What's "rules light" to you?

[Psion]

Okay, this question came up in another thread; the assertion was most people here think "lighter than 3e" is rules light; I wasn't so sure about that. Past polls show that I'm far from the only one who has been around the block in here.

So I offer this poll for your consumption.

Please, no value judgements, just comparisons.

Edit:
D'oh! I put storyteller twice. Um... assume the second one says "Buffy".

 

[A'koss]

Okay, this question came up in another thread; the assertion was most people here think "lighter than 3e" is rules light; I wasn't so sure about that.

I'm sure most consider rules light games to mean "lighter than 3e". For better or worse, D&D is the standard against which all are measured. You obviously need a frame of reference to make any kind of meaningful comparisons and D&D is the one everybody here knows...

A'koss.

 

[Napftor]

...So I offer this poll for your consumption...

Um, what poll?

 

[Darkness]

Um, what poll?

When you create a poll, you can only begin to write the poll entries after submitting the thread. Thus, you won't see a poll immediately after a poll thread has been submitted.

 

[Psion]

Um, what poll?

Sheesh... what're you, a noob?

The latest version of vbulliten puts up the post while you are making the poll. FYI.

 

[Stevearino]

Rolemaster? Really?

 

[Psion]

I'm sure most consider rules light games to mean "lighter than 3e". For better or worse, D&D is the standard against which all are measured.

By that logic, D&D should be "rules moderate", lighter games are rules light, heavier games are rules heavy. Which is not the vibe I get from most people who care to mention a distinction (but I don't think it's so far off.)

 

[Psion]

Rolemaster? Really?

Hey, someone said it in the 20+ page long thread.

 

[SWBaxter]

D'oh! I put storyteller twice. Um... assume the second one says "Buffy".

Or maybe "Unisystem", to cover most of Eden's games (Buffy, Angel, Witchcraft, All Flesh Must Be Eaten, and whatever else I'm missing off the top of my head). Other fairly popular systems that I've seen called rules-light include:

HeroQuest
Tri-Stat dX
Paranoia XP
WEG's d6 system
CORPS
FATE (though it could be included under FUDGE)
Risus
Amber

... and about a zillion Forge systems.

To me, a game's "rules-lightness" is determined by how close it comes to having a single resolution mechanic. 3E D&D, for example, is a lot lighter than 2E or 1E AD&D because there aren't as many weird subsystems, though there are still a lot of differences at the detail level. Even a game with a whole whack of rules (like HeroQuest) is rules-light in my eyes if every situation is resolved in pretty much the same way.

 

[A'koss]

By that logic, D&D should be "rules moderate", lighter games are rules light, heavier games are rules heavy. Which is not the vibe I get from most people who care to mention a distinction (but I don't think it's so far off.)

When you're talking about games you buy today, I consider 3e the "rules moderate" standard and draw comparisons thusly. I think the confusion lies in that some people are looking with previous editions' eyes - 3e being considered "rules heavy" compared to 2e/1e/BD&D/etc.

Cheers!