more crunch = slower game

[atomicfloozy]

One of the things Ed encourages is making a THW game your game. Want to add more detail? Fine, but remember changing or adding game mechanics affects how the game plays - most often making the game longer to play. This week, Professor Dungeon Master touches on the topic of "crunch" in games.

My favorite part is "Don't remove a fence before you know why it is there." Enjoy this look at game design:

[blacksmith]

Yes, it's obvious that more granularity brings more time to play.

However, I'd like to say that it's not exactly the case of the about to be released Crunchy rules for WHAT as they are not a proper ruleset but just a few tweaks from which to can pick all, some of any of the rules as they suit you; for example using extra rules for weapons in melee in personal combat but skip them in larger melees, or just using them only with your character.

Besides, Some rules in it are not really crunchy but just extra rules like new spells or a new character profile: thief, who can have a new mission like burglary or new skill as cut pursing, or for example the random events chart to spice up any encounter, or even the new shooting chart which I think it is smoother than the original one as it works in the same way as the melee chart.

So I think they are more like a box of tools like Ed likes to say, although they have the word Crunchy in the title 

[atomicfloozy]

Crunchy isn't bad as long as you know what it does and willing to add the extra to the game. I think the message here is that when you tweak rules for your game to realize the tradeoffs you make. In fact, I can't wait for the crunchy rules especially for larger groups. Since I've been playing with games set in the exploration of the jungles of Africa, Lemuria, and/or Mwangi, limiting group size to just five figures doesn't make much sense. Plus, I want to add the effects of fever, disease, and other hardships on how the group functions.

As a writer, I love crunch, but as a busy old fart, there are times when I have to get on to other things.

[Ed the Two Hour Wargames Guy]

You don't have to limit your groups. 

[davidlhsl]

First of all, I loved the video. Thanks!

One of the reasons for adding crunch is because what you experience in playing a game is tied directly to the mechanics you use. I came up with a situation recently for 5150 where a terrorist group was bombing various areas of New Hope City. I used the clue system to locate the next bomb that was going to go off, and I set my task to get there and diffuse the bomb in order to collect the key information needed to tie it directly to the terrorist group.

I could've used the unopposed challenge system and gotten a quick result. Instead, I reached way back to an older edition of 5150 where you have rules for playing in building interiors (remember that?). I then crafted how I was going to search through the building, along with how I would determine if the bomb exploded before I located it. What I developed was quite detailed, and there were other parts to this I haven't mentioned. But the payoff was that I spent my gaming session going through the process of locating and diffusing the bomb, which is what I wanted. Sometimes you don't want to watch the movie; you want to spend the extra time immersing yourself in the novel.

But there are times when crunch gets in the way. Going to a saloon for carousing used to involve moving across the town, moving PEFs along the way, resolving PEFs you encounter, and then finally reaching the saloon where you can finally get to do what you wanted to do in the first place: get splashed in the face with a beer by a drunken cowboy and then smashing his face onto the table. The newer mechanics are so much better for that.

There's another problem with crunch, especially when you're improvising as I do. Often I will want to play out a situation, and then I'll come up with some crunchy bits for it. I will then play it out with the crunch only to realize that my crunch had problems in balance or didn't take into consideration something I didn't realize I needed to account for until I was playing it out. This happened when I was setting up a chase and fist-fight on top of a moving train. I thought, "Ah, my improvised rules should do the trick." Then I began playing it out and wondered if I should determine if the train moves under a tunnel. Should I consider the possibility of someone falling off the train? Oh wait, I caught up and knocked the guy out before we even got to the top of the train. Never mind.

Those who've read my prior posts have heard this from me before. However, I love the toolkit analogy. I use crunch tools when they would add something I can't get from abstraction, and I default in most cases to the basics and rules-as-written. It's using the right tool for the right job. And THW is a massive tool chest, as evidenced by all the money I've spent over the years collecting the books.

[blacksmith]

Apr 18, 2023 21:10:59 GMT atomicfloozy said:

Crunchy isn't bad as long as you know what it does and willing to add the extra to the game. I think the message here is that when you tweak rules for your game to realize the tradeoffs you make. In fact, I can't wait for the crunchy rules especially for larger groups. Since I've been playing with games set in the exploration of the jungles of Africa, Lemuria, and/or Mwangi, limiting group size to just five figures doesn't make much sense. Plus, I want to add the effects of fever, disease, and other hardships on how the group functions.

As a writer, I love crunch, but as a busy old fart, there are times when I have to get on to other things.

I agree with you on that.

[Ed the Two Hour Wargames Guy]

That was a great example of how THW can be a toolbox and geared for solo play. You can make it as detailed as you wanted, when you want. Even during the same Encounter/Mission. When Sooze killed the NPC during a fist fight (self-defense is her claim) and the Police Were Called and arrived right after it happened, it opened the door to what happens next?