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General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Rules-Lite VS "Crunchy" TTRPG Systems
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<blockquote data-quote="GuardianLurker" data-source="post: 9292497" data-attributes="member: 786"><p>"Medium-crunch" is definitely a thing, even if it varies wildly. Not LITE && Not Heavy == Medium. Sadly, I haven't seen any better definition than that. I'd be nice if we could point to some objective weighting.</p><p></p><p>And while your point about "groking" a system reducing its perceived weight is well-taken, there are some systems that are just "Heavy". The best example I can think of in the "objectively Heavy" camp is Rolemaster - not so much for the resolution, but for all the details you need to deal with to get there, and that aren't easily abstracted away. And certainly, if you did a code-accurate implementation of something like WoW's combat, it would almost certainly qualify as well.</p><p></p><p>Conversely, being unable to "grok" a system dramatically increases its perceived weight. Despite the fact that are objectively rules-lite systems. Like Amber, or Tiny D6, or some of the others.</p><p></p><p>I just wish we had some objective, or taxonomic, way to actually separate "rules-light" from "crunch-heavy". Especially in the mid-regions.</p><p></p><p>Edit: I'd also point out that "Heavy" and "Light" also depend a LOT on what you've been exposed to. And as alluded to in the OP, light systems are becoming much more common, increasing the perceived weight of the systems people are aware of. There is also "setting crunch"/"gear crunch" and other factors complicating things. As mentioned earlier "250 pages of setting" and "only a few pages" of rules - a rules lite game, with a very crunchy setting.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="GuardianLurker, post: 9292497, member: 786"] "Medium-crunch" is definitely a thing, even if it varies wildly. Not LITE && Not Heavy == Medium. Sadly, I haven't seen any better definition than that. I'd be nice if we could point to some objective weighting. And while your point about "groking" a system reducing its perceived weight is well-taken, there are some systems that are just "Heavy". The best example I can think of in the "objectively Heavy" camp is Rolemaster - not so much for the resolution, but for all the details you need to deal with to get there, and that aren't easily abstracted away. And certainly, if you did a code-accurate implementation of something like WoW's combat, it would almost certainly qualify as well. Conversely, being unable to "grok" a system dramatically increases its perceived weight. Despite the fact that are objectively rules-lite systems. Like Amber, or Tiny D6, or some of the others. I just wish we had some objective, or taxonomic, way to actually separate "rules-light" from "crunch-heavy". Especially in the mid-regions. Edit: I'd also point out that "Heavy" and "Light" also depend a LOT on what you've been exposed to. And as alluded to in the OP, light systems are becoming much more common, increasing the perceived weight of the systems people are aware of. There is also "setting crunch"/"gear crunch" and other factors complicating things. As mentioned earlier "250 pages of setting" and "only a few pages" of rules - a rules lite game, with a very crunchy setting. [/QUOTE]
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