#RPGaDay2024 - 5 - RPG with Great Writing

This year's RPGaDay (full text list here)

Q. RPG with Great Writing?

A. Cartel (but it could have been Delta Green or Outgunned)

This is a challenging one. What, exactly, do we mean by 'great writing' in a roleplaying game? 

Writing a roleplaying game is a challenging task, if you want it to be 'great'. There are several different writing skills needed; 

First of all, you need to be able to write with clarity to express the rules for the game so that others understand them and they are unambiguous. The rules don't need to be the most fantastic in the world, as that's game design rather than writing, but if you fail to express them clearly then you will frustrate your readers (especially the GMs).

Next, you need to write creatively, which means that you need to express the vision of the game in a way that gets the reader excited about the setting or concept of your game. Ideally, your writing should have spaces for their imagination to expand into. I think the mark of a great roleplaying game from a GM's perspective is when you start to think about how you'll run it, something that I usually describe as 'the GM tingles'. You get this urge to explore things and create for yourself in someone else's space.

You also need to write concisely, both in the rules and in the main text. Be direct and avoid fluff. Don't overwrite it. Your job is to transfer ideas and information in an exciting way to inspire others. One of my biggest turn offs when someone pitches a game at me is when they tell me just how many hundred pages they have, as if size is a mark of quality.

Very few games achieve this.

Examples for me include Delta Green, Outgunned and Cartel. 

I've criticised Cartel's publishers, Magpie Games, before for their poor communication and inept project management (which in my case means I'll never back another crowdfunding from them). However, the care they put into the writing of their games is exemplary. They are well-written (perhaps well-honed), precisely targeted at a theme, and clear and concise. I cannot criticise them for quality*. 

Writing a great roleplaying game is a huge challenge, which is why there are many good RPGs (which can sing in the hands of a great GM) but not that many great RPGs.

The Cartel RPG - Greatness included.

(*I'll save that for the two extra books from the Cartel Kickstarter that still haven't been delivered.)

5 August 2024