem though is that games can't just serve those players.&nbsp; Almost all roleplaying games have to teach what makes a roleplaying game what it is, because the assumption is it might be read by someone who is completely new and has no idea what all of this is about.&nbsp; And thus that usually involves adding story, and narrative and flavor and imagination and creativity into and amongst the &quot;game rules&quot; because once you actually start playing, you will have story and narrative and flavor and imagination and creativity happening in and amongst the &quot;game rules&quot;.&nbsp; Having a rulebook that interlaces the two together helps players get into the mindset that this is what is going to actually go on at the table when you play.If you separate the two... if you have one section that is just the story and imagination and description part, and the other section that is just the rules of how pieces move and what dice you throw at what times and what those dice do... in my opinion you are not presenting the game in the manner in which you actually will be playing it.&nbsp; And I think that makes it more difficult for players to understand how the roleplaying game is supposed to go.&nbsp; The game is not &quot;Improv scene&quot; first then &quot;Board game&quot; second then &quot;Back to improv scene&quot; then &quot;Back to board game&quot;... but rather both occur together simultaneously and overlap all the time.&nbsp; So in my opinion the rulebook would work better if its presentation helped illustrate that.Sure, that makes it more difficult for an experienced player to just find the &quot;crunchy bit&quot; that they need... but then again if you are an experienced player you are already more inclined to be able to remember how the crunchy bits work after a couple reads, and even if there are parts you don't... you know how best to find those crunchy bits relatively quickly because you've done it so many times before in some many different games.&nbsp; So really... how fast or easy do we experienced roleplayers really need these books to be?Of course, that's just my opinion... I could be wrong.&nbsp; <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile&nbsp; &nbsp; :)"&nbsp; data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

[QUOTE="DEFCON 1, post: 9273653, member: 7006"] I'm of the opinion that the closer your rulebook turns to a reference manual for ease-of-use in learning the "game" part of "roleplaying game"... the better that probably is for someone who actually knows how most RPGs work. They already understand how roleplaying and characterization and story and narrative and DM / player communication and interaction is meant to go... and thus the important part for them that is separate from that (the game specific dice bits) should be front and center and very easy to find and reference. That's the difference between one RPG and another that a player needs to remember-- the dicey-rolly bits-- and I wouldn't disagree with that necessarily. If you are already up on making the roleplaying dynamic and creative and interesting, just making sure you know how the rules work is the only other thing you need for that specific game. The problem though is that games can't just serve those players. Almost all roleplaying games have to teach what makes a roleplaying game what it is, because the assumption is it might be read by someone who is completely new and has no idea what all of this is about. And thus that usually involves adding story, and narrative and flavor and imagination and creativity into and amongst the "game rules" because once you actually start playing, you will [I]have[/I] story and narrative and flavor and imagination and creativity happening in and amongst the "game rules". Having a rulebook that interlaces the two together helps players get into the mindset that this is what is going to actually go on at the table when you play. If you separate the two... if you have one section that is [I]just[/I] the story and imagination and description part, and the other section that is [I]just[/I] the rules of how pieces move and what dice you throw at what times and what those dice do... in my opinion you are not presenting the game in the manner in which you actually will be playing it. And I think that makes it more difficult for players to understand how the roleplaying game is supposed to go. The game is not "Improv scene" first then "Board game" second then "Back to improv scene" then "Back to board game"... but rather both occur together simultaneously and overlap all the time. So in my opinion the rulebook would work better if its presentation helped illustrate that. Sure, that makes it more difficult for an experienced player to just find the "crunchy bit" that they need... but then again if you are an experienced player you are already more inclined to be able to remember how the crunchy bits work after a couple reads, and even if there are parts you don't... you know how best to find those crunchy bits relatively quickly because you've done it so many times before in some many different games. So really... how fast or easy do we experienced roleplayers [I]really[/I] need these books to be? Of course, that's just my opinion... I could be wrong. :) [/QUOTE]

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