Personable Thoughts

  The fruitful void, whitespace, rules-lite, et cetera. A set of role-playing rules will often be like a Swiss cheese: Some overarching rules to provide structure, and holes to fill at the table. When designing a game, you must choose the scope and specificity of the rules. You probably need to (perhaps metaphorically) write down at least  one  rule for what you're making to be considered a game (though you may convince me otherwise), and conversely, there is a limit to how many rules you can write down if you intend to finish writing within your lifetime. When then, is the correct amount of rules? Surely this must be a solved problem in the field of game design. The correct answer is of course whatever you think it is. We play game to have fun, or at least some kind of desired experience. If a game provides that without you feeling chafed under the weight of the rulebook, or lost in a big, empty or not very fruitful void, then the game has the right amount of rules for y...

  It is a truth universally acknowledged that a destitute adventurer, in possession of a sharp blade, must be in want of a hole. Holes are after all where the treasures live, guarded by orcs and worse. Of course, in modern parlance, we like to call these holes "Dungeons", and if we want to get real fancy, they're "The Mythic Underworld". This is because, indeed, it does not make sense that one would store that much treasure in what is, essentially, a hole in the ground. Even at the best of times, going underground is a scary prospect, untold tonnes of earth and stone hanging over your head, ready to collapse at any moment if not properly secured, burying you with your treasure for all eternity. Sensible people build castles, it's less work. Maybe a little basement underneath, but none of this deep cave stuff. That's delving too deep, too greedily. This means that normal people don't put their treasures in big dungeons deep underground. People with lo...