Very grateful to Sandy Pug Games for giving me the opportunity to write an article on using notes & tips in your TTRPG rulebook for their blog, which you can find at this link.
The above image is actually the conclusion of the short article (2000 words, 10+/-5 minute read) which happens to probably be the best summary & overview of what it covers!
Why an article about notes & tips?
In Cannibal Halfling's second review of one of my games, author Seamus Coneely said:
In what I’m starting to think is Levine’s calling card, going rogue is also chock full of advice and tips for running the game, quite a bit of which is probably good stuff for any belonging outside belonging game, including galactic [...] Levine’s style of tips, ‘for examples’, and designer notes make it feel much less like I’m reading how-to-play-this-game advice and more like someone is explaining the game to me at a live Games on Demand pickup game.
So I wanted to try and pass along some of the approach that informed those tips!
Huge thank yous to:
- satah (itch, @sitcom) for providing incredibly specific and actionable feedback about friction points in every one of my games, enabling me to write good tips for those moments
- CLAYMORE, creator of FIST: Ultra Edition, and Avery Alder & Benjman Rosenbaum, creators of Dream Askew / Dream Apart, for excellent examples of good notes & tips!
Also, reminder that if you want me to take this kind of eye to your TTRPG, I offer freelance editing!