Quickstart snobbery and Rules Lite vs Rule Efficiency

Best Selling RPGs - Available Now @ DriveThruRPG.com
I actually disagree with this. I understand it, but I disagree.

I think that works as long as you're playing games that basically have the same structure and procedures. Where I ran into problems (and eventually "wrote" a "book") was when I encountered games that really didn't have the same fundamental flow.

So since then I've kinda come to the realization that roleplaying games are a much wider hobby than I had previously presumed, and now I prefer to approach each game with a bit more of a beginner's mind.
I think that last paragraph is important, if there isn’t already a thread on here about the definition of a role playing game I bet that would make an interesting and somewhat contentious topic.
 
I think I would still qualify that as not concise (maybe concise isn't quite the right word). It does create two significant loads for play. One is that memorizing the spells is very hard to impossible. The other is the amount of reference material a caster has to have immediately to hand because they WILL need it.

Cold Iron spells can be summarized on one line enough that once you generally know the spell, you rarely have to look it up.

Cold Iron does have a bunch of tables frequently consulted in combat. They fit on a double sided reference sheet that is thus suitable for slipping into a page protector or laminating.
It's definitely a game that requires you to have all your tables to hand for quick reference, although I think a lot of people just use apps for them. I have everything set up in Roll20 to just auto roll on the tables.

I don't think there's that much overhead for the wizards to remember their spells. They're not gonna remember exact results, but you don't need to. It's not like you can choose how high you roll on the table. You just need to remember that sleep puts people to sleep. The higher the roll, the more people, the longer they'll sleep, the harder it is to wake them etc.

I'll clarify here that I've only played at lower levels where the players only have a few spells each. A level 10 Cleric trying to keep track of his thirty different spells might be a bit more taxing.
 
I actually disagree with this. I understand it, but I disagree.

I think that works as long as you're playing games that basically have the same structure and procedures. Where I ran into problems (and eventually "wrote" a "book") was when I encountered games that really didn't have the same fundamental flow.

So since then I've kinda come to the realization that roleplaying games are a much wider hobby than I had previously presumed, and now I prefer to approach each game with a bit more of a beginner's mind.
This is a good point. And this is why I have struggled with some newer games. They are clearly built on different assumptions of play than the games I first started playing and so I totally fail. What can actually be even trickier is games that are based 90% on the assumptions of play you're used to and 10% on some new assumptions. You think you're playing the game right, and it seems to work. But there's some weird situations that don't quite work. You ignore them or you house rule or at the worst, you eventually give up on the game. All because of one tiny assumption that didn't match what you were used to.
 
It's definitely a game that requires you to have all your tables to hand for quick reference, although I think a lot of people just use apps for them. I have everything set up in Roll20 to just auto roll on the tables.

I don't think there's that much overhead for the wizards to remember their spells. They're not gonna remember exact results, but you don't need to. It's not like you can choose how high you roll on the table. You just need to remember that sleep puts people to sleep. The higher the roll, the more people, the longer they'll sleep, the harder it is to wake them etc.

I'll clarify here that I've only played at lower levels where the players only have a few spells each. A level 10 Cleric trying to keep track of his thirty different spells might be a bit more taxing.
Certainly automation can allow utilization of more complex procedures. I'm benefiting from some of that with Cold Iron. And yea, having to have a few tables handy isn't a pain. Having 30 tables handy on the other hand...

For sure we are going to see more and more games that depend on automation. I wonder if that's really a good thing...
 
All you need to do for DCC is download Purple Sorcerer Games’ The Crawler app, it really streamlines the experience of playing that game.
 
This is a good point. And this is why I have struggled with some newer games. They are clearly built on different assumptions of play than the games I first started playing and so I totally fail. What can actually be even trickier is games that are based 90% on the assumptions of play you're used to and 10% on some new assumptions. You think you're playing the game right, and it seems to work. But there's some weird situations that don't quite work. You ignore them or you house rule or at the worst, you eventually give up on the game. All because of one tiny assumption that didn't match what you were used to.
This. All of this. And that "looks similar, until it doesn't" is the worst.

That's exactly why I advocate for explicit procedures. Spell it out for dummies like me.

Getting to the "this is dumb, it must be me misunderstanding" point (as opposed to "this is dumb, the designers are dumb") was a tough step. I'm trying to be more humble :smile:
 
This. All of this. And that "looks similar, until it doesn't" is the worst.

That's exactly why I advocate for explicit procedures. Spell it out for dummies like me.

Getting to the "this is dumb, it must be me misunderstanding" point (as opposed to "this is dumb, the designers are dumb") was a tough step. I'm trying to be more humble :smile:
I think some of it just doesn't get a good editing pass, I mean I write gibberish, and think "I are good English at him" so I see it an d am like hmm... Though at the same time I sort of feel that maybe if it is too hard to describe, maybe it is too complex also. I mean such as with trav/cepheus base roll is 2d6+skill+characteristic DM vs 8. That is pretty easy, right?
 
Banner: The best cosmic horror & Cthulhu Mythos @ DriveThruRPG.com
Back
Top