Tutorial Level
March 15th, 2009
You know how when you buy a video game, you just drop it in and start playing? How you don’t have to read the manual before you can start having fun? That’s what I’m trying to accomplish with the “Tutorial Level” that finally got started this weekend.
If it does what I hope it’ll do, it will teach players and GMs alike how the game works in an interactive, painless fashion. It’ll be something I can use at playtests, conventions, demos, and similar events.
Does anyone know of another RPG that teaches players and GMs how to use each system and mechanic? I’d like to see them if anyone knows of them.
I don’t have a word count at the moment. Next time.
A Rules Voice(tm) free introduction to the rules? Sign me up!
@Jona Kottler
Hey, I don’t like using that voice, either!
The Tutorial Level mirrors my whole style of GMing – where I try to make the ruleset transparent in play, the tutorial level is trying to introduce the elements of the ruleset transparently. For example:
* Let’s say you’ve never played an RPG before. How would you know any of the actions you can take? How would you know you can try crazy action-movie stuff and possibly succeed? If you’re grounded in reality, jumping around on rooftops is stupid, right?
* What if you’ve played other RPGs? How would you learn that you can use Confidence? How would you know about Trust?
The point is, there’s a lot to go over, and it seems better to do it this way. Even though it’s turning out to be a lot of work!
I know–and that will suit a different kind of person. You (and Log, I think) are the kind of people who will read the directions on how to assemble the thermo-nuclear device. I, on the other hand, am the person who dumps all of the pieces out on the ground and sees how they fit together, figuring, “if a person designed this, a person should be able to put it together.” I consult the directions when I can’t get any farther on my own. So, I like the tutorial idea for that reason, and also for the reason that your likely audience is *used* to that method of learning. (The push buttons until it works method).
This is a great idea. I typically have to build this sort of tutorial in my head as I read through rules, so to have it laid out will be very handy.
@Jona Kottler
I thought I had written a post on how I’m an atypically enthusiastic person when it comes to rules. I think the technical term is “geek”. But I can’t find it here…which I find disturbing. But yeah, I’m a manual reader. I like rules. I like documentation. I read documentation for languages and libraries I’m not programming with. I read rules for games I’m not playing. I like seeing how different systems model things. But I guess my attitude is, “A person designed this with two totally opposed goals – First, to not blow up. At all. Until certain conditions are met. Then, to blow up with superlative violence at the right moment. I’d better figure out how it’s supposed to go together, or I could get those two switched!” But my game is not a nuclear device. I encourage button pushing – to the extent that this project is mostly about showing where the buttons are.
@Dan
Glad you like the idea. I hope it comes out well.
The word count is now 1884.