One of the old school projects I'm most looking forward to seeing completed is JB's B/X Companion, an attempt to create the mythical third volume to the Moldvay-Cook-Marsh D&D rules, based on hints in the books we do have and healthy doses of imagination. As a younger person, I remember anxiously waiting for the release of that volume and was greatly disappointed we never saw it. Granted, we did, eventually, get a Companion set -- I even liked it -- but it wasn't quite the fulfillment of my earlier dreams and so I still long for a Companion that's more in the spirit of the B/X rules rather than the later ones.
What especially impresses me about JB's project is that he's keeping a 64-page limit on his work. To me, a relatively low pagecount is essential if your goal is to imitate the style of the early 80s. Indeed, I'm slowly coming round to the notion that one of the oft-overlooked aspects of old school design is page length. With the noteworthy exception of AD&D, whose position is problematic on a number of levels, most rules sets from the Golden Age are quite compact and concise. Not all of them are under 64 pages, it's true -- and in any case I don't want to be misconstrued as saying "anything over 64 pages in length isn't old school" -- but I do think that short and sweet is a defining characteristic of the Old Ways. It's why I continue to insist that there are "structural" aspects to old school design, contrary to the "old school is a feeling" crowd.
In any case, I very much look forward to seeing the B/X Companion finished and released. JB's decisions will undoubtedly be different than my own would have been, but I do think he's on the right track in trying to keep the rules short enough to fit within 64 pages. That's a design principle I'd love to see more RPGs of all sorts emulate.
So, does that mean those who want to demonstrate you can build an old school d20/D&D3 can be an old school game have a goal: 64 pages that let you run a level 1-3 game, 64 pages that let you run a level 4-10 game, and 64 pages that let you run levels 11-20 :)
ReplyDeleteAs much as I'm joking, that might not be a bad idea. Although I suspect that alone won't address all the structural issues, especially the "can do this" vs. "is good at this" attitude towards abilities.
What about Barrataria's companion? It runs a little longer than your specifications, but otherwise it appears to fit the bill.
ReplyDelete"So, does that mean those who want to demonstrate you can build an old school d20/D&D3 can be an old school game have a goal: 64 pages that let you run a level 1-3 game, 64 pages that let you run a level 4-10 game, and 64 pages that let you run levels 11-20 :)"
ReplyDeleteThat, plus making NPC's possible to fully stat up in about a minute, and be expressible in about 3 lines of text.
Nah I'd go further, Herb, and say limit 64 pages for levels one to infinity, if having levels is your bag.
ReplyDeleteIn my rules for rules at least a half or two thirds of those 64 would be devoted to equipment, monsters/races, spells/powers etc : )
Epées & Sorcellerie is exactly 64 pages, including the cover ;)
ReplyDeleteI think it'd be fair to aim for a 64 page word count, given the benefits of being concise, though I wouldn't aim to publish at exactly that page count, considering differences in layout style and page size.
ReplyDeleteThe new Dragon Age boxed set returns to this format. It has a 64 page player's book and a 64 page gamemaster's guide.
ReplyDeleteI am absolutely convinced old school design is about structure, not feeling.
ReplyDelete1) Parallel sub-systems that work in tandem.
2) Target numbers essentially defined by the character's stats, not the gamemaster.
3) An economy of words.
"Economy of words..."
ReplyDeleteWorking on it, believe you me.
; )