Recent content by Celebrim

You make a lot of good points, and after work when I have time to write a lengthy post I'm going to have to address the board, but on this topic as a short response, I'd say "kinda". My point is that well written "rules" serve the GM and that the GM's needs and games needs typically outstrip...

There has been a flurry of discussion that I'll have to get to at a later point, but as a quick response to this one point, the phrasing I focused on reading the initial post was: "No More Massive Tomes of Rules...There is no reason that 5E (or any other edition for that matter) can't be...

Whether or not that is true it is NOT a rebuttal to what I said nor does it in any way refute it. Are you claiming that I'm wrong that the core rules of 1e AD&D were spread out over the PH, DMG, and MM? Because "other people have different experiences" is so not a refutation of that that it...

Which, in the case of most GMs asked to smith a rule on the fly or make a ruling on the fly, is likely to be a rational and reasonable instinct. Because the instinct of most GMs asked to get out of their comfort zone is to either say no or say a more elaborate version of no that involves...

What the rules are silent on, players will typically not attempt to do because they simply won't think about it or think it is possible. And what the rules are silent on, game masters will typically not design for because they simply won't think about it or if they do won't think of it as...

No, I was. That's part of the reason I have the opinion I do. I think you may be misremembering. All the combat tables and rules are segregated away from the players and placed in the Dungeon Master's guide which I believe comes in at 240 pages. And while technically there might be enough...

I don't know if it is the same book, but the Investigator Weapons series for CoC is one of drivethrurpg's all time best selling titles for BRP. That's like three 120 page volumes. And really, not a bad purchase for any CoC Keeper...

As I would use the term, games that I would expect to play out their story arc in about 60 hours or less. So yeah, a 40 session game is now up to a full campaign. I personally can't imagine doing that in a rules light system, though perhaps we need a definition of "rules light" as well, as...

So the most elegant ("rules concise") set of chase rules I'm familiar with is from 1e WEG D6 Star Wars, which is an utterly brilliant set of rules. I haven't counted but it runs at about 3 pages or 1500 words roughly. It's also subtly flawed in a way that isn't obvious until you try to use it...

Maybe so. I grew up with country boys that meaningfully knew the difference between a .303, a .308, a 30/30, and a 30.06 and ex-soldiers that had a lot of experience with weaponry. And I'm a bit of a history buff that cares a lot about having period appropriate submachine guns and rifles...

I love clarity and conciseness. I also think that's a very hard challenge. In 3e D&D people seemed to think that writing a new feat was the easiest thing in 3e D&D design because they were short. In fact, because they were short writing a good feat was one of the most challenging things you...

As a handout to starting players, sure. But suppose you are a keeper that wants to set a scenario during the Chaco War and you want period accurate and realistic weapons for both sides, up to and including things like a Vickers tank. With your two page supplement as your only guideline, you...

I felt you were stretching the definition of a smaller set of rules to count BRP/Cthulhu. CoC has always needed a bunch of supplemental material that until 7e I don't feel was very often included. The Keeper's guide in 7e is 448 pages, with a supplemental Investigator's Guide coming in at 265...

There is nothing wrong with having widely applicable core proposition resolution rules, such as a well thought out skill system. I'm just highly skeptical that such a thing can be created that well treats with diverse situations. Invariably, you are going to introduce abstractions and...

The ones that do it well have my undying respect and gratitude. There are books on my shelf I treat as treasures. If a game designer can save hours of my time, well that money is well spent. The ones that don't do it well, I wonder why they expect me to pay for their crap.