[RPG] Worlds in Sixty-Four Pages

[stevekenson]

Sometimes (like today) I miss 64-page RPGs. You may know the ones, from the early days of the hobby, when an entire RPG came in the form of a 64-page, saddle-stiched (which is to say, stapled) booklet in a box. Oftentimes, there would be a 32-page adventure along with it, or maps, or other components (dice, counters, and whatnot), but the core, the essence, of the entire game would be contained in that 64-page book.

Many of mine became dog-eared, their covers intended with thumb- and finger-marks from holding them so often. I’ve still got most of them, games like Gamma World, Villains & Vigilantes, Champions (the second edition, before they went with a square-bound single book), Boot Hill, Top Secret (before S.I.), Marvel Super-Heroes, Star Froniters, and, of course, the original Dungeons & Dragons boxed set(s). Those games packed whole worlds of fun and adventure into those booklets, and still do, in many ways.

Now, I’m not making judgments about more recent RPGs, with their hardcover “core rules” with hundreds of glossy, full-color pages. Hey, I’ve written or contributed to more than a few of them. Still, there are times when I get nostalgic for those booklets, for games smaller than many typical magazines these days. I know part of it is because, as the saying goes, “the Golden Age of adventure is around age 12,” and so, too, was the Golden Age of gaming, in many ways; my Golden Age of gaming, anyway (my “Silver Age” of gaming was around age 16, I’d say).

It’s no small feat, what those early game designers accomplished, fitting worlds into 64 pages. In some ways, we designers weened on their work are still catching up.

Comments

[rob-donoghue.livejournal.com]

Yes, Yes, Yes, A thousand times yes!

[bruceb.livejournal.com]

Oh, I very much share the feeling. I think that commercial rpg design has gotten scrunched way up into one corner of the notional space of "good useful approaches". I'd like to see more such things out and about now.

[drivingblind.livejournal.com]

Word.

[chadu.livejournal.com]

I've been pondering this myself.

I think, after the doorstop of a book S7S is gonna be, my future forays into game design will be aiming at the 64 to 128 weet spot.

[foreign-devilry.livejournal.com]

Yup. I was just re-reading Agon and marveling at the density of awesome John Harper packed in there. Similarly, Clint Krause's Roanoke, Kevin Allen Jr.'s Primitive, Vincent Baker's In a Wicked Age, etc. Actually, there's a whole bunch of small press indie games that clock in at less than 100 pages.

Me, I love me some saddle stitch books. Yessir.

[saxon-pagan.livejournal.com]

>>because, as the saying goes, “the Golden Age of adventure is around age 12,” and so, too, was the Golden Age of gaming<<

Naw, I share you feeling, and RPGs didn't even exist when I was twelve. I began playing games like Gamma World and the classic D&D back in 1979 (when I was 25), and those gave me more pleasure than the majority of "thick and slick" game systems published now. It's a shame they don't reprint the classics. I know I'd buy them.

[gamerguy.livejournal.com]

I wish there were more (read: any) 64-page RPGs being produced. I was really, really hoping this version of D&D would be one 96-page book , but it was not to be. M&M is still the closest thing I've seen in years and that's a good part of why I like it so much. One book that covers every aspect of both an RPG and a genre, with room for GM advice and adventures.

[rob-donoghue.livejournal.com]

It occurred to me that the 128 page digest size also fills this niche, and there are a few of those. Admittedly most of them are more rules than setting, but the form factor is an option for those wanting to look more like a book and less like a magazine.