Quote from: Ian AbsentiaWell written rules don't need much in the way of examples of play, though.  For instance, the original LBB Traveller had virtually no examples, but was written and organised well.  On the other hand, Mongoose's new Traveller (the playtest documents, at least) were rife with examples, in some sections outweighing the rules text almost 2-to-1.  Resist the urge to pad content with examples.

!i!

Well, what I have now is this setup for the rules book:

Cover page - with picture
Table of contents
Introduction - one page
Rules - 12 pages
Charts - 2 pages
Example Combat with magic - 1 page
Mini-Gamesmaster's Guide - 1 page
Print Sheets - 3 pages (character sheets, blank hex map, blank grid map)

Total: 22 pages (8x11, 10pt font)

It is really low frills.  The rational is that it is a mini-system, so I felt the rules book should reflect that by being ... well, mini.   For each rule I also provide a mini-example which is usually one line in italics.   I hope that will do.

Quote from: gleichmanDepends upon the rules.

Granted, and any game as a whole benefits from examples of how the rules work.

!i!

Quote from: Ian AbsentiaWell written rules don't need much in the way of examples of play, though.  For instance, the original LBB Traveller had virtually no examples, but was written and organised well.  On the other hand, Mongoose's new Traveller (the playtest documents, at least) were rife with examples, in some sections outweighing the rules text almost 2-to-1.  Resist the urge to pad content with examples.

!i!

Thanks for the thoughts on this.  I've been puzzled about the usefulness/effectiveness of the examples vs. well designed rules ever since one of my pals mentioned that I should include examples of play.  So I did drum up an example of combat, and added that as a page in the rules book.  Another friend said I should definitely have a table of contents (even for a 20 page book?, I asked - he said, "Definitely").   So ... here's the Elthos ODS Core Rules book Table of Contents:


ELTHOS (cover page with image and credits)................... 1
TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................... 2
INTRODUCTION: THE ELTHOS ONE DIE SYSTEM ..................... 3
THE CORE ODS RULES .......................................... 4
Required Equipment for Playing the Game ..................... 4
Character Generation: Requisites ............................ 4
Character Generation: Adventure Guild Classes ............... 4
Character Generation: Character Level ....................... 4
Character Life Points ....................................... 5
Character Mystic Points ..................................... 5
Character Heritage .......................................... 5
Character Starting Money .................................... 5
Character Attack Level & Skills Level ....................... 5
Character Armor Class & Difficulty Level .................... 5
Weapon Damage Bonus & Attack Level Modifier ................. 5
Death, Damage & Character Regeneration ...................... 6
Learning Skills & Mystic Powers at the Adventurer’s Guild ... 6
Using Skills & Task Difficulty Level ........................ 6
The General Resolution Matrix ............................... 6
Random Encounters & Wandering Monsters ...................... 6
Group Initiative ............................................ 7
Movement Rules .............................................. 7
Positional Armor Class Adjustment ........................... 7
Zones of Control ............................................ 7
Character Races, Monsters & Critters ........................ 8
Calculating Experience Gains (XPG): Skills & Kills .......... 8
Losing Experience! .......................................... 8
ODS Rules Modifications Guideline Note ...................... 9
Mystic Powers: Magic & Miracles ............................. 9
Mystic Combat ............................................... 9
Mystic Attack Level & Armor Class Formulas .................. 9
Mana Gems, Mystical Artifacts & Relics ...................... 9
True Love, Marriage & Character Inheritance ................. 9
MYSTIC POWERS (SPELLS & MIRACLES) DESCRIPTIONS .............. 10
1st Book of Spells [Level] for Spell Chanters ............... 10
1st Book of Miracles (Alignment) [Level] for Clerics ........ 10
Combat, Magic & Skills – Default Rules ...................... 11
Optional Supplemental General Rules ......................... 11
Optional Supplemental Movement Rules ........................ 11
Optional Supplemental Combat Rules .......................... 11
Optional Supplemental Magic Rules ........................... 11
ELTHOS ODS CHARTS ........................................... 12
GAMESMASTER’S MINI-GUIDE .................................... 15
PRINT SECTION ............................................... 16
Printable Outdoor/Wilderness "Hex" Map ...................... 16
Printable Indoor/Dungeon “Square” Map ....................... 17
Combat Melee Tracker ........................................ 18
Character Sheets ............................................ 19
EXAMPLES SECTION ............................................ 20
Example Characters .......................................... 20
Example Combat, Spell Use, and Experience Gain .............. 21


It's pretty low frills.  The rational is that it is a mini-system, so I felt the rules book should reflect that by being ... well, mini.   I tried to cover all of the basic stuff I do with my world in terms of GMing systems, but pared down to the absolute minimum.   For example in my regular rules system I have 10 requisites, but in the mini system I have only three.   The regular system uses 4d6 for requisites while the mini-system uses 1d6.   And so on.   I know it probably will strike many RPGers as too simple, but my goal was to produce the absolute simplest set of rules, without losing the fundamental mechanics of my game.  So here you have the contents.   What do you think?

If a rule takes more than 1 step to resolve or there are multiple ways of resolving the rule, then i'd recommend an example or two. Otherwise, they probably aren't necessary.

Quote from: One Horse TownIf a rule takes more than 1 step to resolve or there are multiple ways of resolving the rule, then i'd recommend an example or two. Otherwise, they probably aren't necessary.

Thanks... I think I more or less followed that guideline.  I tried to keep reasonably consistant throughout the booklet.   So what I did was include a one line example of each rule where I felt it would help in italics that can be easily spotted, and checked.   I *think* that makes the system more quickly understood.  Sometimes I find trying to describe clearly in text (especially mathematical stuff) is more difficult than providing an example - and certainly the example makes the text easier to grasp.  Here's an example:

Character Starting Money
After the first roll, the Starting Money is based on the Heritage of the Character who starts with 100 x the Heritage roll in Iron Pieces.  Thus a Peasant would start with 100 Iron which is enough to purchase a sturdy weapon or a good piece of Armor.  A Ruler Character starts with 600 Iron, which is enough to purchase reasonably good weapons and armor, or items.

I was trying to write this book for an age range between 11 and 15, more or less, though I think the system itself may be attractive, under certain circumstances, to a wider audience.