What's "rules light" to you?

[Angel Tarragon]

TWERPS

Nuts. Beaten to it.

 

[S'mon]

I guess I think of something like BRP Call of Cthulu or Stormbringer as Rules Medium, so 1e AD&D is somnewhat Rules Heavy, 3e is incredibly Rules Heavy (so is Runequest), rules light would be FUDGE or Fighting Fantasy, Savage Worlds is pretty Rules Light also.

 

[Yair]

I voted for The Window and FUDGE, however I'm not familiar with many of the games (like Oevr the Edge). OD&D is definitely not rules-light.

 

[Akrasia]

Its the accounting behind making and advancing RM characters that convinces me it is immensely heavier than 3e.

Well, I was referring to 2e Rolemaster. I found that easier than 3e in terms of 'accounting'. I certainly found it easier to stat up high level NPCs for RM 2e than D&D 3e (the magic system and the absence of feats in RM making the biggest difference).

But if you're referring to the current version (RMSS or RFRP), I'll not argue at all -- that thing is a mess (IMO).

At least that is my experience. However, I don't really have a horse in this race anymore, since I wouldn't GM either system these days. I was just communicating my experience that prep work seemed slightly less with RM 2e.

 

[Psion]

One problem with this poll is that it mostly reflects "what rules-lite (or lite-r) RPGs have ENWorld posters played/heard of."

That had occured to me, but I figured I'd just run with it.

But yeah, that more respondants put FUDGE than The Window implies that is the case...

 

[Psion]

Well, I was referring to 2e Rolemaster. I found that easier than 3e in terms of 'accounting'. I certainly found it easier to stat up high level NPCs for RM 2e than D&D 3e (the magic system and the absence of feats in RM making the biggest difference).

But if you're referring to the current version (RMSS or RFRP), I'll not argue at all -- that thing is a mess (IMO).

At least that is my experience. However, I don't really have a horse in this race anymore, since I wouldn't GM either system these days. I was just communicating my experience that prep work seemed slightly less with RM 2e.

I think any version but perhaps the stripped down spinoffs (MERPS and CyberSpace) are more accounting than 3e. To me, the accounting pain in 3e is skills. Any of the full versions of rolemaster is much worse on that score. I mean in D&D 3.xe, you have class skills and cross class skills; that's it. In rolemaster, tabulating how many development points you get at every level is more complicated, and skill costs can vary from like 1-20 points per rank, and can vary depending on how many ranks you buy.

 

[Geron Raveneye]

Reading all these discussions, I wonder if "rules-light" and "rules-heavy" actually covers the points of the topic. To me, it seems more a point of a system of rules being very complex (aka "roll these dice, compare the result to the result in chart X, roll another die, add to result in chart X, compare to chart Y") vs. a pretty simple mechanic for task resolution (aka "roll this die, add and subtract the following modifiers, and compare to target number").

Then you can start talking about how detailed a rules system is, if it does cover all possible situations in the game with its resolution mechanic, and if it stays as simple or complex in that, or becomes more complex than the basic mechanic.

An additional point would be what is referred to here as "rules bloat", meaning the vast growth of additional, and sometimes redundant, rules that add layers of complexity or simply new modifier types to a basically simple game mechanic.

For myself, I'd refer to D&D 3E as a basically simple, pretty detailed, but far too big set of rules that tries to offer a solution for all possibilities, and suffers from a severe redundancy problem. For a more general approach, I'd pick RC D&D, which is a bit more complex concerning resolution mechanics, but which doesn't try to cover everything in detail.

 

[fredramsey]

I feel there is no objective way to define Rules-Lite.

Way too subjective.

It is more like a spectrum, with many different shades.