Post Awx8ETZ2266OSiDD84 by lextenebris@social.vivaldi.net
(DIR) More posts by lextenebris@social.vivaldi.net
(DIR) Post #Awx8EMPCeF54GCYlKy by zdl@gamerplus.org
2025-08-08T02:20:04Z
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Dear #ttrpg publishers:I get it. I do. There's a certain swell of pride when you publish your game rules and they're gorgeous works of art on the inside as well as outside.But, in counterpoint, that also makes them horrifically expensive *and* can impede their utility as actual games.So how 'bout you focus all that visual creativity on the cover. Make a book that looks beautiful on the shelf while still being usable *as a game*.🧵 ▶️
(DIR) Post #Awx8ENi1njjWIsNJJo by zdl@gamerplus.org
2025-08-08T02:22:14Z
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Let me share what I look for in a game.1. The cover. Yes, I judge a book by its cover *because that's the first thing I see* and, as a human being, I make judgments based on these. The cover is where you tell me, quickly, what vibe your game is going for. What style or genre the game is. What the target audience is likely to be. Spend effort and money there.Oh, and make sure you have a good cover for lying flat. This is a reference book, not a novel. I need to refer to it.🧵 ▶️
(DIR) Post #Awx8EOo5igB3hyDfPM by zdl@gamerplus.org
2025-08-08T02:25:20Z
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2. The paper and ink. If I'm playing your game, I'm flipping through the rules constantly. The book is lying out on the table, usually wide open. It will fall off. It will get stuff spilled on it. Make sure the paper you use is durable and isn't going to dissolve away the first time some tea slops onto it. (Or the tenth time, for that matter.)And the ink: I really hate books where the ink flows from my sweaty fingers. (Or from the aforementioned tea.) Use an ink that resists this.🧵 ▶️
(DIR) Post #Awx8EPs1lWv70T4KBM by zdl@gamerplus.org
2025-08-08T02:28:09Z
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3. Presentation quality. I get it. Really I do. There's something really appealing to full-gloss, full-colour pages with fancy colourful backgrounds. It looks nice.But it also can and will obfuscate content.I have a game that has this full-colour vibe that colour-codes each section. It looks beautiful. It's helpful for navigation. Until you realize that at least two of the chosen colours (blue and purple) make the page numbering impossible to work out.🧵 ▶️
(DIR) Post #Awx8EQnSK0rDsZwBhA by zdl@gamerplus.org
2025-08-08T02:30:18Z
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So much for navigability! And what's worse is that this is a minor problem. I've seen game books (*cough*'90s Kult supplements*cough*) where the background made it impossible to read the text without holding the book at an awkward angle against the light because the print ink reflected differently from the background colour ink. I literally never used these books (nor even read the contents much past a few pages) because they were so bad.And then there's the impact of colour-blindness.🧵 ▶️
(DIR) Post #Awx8ERpyS8Sx6g7iG8 by zdl@gamerplus.org
2025-08-08T02:33:36Z
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So resist that urge. Full-gloss, full-colour pages look nice. But unless you've got a far larger budget than it statistically probable, you're probably making the actual experience of using your game worse, not better.Semi-gloss or fine matte with black ink illustration and text are better on your eyes; clear typography, thoughtful layout, effective use of negative space, and carefully placed black-and-white illustrations or line art can create a design both elegant and usable.🧵 ▶️
(DIR) Post #Awx8ESgnHkiVkUptaa by zdl@gamerplus.org
2025-08-08T02:37:32Z
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4. Information design. There are popular games out there I can't stand because when I need to reference things **I can't find them**. (I'm looking at you here, Savage Worlds.) Then there's the games where you can find things you need, but you probably won't ever actually use them because the way they're organized is so frustrating to read. (This tragically includes my favoured Chivalry & Sorcery 5th Edition rulebook.)Information design is a thing. Read up on it. Use it. GET FEEDBACK!🧵 ▶️
(DIR) Post #Awx8ETZ2266OSiDD84 by lextenebris@social.vivaldi.net
2025-08-08T04:28:27Z
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@ZDL Believe me, I have ranted about tabletop RPG layout and typography since the early 90s. I was there when White Wolf decided to put black on black with black decorations (and I still love the cover of Wraith). I was there when the standard font size was 7-point Times Roman, which is an absolutely stupid size when you have an 8.5 by 11 page and you insist on very wide columns with very narrow gutters. I was there when super-saturated, hyper-complex layouts became all the rage and readability fell off the book (and that was recently, because Mörk Borg sucks).I would love for people who lay out tabletop RPGs to get the clue of what a good, well-produced, well-presented game looks like. Luckily, there are a few.Ironsworn/Starforged is very much my gold standard of what a black-and-white and color RPG should be laid out in and presented as, for the moment, Starforged. The book is nicely perfect bound, but the supplements are actually available in coil bound. The 6x9 format is easy to hold and easy to read. The font is relatively generous, and the white space is nice. The art doesn't obscure any of the text. It's just beautiful work.
