[Dice Chucker] First Offical Playtest

[oversoul01]

I am not sure I should post this here but anyway...
I am running my first offical playtest of Dice Chucker this Friday, and I will have a full report up (with pics!),  either Monday or Teusday.  I am curious though, what anyone thought  about this:
What should one specifically look for or ask during a playtest?
One of my first questions would be how easily di dyou comprehend the rules? and Do you like them?
What else do you think are good playtest question?
What should a designer try to key in on?
These answers will of course be all personal opinions but I think it would be intresting to find out

[ethan_greer]

My own personal:

I wouldn't bother asking if your testers like the rules. Just determine the comprehension and clarity of the document and then play. During play, carefully observe the players. After play, ask everyone whether they enjoyed themselves, and then compare what they say to your own observations.

If you and your playtesters are up for it, try having someone other than yourself run the game, and just act as a player. Refrain as much as possible from stepping in as the designer and explaining how things are supposed to work. This will help you narrow down the weaker points of your document, and will also help you determine how well the document conveys your system when you're not around to answer questions and provide clarifications.

And take notes during play. Lots of notes.

If possible, in addition to your own playtesting, find another group to playtest the game independently and get feedback about their experience.

Good luck! Playtesting can be both very rewarding and very frustrating, often both at various points in the same session.

[DevolutionaryCyberSpud]

Well, I'll tell you what I do: I think about it extensively. I look over all the rules and how all the rules interact and work out all the bugs. Have fellow RPGsmiths read your rules and give their input (I'd be happy to help). I spend about a week doing this. Hopefully by the time beta testing (playtesting) comes around you will have a fantastic RPG that only has a few weak spots to polish up. I like giving my RPGs edition numbers (1.3, 1.4, 15, etc.) so I feel like I'm accomplishing something.

[DevP]

* Is there any moments where the rules were part of something cool / fun / memorable? What?

* Did the rules ever help make cool things happen that might have not popped up otherwise? Did they more quietly promote these things?

* Did the rules ever get in the way or obstruct what could have been a cool thing?

* Did the rules ever feel too constricting? Or did you feel like you didn't have enough structure?