RPG Writing and Design Needs a Paradigm Shift

[R_J_K75]

I always wondered if you could create a site/app that could create custom PDFs. Like, you play a fighter using Pathfinder (where most of the rules are Open). Could someone design a tool that with a few clicks and check boxes you could print out a "fighter's PHB"?

2E AD&D had the Players Packs (Wizard, Priest, Fighter and Thief) which were similar to what you are describing only in print format. They were a set of condensed rules particular to the class, quick reference & character sheets, and some gaming accessories such as dice, etc. I don't know how well they sold or whether any were better than the others but a friend of mine had the fighter one and I vaguely remember it being pretty handy.

 

[Pedantic]

I always wondered if you could create a site/app that could create custom PDFs. Like, you play a fighter using Pathfinder (where most of the rules are Open). Could someone design a tool that with a few clicks and check boxes you could print out a "fighter's PHB"?

There was an excellent site for 3.5 sheets back in the day that did essentially exactly this, I think they called it a Dynamic Character Sheet? They got hounded off the internet by WotC at the time, which was a real shame.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

I always wondered if you could create a site/app that could create custom PDFs. Like, you play a fighter using Pathfinder (where most of the rules are Open). Could someone design a tool that with a few clicks and check boxes you could print out a "fighter's PHB"?

Well, maybe yes and no. I mean, HoML has callings, basically classes. I could VERY easily generate a subset of the rules that was only stuff related to a specific calling I guess. I mean, it kind of depends on what needs to be covered. Another approach would be to generate a version of the rules where different sections have their own fairly small pages, and everything is crosslinked, ala wiki style. I could do that pretty easily, though it would require writing a couple new scripts or something.

And this is where my approach really pays off. Suppose you used Page Maker and wrote an RPG using that. If you wanted to make a 'fighter book', you could, you'd just make a copy of your DTP file and edit out all the stuff you don't want. Now suppose you change the rules surrounding that class a bit... Now you either have to do all that editing all over again to update your 'fighter book', or edit everything twice and hope no inconsistencies come in.

In my process, there's a file, knight.hairball that contains just the information for that one calling. I can edit that and ANYTHING and EVERYTHING based on that information will get updated when I do a build. If a feat changes, the database is updated, the master rule HTML page is updated, and my hypothetical 'knight book' page would also be updated.

Now, I'm sure there are other people who have equally sophisticated workflow/process as I do, and then some perhaps. I don't know, I'm not a pro game dev or something. I developed these tools over many years of building sites and other things, and hit on a way to create workflows that I think is at least somewhat unique.

 

[kenada]

I like the way Old-School Essentials aims for brevity and usability, but it sometimes is a little too terse. I don’t think it would work as well if it weren’t restating B/X. Notably, Dolmenwood is more verbose than OSE. I agree with @Malmuria about respecting the spread, but it’s not a silver bullet. Worlds Without Number is designed around the spread, but it’s also presented as dense walls of text. I found it difficult to find things when I ran WWN.

I think my idea is terse but conversational. Build up concepts and make it easy to look them up again later. It seems like if you do that well, it shouldn’t be necessary to produce separate reference sheets. For custom rules elements (such as abilities, spells, etc), I lean towards using structured elements to present them. You can see this in 4e with powers and PF2 with feats as well as other games like Konosuba TRPG and Goblin Slayer TRPG.

One non-TTRPG inspiration might be board games, especially those that incorporate cards. They have a standard format that helps you parse the rules elements they contain quickly. You can tell at a glance what they cost to play, what they do, and if they have any requirements. It should be just as easy to understand what a spell or feat or power or whatever does as it is to understand, e.g., what a project card does in Terraforming Mars.

 

[Sparkle_cz]

I apologize in advance for a long post. This is a topic that I deal with regularly in my gaming community and is important for me on personal level, so I would like to offer my perspective as a person from a small country (Czechia) who writes stuff in Czech language for a tiny market.

Here in Czechia, no one is able to make a living by writing RPGs or RPG supplements in Czech language. We have regular jobs and write RPG stuff in our free time and gain zero money from it. And it is not gonna change anytime soon unless some aliens enslave the Earth and force everyone to speak Czech.

This situation means one thing: people here write RPGs only when they are EXTREMELY emotionally invested and attached into it. I’m one of them.

