How Much Setting in a Rulebook?
How Much Setting in a Rulebook?
Wrote a new blog today about how much setting should go in a rulebook. It's different for every game, but I feel a lot of games put too much lore in with the rules.
I know it's really hip to have your setting lean on your mechanics and vice versa, so neither works great without another, but I am more of a fan of rules that support tone and play patterns that reinforce genre more than specific settings. Probably mostly because I am not big on learning a lot about a setting before I feel good about running a game.
I also like to have lots of room to improv and make a setting my own. I know you can do that with any setting, but I just feel more confident doing that with less definition in the setting.
I could probably drop a little something more into my rulebook as a stinger to get people excited about what kind of fiction the game presents. I guess that could be interpreted as setting, or at least adjacent.
Curious about what other think about this topic.
https://infantofatocha.itch.io/chronomutants/devlog/572397/whats-a-paradox-war-anyway
I think it depends on the game. I am studying the Blades in the Dark rulebook and really loving the detail. I think what makes a big difference is that the details provided feel like they would actually help with GM prep. This is a first for me. So many modules and rule books provide details while somehow being utterly useless. My advice would be to play test the system and only write down the kinds of details that actually made a difference in your prep and games. There is such a night and day difference I am feeling with this rulebook and I dont think its at all obvious to the casual observer. Got to get out of that author mindset and into a gm one. Thow out all that inspiration drivel and make actual facts out of the world that would matter and lead to plothooks for a campaign. ... that is if you want to, generic systems are good too.
Blades is incredibly slick in it's design. I think it's the best example of modern design where the mechanics and lore lean on each other. Because of the way many of the setting decisions are designed in subtle clever ways to add to the play, it makes me intimidated to run it, because I'm worried I'm going to get it wrong and weaken my game. I would have to do a lot of studying and run it a few more times before I felt I was really getting it.
I like the Avatar Legends RPG, and the lore included is great. But I hate how spread out the rules are and how much hunting around I find myself doing. They probably could have put all the rules in a concise, 20-30 pages or less. Then the other hundred or so after that could have the lore.
It's PbtA. Very easy to GM and to play. But it's still hard to convince people to try it, even people who like ATLA, because the rule book looks so long.
I feel like that game was really sold as a "shelf game" with being big and pretty and cool. I hope there is a good index at least.
What i really want in books is enough lore and setting to easily make plots. In the book for Myriad song they included 20 planets with quick plot hooks for each. Add to that a good sized monster section with rules to make your own.
Another good book Ninja crusade. They have a few pages of history and one place that includes a list of possible alternate version of important events. Thats really useful as a gm.
Both give me setting and rules to make one shots or campaigns