Have What It Takes

Yesterday I went through a list I had of the rules, or maybe rather rules categories that a role-playing game should have. I had some help (Thanks Brian!) and we went from a list with ninety items to a list with one-hundred and twenty-eight items. To see it go to http://www.rmtp.ca/henry/rules-cat.htm where I'm letting Henry host it. Admittedly some things are duplicated as a matter of needing to be looked at in more than one fashion. This is more like a checklist than a table of contents type deal. To put all of that in one book is obviously going to take a lot of space. Even if each item had a half a page given over to it that would be sixty-four pages and we all know when it comes to some of them, like say Skills, it will take multiple pages. I can sort of see why some games have it spread it out over more than one book.

I do not see however why some RPG lines have to be so piecemeal about it, and more frequently than not totally disorganised about it, repeating themselves, contradicting themselves and scattering things to the wind so it takes a browse through the company's entire catalogue to find the dozen or more books these things are hidden in. I'm looking at you, Palladium Book, you glorious bastiches!

As we can see it takes a lot to fully detail out the rules that players and Game Masters alike will use. Some of these topics can get pretty in-depth, which is why I subdivided a lot of things. As a tool for the RPG that I am writing this list is invaluable. My game itself will have what I hope are some really eye-opening, leading edge and, dare I say it, innovative rules in it. The biggest issue has to be though, when is it too much. Too complicated. Too overdeveloped. Too overthought. Too verbose. I guess we'll see.

Sorry, short topic today.

Mood: hyper.
Music: St. Jimmy by Green Day and Power of the Sun by Bruce Dickinson

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