NeoGrognard

Most games are not played as written. Of course I am talking about non-computer games, in many ways those games have to be played “as written,” but even computer games are rarely are played exactly as they are designed (and I’m not even going to get into hacks, add-ons, and amateur levels). There are many reasons for this. The first time you play a game, often you overlook some rules, you forget to do something on your turn, and more importantly game players become dissatisfied with the normal game rules and either create a simplification of some complicated game rules or they create more complexity to simulate something the game rules deal with in an abstract manner. And then you just have those of us who like to tinker and create new things for an existing rules set. 

This is no truer than in RPGs. Not only does the open-ended structure of RPG game lend itself to this aspect of game play, since most RPGs have a game master who is empowered to make changes when needed. I’ve rarely played in a D&D game or any other RPG where there weren’t at least a few house rules. Hell, I’ve rarely played a miniatures wargame that didn’t have a few house rules. In the Wings of War tournament I played at Enfilade! there were a number of variant rules and even rules misinterpretations, but it didn’t stop it from being fun and challenging. Though I can conveniently use them as an excuse as to why I didn’t place first—even if it’s not true, or at least can’t be proven. 

A later version of Iron Crown Enterprises Arms Law (along with Claw Law) the original Arms Law was a combat variant for RPGs with some very memorable critical strike charts. Critical hits were one of those add-ons that the early game creators shunned (for various reasons) although some form of the critical hit rules were used in just about every non-RPGA game I played while growing up. While the Rolemaster system is far too fiddly for my tastes, it did allow groups who wanted to have that level of combat complication and so-called realism to place it in their games. Personally I think this may be one of the most influential RPG products of the 80s. Both 3e and even 4e owes a lot to what Rolemaster did right and wrong.

There is part of me that often wonders why this deep-engrained tendency to fiddle with rules is rarely embraced in published RPGs. Sure, every once in a while we get a sidebar, or a book of variant rules, and often these rules seem pretty popular. And then there is the tendency for fledgling game companies to produce add-ons or variants to existing rules, only to product their entire rules systems later (the various “law” books for Rolemaster and the “Man to Man” book that lead the charge for GURPS are the two examples that come to my mind as two of the most influential). I get the business reason for it. After a while game companies want control over their intellectual property, and don’t want to be adversely affected by the business whims and secrecy that often hovers around the parent company. And then there is the problem with changing business goals of the parent company. The parent company may start out very tolerant of published add-ons and variants only to close shop on them when sales take a plunge. 

Personally, I am a big fan of open game systems. I know there is an argument that allowing other companies to produce product for you intellectual property will cannibalize sales from the brand, but I actually think the opposite is true. If you allow fans to create supplements and new variants you not only create a stronger gaming industry with an abundance of cottage companies (who may grow into larger companies) but these variants will help retain some players longer, as they are able to play and explore the games in ways that are somewhat niche, at least to the big producers on the block. They also give the opportunity to try new things in RPG systems and while these small companies and their ideas don’t sell as much as their larger companions, they often find ways to influence the larger game over time. Play mats, tile products, miniatures, spell decks, helper software, different combat rules, and progresses in adventure design were all the heralded by smaller companies or individual designers that wanted to contribute something useful to RPGs, usually with little to no thought about commercial viability. 

At the same time, open game system or at least open design is not just a business plan. I think RPGs would actually benefit by become more modular in the design of their products. Create a dirt simple supplement and then layer more of more complicated variants in a modular form, allowing  individual groups and GMs to create the experience they want. 

It’s a trick use often in board games, usually the more complicated kinds of board games, but something that is only rarely attempted in RPGs. When I started to build Hexploration there were a lot of things I wanted to accomplish, and threw the whole kitchen sink into the first prototype. Along with the various things that didn’t pan out in actual play, there were ideas that had the glimmer of something, but need additional iteration, and were often too complicated for the starter game. There were also wants and desires brought up by my playtesters that I thought were interesting, but would add too much complication to the basic rules—the rules that were made to get people playing quickly and make the move from beginner to intermediate quickly. At the same time, they were interesting enough that I started to think about variants. Rules that would cover particular situations or that would add a level of complication some groups crave. I started putting those ideas and rules in their own sections. They became the first add-ons: rules that you could add to the game in a modular way, and that could even talked to one another. These rules became a buffet of options that individual groups could add and discard at their leisure. Of course, they create a benchmark or at least some ideas on how to build your own, which I think is a good idea. 

But I’m getting a little ahead of myself. On Wednesday I’ll share some of the basic assumptions of Hexploration and then I talk a little more about the add-ons.