I'm planning to do a new demo version for Trials of the Grail. I get a fair number of hits on the current demo, so I want to improve it. Right now, it consists of some excerpts from the book, sampling various topics. This seems about as good as Amazon.com's preview feature, or thumbing through a book in a store, but it's fragmentary and doesn't say enough about actual gameplay. So I have two ideas for a new version:

1. Have a light version of the rules, along with a sample set-up, pre-made characters, and some situations for a GM to use in a one-shot (all this being the closest I'll come to a canned "adventure").

2. A sample set-up with characters, as above, followed by a made-up example of play in dialog form, to demonstrate how the thing is supposed to play.

Option #1 is more work and may be quite difficult: TotG is a pretty slim system as it is and there's really not much fat to cut. I want to hold back on enough material that the full version seems worth-while, but the light version still has to be playable (and reflective of the full experience). On the other hand, #1 may be more useful to players in making an evaluation. Doing both options is a possibility, but I don't want to spend oodles of time on this (I have other games to work on, for one thing...).

So I'd like to hear from people who have released demo versions of their games, either excerpts, light versions, or something like my #2 (I don't remember seeing this billed a demo anywhere before). Did releasing a demo have a big effect on sales? Have you tried different kinds of demo, and was there a difference the apparent effect? Have customers had any feedback about one kind verus another?

I'd also appreciate any advice from people who've made "light version" demos, in terms of how to cut things down without making the game useless--how much to include, in other words, and how to package it. Frex, should I allude to rules not covered in the demo, or keep it entirely self-contained? This will help me know how feasible #1 is.

Thanks.

I think you should focus on the example of play, and really make it show off the best features of the game. Make it a good read. The game is a bit abstract, so showing how it's done will make it easier to grasp the ideas quickly.

Slim/rules light doesn't neccearily mean too much when putting together demo materials.
Players at GenCon will, in essence, walk off with a sheet thats a playable version of my Imp Game. However, a pair of things are true:
1) The sheet is an introduction and a refresher sheet, NOT the "complete" rules. It lists the ONLY die roll and guts system and outlines character generation, the essentials of play. Unless you sit through a demo, however, you won't see how it all interacts *exactly* nor will you know how the sessions run, thats not the purpose of this sheet.
2) The books are more than rules. The Imp Game is loaded with flavor, as well as some information for RPG newbies, on top of information on running the system as fast and loose as possible. Toss in some cool sample Imps, an optional ruleset, and the desire to support the author and suddenly the one sheet becomes a viable $10 product.

So: hit the high points of the system that shows off the really cool effects, give a dialoge based example of play (both of which I did), and presto bingo. Works for me, I know that much, but milage may vary.

Well, the Capes Lite rules are a full and playable rule-set that looks very much like full Capes, but isn't quite as robust or inspiring.  But, then, they're huge... suitable for somebody interested on the internet, where multi-page documents are easy to shuffle around like match-books.

To actually get a system down to the point where you can fit it on a single sheet of paper... wow... you've got to either have a really tight system, or you've got to be leaving out quite a bit.

What Nate says about the Imp Game rings true to me... you can do quite a lot if all you're trying to do is give people "cues" into their own memory of already having seen the system at work.  Giving them the system in a way that they can construct it without ever having seen it acting... that takes a lot more space.

The CrossRoads Tryout Kit is a stripped down version of The CrossRoads of Eternity that I wrote to give perspective buyers a look at the rules. It contains everything you need to get started, and all the basic rules. Really its an 11 page game on its own.  It's just rules though, and includes no fluff or play samples (I'm putting some play samples on the site next week, as well as some new fluff and background material).

I dont know if the Tryout Kit has any worth. So far only 1 person has comented on it. But I think its a neat idea. I do think background material (story stuff and whatnot) and play samples or exerpts of somekind are important.

-Jake

I like the one page handout idea. But I need something for people to download over the net, with no experience from a con game or anything. I think what I'll do is start writing up a fake play-session example. And if I have time, and the inspiration, I'll append quick-play rules onto that, maybe at a later date. I've been toying with what rules I would/could include in a brief, playable version, and it'd probably be doable, but I'm not sure how compelling it would be; only if married to the big example would the point of it get across, I think.

Thanks for the advice, guys.

As follow-up, I've written a medium-length example of play and would like some feedback: http://primevalpress.com/games/totg/example.html

It doesn't cover all the rules, nor is it long enough yet. But given that, how is it for depth and clarity? Is it easy enough to follow what's going on, especially mechanically? Does it give some sense of how the rules are being used, and the kind of back-and-forth between players? Or should I include more explanation, either through the "players" or in italics? Is this straightforward conflict resolution interesting/valuable (to a consumer) or should I focus mroe exclusively on the things that really set TotG apart?