Basic rules as multiple book sets

[Ken]

Hi-

I've been play-testing TEN CENT HEROES now for a few months and have been giving thought to the layout of the game. The game will weigh in at about 100 pages, and I've been giving thought to actually splitting the rules into three books; character generation, powers, and system & setting. This is a lot like the DC HEROES game boxed set by Mayfair in the 80s, but it made some sense to me for a few reasons:

a) Three smaller books would allow for thin stapled spine books, like comics (which is genre of the game).
b) Easier reference between some aspects of the game, instead of page-flipping.
c) Group dynamic; someone could be checking out one part of the game, while someone else is using another book.

I wasn't thinking of putting this in a box, though the books would be bundled under one price. Is the cost of three covers per game too prohibitive vs. the little bit of aesthetic value I may get from the bundle? Is three books too clumsy?

Has anyone else wrestled with this, or actually gone this route. Any thoughts, feedback, or experiences would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Ken

[Eero Tuovinen]

Three books are considerably more expensive than just one. Mainly it's the binding, but the covers cost more as well of course. Otherwise it's a good idea, and something I myself consider routinely whenever working on a project. Many rpgs could benefit from being split up a bit.

[Vulpinoid]

I've thought of something along these lines, because one of the recent incarnations of my game ran about 200 pages or so, but when I separated the comonents out I found that the core rules could fit into a text of about 30 to 40 pages, while each of thje other sections also came to about 40 pages (1. supernatural powers inherent to the system, 2. history that gives the world it's flavour and perspective, 3. current factions and storylines to immerse players in, 4. GM section).

I've decided to release the core rules as a separate and freely available PDF, and have developed a second setting to go with these rules. I'm having a tough decision as to whether I make my two game worlds available as separate and modular component documents that integrate into the core rules, or standalone games that both use the same engine.

So this is actually an issue that I'm considering as I get closer to the publishing stage of my game (...hopefully some time early in the new year).

V

[iago]

Burning Wheel's core is split into two books, isn't it?  What does Luke have to say about this?

[Luke]

The basic Burning Wheel set does indeed consist of two books -- system book and character book. I've shifted about 4000 sets of books in this format.

1) It's a fucking pain in the ass. Abandon your dreams and make one book.

2) If you're determined to go this route, YOU MUST HAVE PACKAGING. Packaging can be a box, a slip case or a belly band. (You cannot shrink wrap. I forbid it.) Packaging is expensive to have produced and time consuming to produce yourself.

3) On the other hand, packaging is cool! It lets you give you book an added flair that other stuff on the shelves won't have. I change our bellybands with every printing. It helps the books stay fresh.

-L

[MatrixGamer]

If your game books do not have fancy glossy color covers then three staddle stiched books (ie stapled) could be cheaper. In terms of use and durability they would be much stronger than the best perfect bound book.

But... you need a box. The glossy color cover really should be here.

My plans for many of my next year's games are to go for a box boardgame approach. You can buy them on line for $1.04 a box (for 100 boxes). They are called "Rigid set up boxes". I'm planning on printing the cover sheets on my laser printer and then screen printing a glossy coating and attaching the front and back covers using "yes paste". My fingers are crossed on it working out. Next Gen Con will tell.

Chris Engle
Hamster Press

[Paul Czege]

For a super indie aesthetic, size them to fit in comic book bags. It's easy to open and close a taped comic book bag.

For an old-school aesthetic, do some research into available sizes of Ziploc style bags and let that drive your trim size. A very early edition of the Ysgarth rules was sold in a Ziploc style bag. Lots of small press wargames with sheets of cut-them-yourself counters were as well.

Paul

[Ken]

For a super indie aesthetic, size them to fit in comic book bags. It's easy to open and close a taped comic book bag.

This was kind of the way I was leaning in regards to producing multi-book rule sets. Still, the cost of three covers, three bindings, and three print runs per set may drive the cost (and retail price) higher than I'd like. This also strikes me as a bit of a logistics challenge (keeping the books straight) in regards to using POD methods. Has anyone had any specific experiences with that?

Ken

[Paul Czege]

I've not used Lulu, so I can't say if they can do sets, but if you do short run printing with plans to fulfill orders yourself (or through IPR or something), expect to end up with some partial sets. Printers over print an order to allow for some copies getting mis-trimmed or or mis-bound or torn up by the machine or whatever, and so sometimes when things go well you end up with a couple of extras, and sometimes you end up with a few less.

Paul

[iago]

I've not used Lulu, so I can't say if they can do sets, but if you do short run printing with plans to fulfill orders yourself (or through IPR or something), expect to end up with some partial sets. Printers over print an order to allow for some copies getting mis-trimmed or or mis-bound or torn up by the machine or whatever, and so sometimes when things go well you end up with a couple of extras, and sometimes you end up with a few less.

Not to mention, in the case of some less obvious printing errors, you may end up shipping a set to a customer that has one of the three books defective in some way -- and the customer will ask you to replace that one -- so actually you'll WANT some spares.