Jd Smith1
Hero
No, its the reality of the hobby.
There is a minority within the hobby that buys, learns, and runs systems & settings, and a majority who just play.
What Does the RPG Hobby Need Now?
- Thread starter SlyFlourish
- Start date
There is a minority within the hobby that buys, learns, and runs systems & settings, and a majority who just play.
Yes, but admittedly a high-risk one (most games, even with support, don't go too far), and thus hard to make profitable.
It would be terribly useful, but hard to make actually work.
What about stand alone formats like markdown or epub?
It generalizes, actually. People who are really good at most professional-level skills are not necessarily good at the business end of things. Like, being a great woodcarver doesn't mean you can profitably run a furniture company, being a good doctor doesn't necessarily make you a good practice manager, and so on.
Blades in the Dark?
Dire Bare
Legend
I haven't used either yet with gaming books, so I don't know.
I've tried epub novels, but being used to the simplicity of the Amazon Kindle walled garden, I didn't like my brief foray into epub.
Most of my books are in epub to give a stand alone flexible format for computers and mobile devices. I’ve also started releasing books in markdown for Obsidian or other markdown systems. This avoids the need for a centralized service line Beyond to be the only place.
Well, such products exist. One of my players is running one to give me a break while I am setting up a new long-term campaign.
The issue you probably hit first is that having all the rules for everything the players might conceivably try is massively constraining on the system you can use.
Edit to add:
Another issue you probably hit on the business side is that this isn't a very re-playable product. You buy it, run it once, and then, unless you go to a completely separate group, that's about all you get. And that will limit the price point.
The current format we typically use ( Rulebooks and separate adventure materials) is probably one that falls out as successful given the economic reality - higher-priced books and then lower-priced adventures. The rules you reuse, the adventures you mostly don't.
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nightlight.zero
Villager
I’m not familiar with those books and will check them out, but based on your description, I think I will find them still not structured enough. What you’ve described doesn’t sound different to how many GM guides are currently structured - bits of advice for various, not focused on prep.
To give an example, I don’t want a book that has a chapter with verbose advice on running a session zero. I want a book that has a structured questionnaire with a clear explanation for why it’s asking what it’s asking. What type of campaign do you want to play? Here’s the six types, choose one.
It’s obviously necessarily opinionated, but I don’t want a book that is full of advice that I have to internalise to then develop my own methods to apply. I want a book of methods I can apply, which in doing so, will teach me the principles through praxis.
With a great deal of respect, games have evolved.
What you forget is that evolution doesn't have a preferred direction, or a plan. It just blunders around, and some stuff survives. That it didn't end up exactly with the thing you are imagining at the moment doesn't mean they haven't evolved.
Like, all you need to do it go talk to Grant Howitt, get a license for Crash Pandas or Honey Heist, and slap some one-page scenarios together with his single page of rules, and you are done.
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