Quote from: HinterWeltCall me silly but I look for the character generation and character sheet. If I cannot grok the game from that, forget it.

That's what I look at first, too.  You can tell a lot from sample characters, too.

Quote from: SeanIs there one rule that you always look for ?

Chargen, or more specifically, the structure of chargen. If chargen is unstructured (e.g., just a big pile of things to buy and a point total), then I generally think of the game as inadequate.

Quote from: BalbinusMe too, to be honest if the character sheet looks complex or cluttered I stop right there.

Ditto. From the character sheet, I can get a quick feel for what's emphasized and how fiddly the rules are.

This is especially true for free games that I don't know much about - I don't want to waste time reading every single game out there, so I quickly discard games that look unfun.

Drowning and falling.




Alright, honestly, I flip to the character sheet. More than two pages (I can always print it double-sided) and back it goes.

Character generation, especially classes or whatever the equivalent is in the game (Clans, Backgrounds, Careers, whatever) and skill resolution. With a good skill system I know I can make a game work, even if the combat system is so-so. If there's magic then that's an important section too. A game with a magic system that sucks tends to piss me off.

-=Grim=-

Quote from: BalbinusMe too, to be honest if the character sheet looks complex or cluttered I stop right there.

What he said.

Add to that, if there is a little diagram on the char sheet for hit location I put it back on the shelf as fast as I possibly can.

hrm, I guess I suck with 11 stats and hit locations.

Bill

Character creation should be easy if I'm GMing and have a shit-ton of cool stuff I can use if I'm playing. The best games do both.

Task resolution should be at least partly random and favor the skilled character and the skilled player. I prefer single-die type but I'm not picky. I'd rather not roll more than six dice in one go.

The mechanics should cover all the bases. DnD doesn't need rules for anthropomorphic turtle bicycle jousts, but a cyberpunk game needs decent hacking rules.

There should be something nifty. It should be there when you need it and fade into the background when you don't. This can be things like hero points, sanity, whatever.

The end result should kinda make sense.

These days, if I'm flipping through a game in a store wondering whether I want to buy it, I go directly to the example of play, because a good example will a) show me the resolution mechanics at work and b) give me an idea of what you're meant to do with the game in question. (The Call of Cthulhu play example is really good at this, as is the one in the AD&D 1E Dungeon Master's Guide.) If I read the example of play and say to myself "Hey, I wouldn't have minded being at that game," it'll be that much more likely I'll look at the rest of the game. If I read it and think "Jesus, that must have been a really dull/annoying/stupid game session" I'm liable to put the game back on the shelf and walk away.

Once I've actually paid for a book, I'll tend to read things in chapter order on my first read-through. Most sensibly-arranged games these days go resolution mechanic -> character gen -> important subsystems -> setting anyhow.

Quote from: HinterWeltCall me silly but I look for the character generation and character sheet. If I cannot grok the game from that, forget it. Thus, the design of all may games.

Bill

Me too.  Beyond that, I want to see how they handle multiple actions, particularly defensive actions--I like them reactive, because I hate it when you have to state you're "withholding" a defensive action at the start of the turn or else you don't get to defend.  

Pete

Quote from: HinterWelthrm, I guess I suck with 11 stats and hit locations.

Bill

Ain't nothin' appeals to everybody

Lotsa very smart responses in this thread.

I gotta admit to being a little stupid about it though, lately the very very first thing I do is find the auto fire rules. I'm a child at heart, what can I say?

Quote from: darLotsa very smart responses in this thread.

I gotta admit to being a little stupid about it though, lately the very very first thing I do is find the auto fire rules. I'm a child at heart, what can I say?

A lot of folk get really bugged about those in my experience, I suspect it may come from them knowing something about guns and most rpgs doing them fairly badly but I can't be sure as I know nothing about guns.

Yeah, it's really easy to make autofire rules too good, too bad, or too wrong.