😍

I'm pretty sure this is about the new zootopia film but I know nothing about it so I have no context for what any of this means

Also true of movies and RT scores

But for the majority of people I've played with, the biggest stumbling block to playing TTRPGs is difficulty related to learning games by reading the rules. You show them a mathematical formula or a gameplay phase diagram and they shut down -- for things they understand via demonstration no problem.

The audience for Pathfinder is, near-exclusively, people who were already familiar with an older version of D&D and then, over time, just dedicated long-term Pathfinder players. This is a model I respect but it also kind of self-selects for people who already have the right aptitudes for the game.

Oh, you're posting here again!

Also yeah, a lot of games people call rules light I would call rules incomplete. Your game doesn't need fall damage rules most of the time, but I do expect stealth mechanics in games where sneaking around and hiding are important. Not including those rules makes the game "lighter" but at what cost

Is Traveller rules light? When I talk about it, I describe it as such. But *is it really*? You can only figure this out by knowing what games I consider rules heavy and then guessing why I think they're heavy, which is rarely as simple as simple page count.

I’ve taught a lot of games, and one of the easiest to teach was Pathfinder 2e and one of the hardest to teach was Masks.

This isn’t an indicator of quality necessarily, but more that I think people make a mistake when they assume math = complexity and lack-of-math = intuitive.

I don’t have a thesis here, I’m just venting frustration from a recurring conversation combined with a horrid migraine, so you get a blast of grumbly nomenclature thoughts.

Another thing which sours me on the term “rules-light” is the way its usefulness as a descriptor is overshadowed by the social battleground it draws; there’s baggage on multiple sides of the frame, and invoking it prompts people to pick a side in a fight no one understands. It’s a mess.

Then there’s games like apocalypse world. Is it rules light because everything is resolved with 2d6 (modified) then check against move outcome? Or is it rules heavy because you have so many premade moves and frameworks, AND bespoke moves as needed? Or are those light too because it’s a conversation?

The bait is me cheekily going “shadowrun is a rules light game” btw - I’ve taught enough people to play that I can say with confidence “its reputation is way overblown; the core is pretty simple and it’s mainly organization and presentation which is intimidating”, I can get folks rolling in minutes.