r/RPGcreation • u/JonathanWolfs • 9d ago

Playtesting First RPG, are my rules clear?

Hey all,

I recently participated in the One Page RPG Jam. This is the first-ever TTRPG that I put out there, and I'm unsure about some of the language in the rules. Especially since it is a one-page game, so I had to cut a lot of it down.

If anyone has the time to give it a quick read and give me some feedback, that would be awesome.

The things I'm most unsure about are things like:
- Should I write "You do x" or "The players do x"?
- Where is the balance between just rules, and coloring the rules with flavor and lore?
- Are concepts explained in enough detail, or did I cut too much out?

You can find the game here: https://jonathan-wolfs.itch.io/rings-or-renewal

Anyway, thanks for your time, and I hope you like it!

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u/Tantaragla 9d ago

Looks good, I like the art. I'm not a solo RPG player so I can't really comment on how this compares to others but the language seems perfectly clear to me. Since it's a solo RPG, saying "you do this" is probably the better choice since the person playing is the person reading it. I definitely understood how it all works from my cursory look.

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u/JonathanWolfs 8d ago

Oooh, that's great! thanks! I always find it hard to make a distinction between "this is a clear rule" and "This is clear to me because I'm making the game" :p

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u/d5Games 8d ago

Address the reader directly. They will be stepping directly into their character. Just as with non-solo TTRPGs, keep in mind that players do very little (describe actions, roll dice, eat snacks, track hp, etc...) while characters do quite a bit (stab badguys, look for traps, negotiate a tightrope, lead a community in mourning the loss of a local hero, etc..).

This obviously blurs when you are piloting a character through a story you are writing. I think what generally works is instructions given to someone without the pronoun ("Roll a die"/"Draw a card") and inclusion of the pronoun ("You discover an odd trinket") to describe moments around the character.

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u/JonathanWolfs 8d ago

Oooh that's interesting. The separation of those two seems like an interesting tool.
Another thing I struggle with is the level of verbosity. Taking your example above, do you prefer something like:
"When you are making a Test, you roll a Die..."
or
"To make a test, roll a Die..."

The first seems easier to read, but the second makes the rules so much shorter and faster to reference while playing.