So, even when I know that the correct way to write a supplement is to be short and concise like a manual, I can’t bring myself to do that because then I would lose the thing that keeps me motivated to write and I would quit entirely. I NEED to write that „unnecessary prose“ because that is what I enjoy and love. My beloved setting elements, my beloved political factions, my cursive mini-stories, my awesome NPCs…

And there are many people here around me in my social bubble that have it like me. There are so many gaming materials in Czech that are clearly someone’s pet project that the person will never see a single penny from. And yes, it contains „unnecessary prose“. But I know that if the author was not allowed to have these bits there, he would quit writing that stuff entirely. So, I learned to be tolerant and accepted that when I use a product that was clearly made by someone for free, I have to accept a certain level of author’s „self-indulgence“ or how to call it.

And now, why am I writing it here. Unfortunately, in recent years, a small but vocal part of Czech RPG customers has started to demand products that read like manuals, without taking into account the specifics stated above. And they became quite cruel and unforgiving about it. They mock and cyberbully small authors whose works are full of this „unnecessary prose“. Even authors who put their work online FOR FREE are judged so strictly. It has come to the point where these authors are afraid to publish adventures. I am in contact with them and I am honestly terrified of where this is going. It breaks my heart to see them scared to publish anything "prosier" for the fear that they would be dragged through the mud by some cynical blogger.

So, while I know that you mean well when you say that RPG books should be short and not full of prose etc., I have seen the dark side of this paradigm when it got out of hand. So please, while I technically don’t disagree with you, I am asking you to be forgiving and kind when judging products with „unnecessary prose“ from small authors and publishers.

Thanks and cheers to everyone who managed to read this through.

Small writer

 

[payn]

I always wondered if you could create a site/app that could create custom PDFs. Like, you play a fighter using Pathfinder (where most of the rules are Open). Could someone design a tool that with a few clicks and check boxes you could print out a "fighter's PHB"?

That's how Archives of Nethys is laid out. You could print it if you want a paper copy at the table.

 

[Reynard]

That's how Archives of Nethys is laid out. You could print it if you want a paper copy at the table.

I mean "Collect everything relevant to playing a fighter and print that."

 

[payn]

I mean "Collect everything relevant to playing a fighter and print that."

Yeap, at least for PF2. PF1 would be difficult due to the nature of feats in that edition.

 

[Swanosaurus]

So, while I know that you mean well when you say that RPG books should be short and not full of prose etc., I have seen the dark side of this paradigm when it got out of hand. So please, while I technically don’t disagree with you, I am asking you to be forgiving and kind when judging products with „unnecessary prose“ from small authors and publishers.

Thanks for pointing this out! I suspect the situation is not much different in my native Germany.
It's always good to remember that critique is fine, but that no one is entitled to get exactly the product they want. I'd rather have lots of creators who follow their vision, resting assured that among their joint output, there will be things that appeal to me, than having just a few creators who adhere to spedific (and sometimes arbitrary) standards, with all the other ones being scared out of creating.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

I like the way Old-School Essentials aims for brevity and usability, but it sometimes is a little too terse. I don’t think it would work as well if it weren’t restating B/X. Notably, Dolmenwood is more verbose than OSE. I agree with @Malmuria about respecting the spread, but it’s not a silver bullet. Worlds Without Number is designed around the spread, but it’s also presented as dense walls of text. I found it difficult to find things when I ran WWN.

I think my idea is terse but conversational. Build up concepts and make it easy to look them up again later. It seems like if you do that well, it shouldn’t be necessary to produce separate reference sheets. For custom rules elements (such as abilities, spells, etc), I lean towards using structured elements to present them. You can see this in 4e with powers and PF2 with feats as well as other games like Konosuba TRPG and Goblin Slayer TRPG.

One non-TTRPG inspiration might be board games, especially those that incorporate cards. They have a standard format that helps you parse the rules elements they contain quickly. You can tell at a glance what they cost to play, what they do, and if they have any requirements. It should be just as easy to understand what a spell or feat or power or whatever does as it is to understand, e.g., what a project card does in Terraforming Mars.

I totally agree, formats like stat blocks, power blocks, etc. are super useful. 4e really excelled at that. I mean, it isn't necessarily the prettiest thing packed into a book, but in a reference, at the table on cards, and in the online compendium this stuff is GOLD. Again, as an example, my game relies heavily on this form of presentation Heroes of Myth and Legend has a lot of examples. As I said above, the source code for all this stuff feeds right into online database as well, so it serves double.

IMHO if a game is going to get played much, and if it is non-trivial in heft, it REALLY REALLY needs to be written mostly as a reference. I'd say create book sections that discuss play, present lore/background, etc. but make them separate. You can read that stuff, and then it is out of your way.

Let me just say: People who are overly critical of your work, and aggressive about it. That's just sad, and kind of despicable. I personally like/use most effectively certain stuff, but I also love creativity. I'm not really taking a side in some kind of dispute about 'crunch vs flavor' or anything like that. I love both, I just want them to both be at their best and working well together.