Let’s say we’re playing a game, and when you make your character, you pick one of 8 archetypes and that’s the majority of the mechanical choice you make; everything else is like “name, appearance” etc. So the choice part is not deep and complicated, you don’t have to think very hard about multiple systems interacting, or point balance, or anything.

But then, you have to get the archetype mechanics into a playable reference. Maybe you have a printer and you can just print it; great. Maybe you don’t. So then what? Do you hand copy a page of text, or several sentences and sub rules about how abilities work? Do you screenshot the page and track changing parts seperately? Use some program to put editable boxes over parts?

This is what I call a “copy heavy” game; the players or the group are expected to copy large amounts of information over into a more useable format. For in person play, things like PbtA playbooks or pre-printed spell cards for reference have become a regular thing. And this is also probably the number one reason VTTs that have character builders or easy “drag and drop” interfaces for spells or powers are popular; the copy process is simplified.

I think at this point in the hobby, if your game has a “copy heavy” aspect, you should be thinking about designing tools, printable, or online, that can ease that hurdle.

If you find my blog entertaining and valuable, consider supporting me on Patreon.

When folks play any kind of RPG that isn’t raw freeform, there’s a mode-shift that happens depending on what subset of mechanics you jump into. “Oh, now I’m doing a skill test” “Oh, now I’m using the magic rules” etc. You kind of go into procedure/process mode when you do this.

Your brain doesn’t have all of the rules in “immediate use” storage, it has maybe, the equivalent of a browser tab or app icon, which when you switch modes, opens it up. You could think of how many things you have open and visible on your computer screen as an equivalent.

So, one of the things I’ve realized is that if you have some rules in your game that aren’t tied as a specific step to these sub-processes, people forget to use them, until they’ve gained quite a bit of system fluency, and sometimes not even then.

• Confessional rules in Inspectres
• Help/FORKed skill rules in Burning Wheel
• Fanmail for Primetime Adventures
• Inspiration from D&D 5E

These types of things are “always on”, as in, you can call on them anytime, but by being always on, they’re easy to slide out of your memory because there’s no one step that prompts you to consider them.

Now, there is a tool that can help; a physical prompt/cue. You can put the rule or resource on the character sheet in a special box that is prominent to remind people. You can have physical tokens on the table that everyone can see (“Oh wait I should pass out some Fanmail for that”). You can give people cards to play during the game.

If something is “always on” it should probably also be nearly “always visible”.

I’ve often seen people veer away from these types of mechanics but not be able to articulate what the issue is, which makes sense because nearly all of the mechanics are usually dead simple (“If I help you, I give you an extra die”). It’s less the complexity of the steps and more the hurdle of keeping something ready in the back of your head at all times.

A lot of our game design in RPG space is about attention, communication and information flow, without quite the same benefits that say, boardgames or card games get where the use of physical cues is primary. It’s about attention and memory, which is partly why a lot of education and communication tools end up being super useful for design and play.

If you find my blog entertaining and valuable, consider supporting me on Patreon.