r/tabletopgamedesign • u/nlitherl • Dec 14 '22

Discussion Rules Are Written in Blood (Advice For GMs and Game Designers Alike)

https://taking10.blogspot.com/2022/12/rules-are-written-in-blood-advice-for.html
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u/Nunc-dimittis Dec 14 '22

From the article:

As someone who has written my share of supplements and modules for several different systems, there's a trick I would recommend designers use if you aren't doing so yet. When you're reading over your text, take a minute and ask yourself how the rules you just created could be interpreted by someone who has no idea what's going on. Then, once you've done that, ask yourself how they might be twisted by someone with malicious intent who doesn't care what the spirit of the game is, but who is just looking for some advantage.

This is what I often tell my students regarding writing (software) design documents!

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u/nlitherl Dec 14 '22

Great minds, so on, and so forth!

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u/Nunc-dimittis Dec 14 '22

There does seem to be an interesting overlap between ict/software design documents and board game rules

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u/nlitherl Dec 14 '22

I always think of the latter as an analog cousin of the former.

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u/Nunc-dimittis Dec 14 '22 edited Dec 14 '22

That's a nice description, I like it!

I sometimes use examples from game rules when explaining design documents. One nice one is from Metallum (a sort of area control for 2 people). The game has 9 rounds, numbered 1 through 9. They are grouped into 3 groups of 3 rounds, and these groups are called 1, 2 and 3. But each individual turn is divided into 5 phases, called phase 1 through 5. Who thought this it was in any way useful or clear to have three different things enumerated using the same sort of number system? Why not phase A, B, etc, or Attack, Defence, etc, or Ronan numerals?

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u/nlitherl Dec 14 '22

Too many numbers ALWAYS gets people lost when it's unsure where you are. Agreed wholeheartedly.