Some Thoughts about Rules Lay-out - Boring

[NotifyGrout]

I apologize in advance if there's more than just a soupçon of snark- not trying to be hostile here.

Yeah I'm not seeing the whole has to be playable by your mum requirement.

There's a whole generation of kids out there whose parents (including the moms) raised them on D&D or other role-playing games, so they might be interested.

99.9% of readers will be wargamers, especially of how brew rules or niche publishers.

Space Weirdos and Song of Blades and Heroes, among others, would like a word. These games are designed for people with no wargaming experience, or perhaps coming from RPGs or board games.

There's plenty of room for both "games that I would only play at a convention with a GM" and "games that a new player can pick up in two turns". RPG and CCG players ask me all the time what I'm doing when I play Frostgrave at a store, and that's one of the reasons I play it- it's easy to teach, and it might mean a new hobbyist in the ranks.

It's not like GW releasing a new edition of WH40K that has to be playable by 12 year old kids so needs a gentle hand holding explanation.

First off, some of those kids are better gamers than you think. Teach them well and they'll be giving you a kicking before you know it.

Second, as I've said before, there's room for games of every stripe. I prefer a hand-holding explanation to the sort of ruleset that assumes you know how to do certain things because it's more of a cheat sheet for a group's homebrew rules that they know by heart (or it's just not written well). It shows me that the authors want me to learn and stay interested, even if I know how all of it works already.

Why fill a rulebook with un-needed fluff about miniature wargaming.  Pretty much everyone will be coming to the game from a different more popular game.

Um, because good fluff is fun? It also explains why one might pick Faction D over Factions A, B, and C. Some players want a unique setting, like Alkemy, Malifaux, or The Drowned Earth. Others like a basic framework that lets them branch out, like the -Grave games. Some prefer a specific historical period because it's interesting to them.

Without the fluff or background, I might as well skip the miniatures, the terrain, and everything and just break out a hex-based game, an abstract board game, or chess. Have you ever talked to people who only like abstract Euro board games? They are smart, highly tactical players, but most of them are drier than yesterday's toast, or at least their taste in games is.

It isn't too much to ask for an author to give us a paragraph or two about why the rulebook exists.

I should also note that your want is being granted more often these days: more companies with heavy fluff are releasing it separately from just the rules. Multiple companies have the rules-only version and the complete version of their books. Take the lite book or PDF to the store, leave the big one with all the background at home to read for fun (or just don't bother with the big book).

The bottom line is this- if you can't teach a new player easily, or at least easily enough to whet their appetite for more, they won't bother. This is especially true in this age of endless distractions and instant gratification. We need simple games with hand-holding in order to bring in new blood; they won't stick around for the more complex games if it's daunting from the first step. At my local con, a lot of the heavy historical game players get older and greyer with each passing year, and seem to think that forcing their kids to help will keep the hobby alive (usually, they either look bored or they are amusing themselves by picking up the miniatures and playing with them). Meanwhile, the simpler, faster playing games have vibrant tournament scenes, and the easier-to-run participation games fill up quickly.

[jon_1066]

I think there’s a world of difference between a wargame ruleset written for players already familiar with complex RPGs and total neophytes whose most complex game is Monopoly.

By fluff I meant “what is a miniature wargame” as opposed to background fluff.  I’m very happy to see a rule book full of background and settings.

[Byrthnoth]

I still think a non-gamer perspective during the rules development and book organization/layout process is valuable, even if the primary audience is existing wargamers and the main intent isn't to get non-gamers into the hobby. If the rules are unclear or overly brief in explaining certain concepts and the reader has to draw on prior experience with DBx/Black Powder/Lion Rampant/40k/whatever to understand what the author is going for, then that's poor writing. An outsider or beginner can show the author where things need to be highlighted, clarified, or reorganized to get across the intent of the rules.

Again, this is not really a case of including a "what is miniature wargaming" section and a glossy model showcase/painting guide in the middle. But if something like initiative is a core element of the game, don't just write 'dice for initiative' somewhere in the turn sequence and then explain what that means at some later point without really flagging it. Sometimes that stuff gets sort of buried or glossed over because the author maybe implicitly expects the reader to be familiar with how it works in a similar game, or because he/she's spent so much time working on the rules that it's hard to get into the headspace of someone who is new to the game and so takes key concepts for granted. 

[vexillia]

I also like using an editor, but it is not always easy to find a good one.

Depends on what you're prepared to pay.  An 80 page densely packed set of rules can take 30 minutes a page (or more).  Minimum wage is approx £9.50 an hour.  I'll leave the rest to you.

[Citizen Sade]

FWIW, the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP) has suggested minimum hourly freelance rates of £25.70 for proofreading and £29.90 for copyediting.

You might some professionals willing to do it cheaper for the love of it or for the experience. I imagine most people simply call on a literate mate.

[Easy E]

I still think a non-gamer perspective during the rules development and book organization/layout process is valuable, even if the primary audience is existing wargamers and the main intent isn't to get non-gamers into the hobby.

Third party editors are also a big help in this area as well.  They often can see if things do not make sense, because they are not familiar with wargaming per se. 

[vexillia]

FWIW, the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP) has suggested minimum hourly freelance rates of £25.70 for proofreading and £29.90 for copy editing.

That's interesting.  Thanks.

I imagine most people simply call on a literate mate.

Given the standard of writing on various forums and blogs they must be in short supply. :-)