Guide to PaF's roleplaying reviews
Since I'm actually starting to do reviews of books as I finish them (previous books will have to wait), I thought I ought to briefly spell out what I am looking at. If nothing else it's for my benefit.
Game overviews
These are reviews of whole gamelines. By necessity they are very general especially since some games span dozens if not hundreds of books. On the other hand I don't see many out there, so maybe somebody will find them on Google and find them useful. Overviews contain:
As you would expect, these are reviews of individual RPG books or supplements. They are not content reviews, so will not typically break the book down into the contents nor review it section by section. They instead aim to give you a feeling what of what the book is about and how well it does.
RPG.net has a scoring system of Style and Substance, and as the foremost place for RPG reviews this has become widespread. However, I don't find it a particularly helpful guide. While a review is more than the final scores, it is nevertheless coloured by them and I would prefer to use scores that actually mean something. My choice is:
[Edit 15/12/08: There was a huge gap between Ideas 7-8, so I moved 8 to 9 (gone completely) and inserted a new 8. I'm much happier with the Ideas scale now.]
[Edit 23/3/09: Inserted a new number 5, pushing old one to number 4]
Game overviews
These are reviews of whole gamelines. By necessity they are very general especially since some games span dozens if not hundreds of books. On the other hand I don't see many out there, so maybe somebody will find them on Google and find them useful. Overviews contain:
- What the book claims it is providing and a sketchy idea of what it actually does contain.
- Setting - Many people restrict themselves to certain settings. Other people go out of their way to find original settings.
- System - This is normally what draws me to a new game these days, since I keep looking for the perfect system and/or ideas to improve my own 'perfect' system.
- Heroes and Villains - Because it is useful to know the range of antagonists available. Moreover, some antagonists define the setting and genre better than anything else.
- Some or all of the same sections as Book Reviews below.
As you would expect, these are reviews of individual RPG books or supplements. They are not content reviews, so will not typically break the book down into the contents nor review it section by section. They instead aim to give you a feeling what of what the book is about and how well it does.
- The look - I'm not an artist by a long shot, so my art descriptions are going to be pretty dire. But I try.
- The good - what works, what stands out, what players will love about the game.
- The bad - what doesn't work, serious errors.
- The ugly - I try to restrict entries into The Bad to be problems which I perceive will be widespread problems. What goes in ugly, therefore, are personal niggles and aspects which will irritate a minority. These are things that I loathe personally (e.g. dexterity being used for everything), as well as oddities which detract from the game/book but don't make it less playable.
RPG.net has a scoring system of Style and Substance, and as the foremost place for RPG reviews this has become widespread. However, I don't find it a particularly helpful guide. While a review is more than the final scores, it is nevertheless coloured by them and I would prefer to use scores that actually mean something. My choice is:
- Execution
- How well does the book achieve its aims? Does the clanbook really give you a feel for the game? Does the book of spells give you lots of spells you can actually use? At the end of the book, do you really feel like you know everything you could possibly know? If the book oozes the right vibe, that will increase this rating. It is rated from 1-10, but we can ignore the lower ranges:
- 10 - Perfection
9 - This is the bible on the subject. You will never need another book on it.
8 - Covers everything you would expect and more.
7 - Covers everything you would expect.
6 - Does a pretty good job, just about meets the criteria.
5 - Has enough good material not to be bad.
- 10 - Perfection
- How well does the book achieve its aims? Does the clanbook really give you a feel for the game? Does the book of spells give you lots of spells you can actually use? At the end of the book, do you really feel like you know everything you could possibly know? If the book oozes the right vibe, that will increase this rating. It is rated from 1-10, but we can ignore the lower ranges:
- Ideas
- There are really only three kinds of supplement out there: complete adventures; books which are meant to explain difficult concepts (not many of those); and books which are meant to give you ideas (either as a Storyteller or a player). I am not including those whose entire purpose is to make throw the book away at the inane jokes inside. Even the paper-thin D&D supplements which are almost all bonus feats/items/traps/spells/monsters etc. have some goal of expanding your ideas on characters. I value this trait so highly in books that I give it its own rating. It's all very well accomplishing the goals of the book, but unless they give you new ideas they will be of limited use. As with Execution, Ideas is rated from 1-10, but we can ignore the lower ranges:
- 10 - So many ideas you can't stop thinking about it for weeks.
9 - You have plots for 4-5 chronicles without too much thought.
8 - You have plots for a chronicle or two without too much thought.
7 - You have plots for 4-5 stories without too much thought.
6 - It will influence your chronicles quite a lot, maybe giving you a story or two.
5 - It will influence aspects of your chronicle.
4 - It may influence you in small ways - if nothing else, it tells you what you shouldn't be doing.
- 10 - So many ideas you can't stop thinking about it for weeks.
- There are really only three kinds of supplement out there: complete adventures; books which are meant to explain difficult concepts (not many of those); and books which are meant to give you ideas (either as a Storyteller or a player). I am not including those whose entire purpose is to make throw the book away at the inane jokes inside. Even the paper-thin D&D supplements which are almost all bonus feats/items/traps/spells/monsters etc. have some goal of expanding your ideas on characters. I value this trait so highly in books that I give it its own rating. It's all very well accomplishing the goals of the book, but unless they give you new ideas they will be of limited use. As with Execution, Ideas is rated from 1-10, but we can ignore the lower ranges:
[Edit 15/12/08: There was a huge gap between Ideas 7-8, so I moved 8 to 9 (gone completely) and inserted a new 8. I'm much happier with the Ideas scale now.]
[Edit 23/3/09: Inserted a new number 5, pushing old one to number 4]