A blog for The Urutsk Cycle and Related Subjects,
including the URUTSK: World of Mystery RPG.
Shipwrecked survivors of a galaxy-spanning empire (ruined when the core exploded) settle upon a wetlands world occupied by humans and other species. They then poke through ruins of their Ancient ancestors as they strive to regain space and then, starflight.
If you have to contain it to one place, go for the referee's guide. The ref should get an idea of the fluff if they are fulfilling the "traditional" role of setting the scene with narrative.
I'm not sure what a "setting manual" is...like a supplement? If fluff is at all a part of the setting, it should be present in the basic rules of the system.
Players Guide - rules the players need to know DM's Guide - rules the DM needs to know Setting Manual - the 'bible' for the game. Everything that isn't roll-and-count rules.
It should go in the Player's Manual. My reasoning:
-The ref is going to have a PM anyway -The players should know the setting going in -This is an rpg specifically about Urutsk; the only game books that should be devoid of fluff are ones that do not have an inherent setting. -The less books a game can be contained in, the better.
Player's manual, for most of the reasons Ryan went into above.
This isn't a generic RPG - therefore, the PM doesn't (and shouldn't be) generic. The players should only have to buy one book, and that one book should give them A) everything they need to know to play the game, and B) everything they need to know to play characters living in the game world.
Now, there might be setting material that the GM doesn't want the players to have, so you might want to divide the fluff and keep what is the Common Body of Knowledge for most citizens of Urutsk in the PM, and then things like the more esoteric histories and "behind the scenes" fluff to the GM's book.
If you wanted to do just a "fluff book", I'd save that as a luxury and treat it as an "easter egg book" filled with little fragments of cool information that didn't make it into either of the core books, but would be interesting for any die-hard fans. This is something that probably should only come out a year or two after the game, however...
Hmmm, that is an interesting question. I have never pondered that one! I suppose that I am old school, I prefer to censer everything. When we play a new setting, I typically give enough information so that the players are confident but still wanting. I remember the biggest deal turned out to be Ravenloft's, Masque of the Red Death which required me to mark off entire sections and have my wife photocopy them. This information was placed into packets and each player got their own packet. Now this is very extreme, but it was warranted because of the massive amounts of changes.
Most of the time it isn't that much work, simply a god list, a list of rumors, information about their neighbors. I'm a geek, and I consider creating these packets of fluff great fun!
In general, I favor a separate settings book. Ideally this doesn’t have a lot of stats or mechanics, so it is useful for people who might want to use it with a different system. Likewise, unless you’ve got a good reason to tie your mechanics to a single setting, the flexibility of keeping your rules generic enough to support additional settings isn’t a bad idea.
While I’m not a fan of lots of books, I don’t agree that fewer is always better. Too much flipping around within one book is just as bad as having too many books.
If you’re not going to have a separate settings book, then the setting material should be spilt between the player and referee books. There ought, IMHO, be some secrets about the setting that the players don’t know up-front.
I could argue for a four-book setup: player rules, player setting, referee rules, referee setting. There are a lot of variables, however, that would come into play in practice, so I’m not convinced there is an ideal answer.
Since more votes than Comments are coming in, I've decided to err on the side of caution and wrap the Poll up early.
While I am flattered that the demand for the Setting is so great, I am trying to sell the RPG as an integrated whole, and have taken it under consideration to produce the Setting Manual after the release of the RPG, so as to facilitate gamers who would like to use the background fluff with the games of their choice.
So, the 'best of both worlds' scenario is actual winner in this case.
If you have to contain it to one place, go for the referee's guide. The ref should get an idea of the fluff if they are fulfilling the "traditional" role of setting the scene with narrative.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure what a "setting manual" is...like a supplement? If fluff is at all a part of the setting, it should be present in the basic rules of the system.
Players Guide - rules the players need to know
ReplyDeleteDM's Guide - rules the DM needs to know
Setting Manual - the 'bible' for the game. Everything that isn't roll-and-count rules.
(but that's just my take on it)
It should go in the Player's Manual. My reasoning:
ReplyDelete-The ref is going to have a PM anyway
-The players should know the setting going in
-This is an rpg specifically about Urutsk; the only game books that should be devoid of fluff are ones that do not have an inherent setting.
-The less books a game can be contained in, the better.
Player's manual, for most of the reasons Ryan went into above.
ReplyDeleteThis isn't a generic RPG - therefore, the PM doesn't (and shouldn't be) generic. The players should only have to buy one book, and that one book should give them A) everything they need to know to play the game, and B) everything they need to know to play characters living in the game world.
Now, there might be setting material that the GM doesn't want the players to have, so you might want to divide the fluff and keep what is the Common Body of Knowledge for most citizens of Urutsk in the PM, and then things like the more esoteric histories and "behind the scenes" fluff to the GM's book.
If you wanted to do just a "fluff book", I'd save that as a luxury and treat it as an "easter egg book" filled with little fragments of cool information that didn't make it into either of the core books, but would be interesting for any die-hard fans. This is something that probably should only come out a year or two after the game, however...
Thanks for the responses so far.
ReplyDelete--5+ days left to vote, folks.
:)
I voted for putting it in a setting guide from my experience of Skyrealms of Jorune 2nd ed. My 2nd choice would be players book.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, that is an interesting question. I have never pondered that one! I suppose that I am old school, I prefer to censer everything. When we play a new setting, I typically give enough information so that the players are confident but still wanting. I remember the biggest deal turned out to be Ravenloft's, Masque of the Red Death which required me to mark off entire sections and have my wife photocopy them. This information was placed into packets and each player got their own packet. Now this is very extreme, but it was warranted because of the massive amounts of changes.
ReplyDeleteMost of the time it isn't that much work, simply a god list, a list of rumors, information about their neighbors. I'm a geek, and I consider creating these packets of fluff great fun!
In general, I favor a separate settings book. Ideally this doesn’t have a lot of stats or mechanics, so it is useful for people who might want to use it with a different system. Likewise, unless you’ve got a good reason to tie your mechanics to a single setting, the flexibility of keeping your rules generic enough to support additional settings isn’t a bad idea.
ReplyDeleteWhile I’m not a fan of lots of books, I don’t agree that fewer is always better. Too much flipping around within one book is just as bad as having too many books.
If you’re not going to have a separate settings book, then the setting material should be spilt between the player and referee books. There ought, IMHO, be some secrets about the setting that the players don’t know up-front.
I could argue for a four-book setup: player rules, player setting, referee rules, referee setting. There are a lot of variables, however, that would come into play in practice, so I’m not convinced there is an ideal answer.
I just want you all to know I am reading these and monitoring the poll's progress.
ReplyDeleteThanks. :)
Since more votes than Comments are coming in, I've decided to err on the side of caution and wrap the Poll up early.
ReplyDeleteWhile I am flattered that the demand for the Setting is so great, I am trying to sell the RPG as an integrated whole, and have taken it under consideration to produce the Setting Manual after the release of the RPG, so as to facilitate gamers who would like to use the background fluff with the games of their choice.
So, the 'best of both worlds' scenario is actual winner in this case.
Thanks for participating in this Poll.