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Re: [RPG]: The World Of Darkness, reviewed by Travire (4/4)
I agree with the layout criticisms. I don't mind now since I'm quite familiar with the nWoD core.
I don't like that they frontloaded all of the fiction. When I buy a rulebook, I want to get to the rules right away. Frontloading all that fiction is like the movie they make you watch at a timeshare convention before they get into actual numbers. A simple short story would have been enough to intro the book and put the rest in the Appendix.
I've said this before, but the glossary needs to be in the back or closer to the front; it's currently buried in the middle.
In general, the layout just doesn't feel very intuitive or conducive to first-time gamers--which is a shame b/c it's actually a fairly intuitive system to learn and to play. It has just enough rules and mechanics to propel a player and encourage roleplaying but enough abstractness to keep the game from becoming overly crunchy. It's a very nice balance. It also avoids the "too much math" trap (where "too much math" = any math, no matter how simple or difficult, that slows the game down).
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