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How Much Setting in a Rulebook? (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by gary_d_pryor@lemmy.world to c/rpg@ttrpg.network

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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

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[–] Ziggurat@sh.itjust.works 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I want rpg book to be complete and self supported. Rules are IMO less important than setting, so I expect rpg books to contain less rules than than lore.

I don't want to use calculus to estimate damage, and realistically a big table of bonuses/maluses for an action is useless in real life as the GM has to set up a difficulty without breaking the game flow. But I want to know about that lady who rules her noble clan by poisoning her opponent, that cult of Eunuch monks who can see the future and the new religions who spread and is about to kick out the new God. These are the elements I need to create story.

Rules are an element to make the setting alive, and sometimes a whole part of that setting, for example D&D alignment and mage who forget their spell are a huge setting choice

[–] gary_d_pryor@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

"Rules are IMO less important than setting" that's the hottest take I've gotten so far. I agree in spirit. I love it when the rules get out of the way of narrative and immersion. That's probably why I love Electric Bastionland so much. It's got a real solid simple foundation that I can use for any story about exploring a dangerous space.