(DIR) Post #Awx8EU603WTQ6xdXW4 by lextenebris@social.vivaldi.net
2025-08-08T04:28:32Z
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@ZDL Likewise, look at ShadowDark and quite a lot of the supplements for it. While I'm not the guy the game is targeting to be the audience, the layout is absolutely on point—clear, black and white, generally well-printed, with generous margins and good typography. Good game layout is out there. It's just not in the vast majority of games that are widely popular.
(DIR) Post #Awx8EZafcuyh9X1bW4 by zdl@gamerplus.org
2025-08-08T02:39:45Z
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And I can't stress that feedback thing enough: get feedback from people who are *not* in your corner. Get feedback from smart people. From stupid people. From people who like things different from you. From people who like the same as you.Then listen to that feedback. In the end, if your prospective customer says your rules are confusing, THEY ARE NOT IN THE WRONG. YOU ARE. Because they want your game less than you want their money.(Don't be Steve Jackson, I'm trying to say.)🧵 ▶️
(DIR) Post #Awx8EgVbu85cbriA6K by zdl@gamerplus.org
2025-08-08T02:42:16Z
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5. Price. I know I know, I'm going to get a whole bunch of publishers beating their chests like gorillas challenging an incursion by outsiders, but stick around.There's something to be said for customers having to get used to higher prices. But that something was to be said fifteen years ago, not in the escalating financial disaster that's cutting into more and more people's pocket money. The time to "train" your customers to accept higher prices was when times were good, not now.🧵 ▶️
(DIR) Post #Awx8EnKsWQfFmbkBqS by zdl@gamerplus.org
2025-08-08T02:45:06Z
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In current economic climes having games get more and more and more expensive—even as they get narrower and narrower and narrower in niche appeal—is a sucker's game. In 2010-2015 people might have been willing to shell out in larger numbers for a $70 rule book for a game with such a narrow and tightly-focused genre that you might only get, say, a dozen sessions of play out of it before it becomes a permanent resident of the shelf.Today is not 2010-2015.🧵 ▶️
(DIR) Post #Awx8EtRpnTnGjv2pWK by zdl@gamerplus.org
2025-08-08T02:47:44Z
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Now here's the good news: one of the things I mentioned above (about the full-gloss, full-colour pages) is one of the best ways to cut back on those costs. It's a LOT LESS EFFORT AND COST to use high quality matte paper with black ink than it is to make full-gloss, full-colour pages. You can use the money and time you save to fund providing more content or to reducing the price tag of the book, overcoming that price:benefit ratio barrier one way or another.Or you can go PDF-exclusive.🧵 ▶️
(DIR) Post #Awx8EziiTcrYC0zOfQ by zdl@gamerplus.org
2025-08-08T02:50:02Z
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Of course what do I know? I mean aside from being an avid purchaser of TTRPGs since 1978. (Oh, and working in market consultation for multiple decades.)I guess what I know is that I saw the TTRPG industry come to a near-collapse once before over this kind of ridiculousness and didn't like it. I don't want to see it happen again.🧵 ⏹️