No TFT Bloat Please

[tbeard1999]

In the previous post, I noted that modern RPG books are much cheaper (per page) than their 1981 counterparts. I wonder though...does the additional content actually make the games more enjoyable?

Here are the page counts for base rules for various 1980s era RPGs:

TFT, Runequest and Call of Cthulhu - 128 pp.
Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes - 112 pp.
3rd edition Champions - 96 pp.
AD&D core 3 hardbacks - the most detailed mainstream RPG at that time - 512 pp.
Traveller - 72 pp equivalent (144 pp if you added Books 4,5 and Supplement 4, which expanded the game tremendously).

In 2018, here are some page counts:

D&D core 3 books - 990pp.
GURPS, with a decent genre book - 800 pp.
Call of Cthulhu Core Rulebook - 448 pp, with a 288 pp "Investigator Book".
Basic Roleplaying - 400 pp
Traveller 5 - 500+ pp
Hero System Vols 1 & 2 - 784pp (There is a 160 page "lite" version, but I dunno if its as comprehensive as 3rd edition Champions)
GURPS Traveller - 176 pp for genre book + 576 pages of RPG rules
SJG's Dungeon Fantasy - presumably a "lite" RPG - 430 pp.

Comparing 2018 with 1981, time seems to be my most precious commodity. I suspect that's true of many (most?) of us. However, the amount of material necessary to play a typical RPG has at least doubled. And while the games have generally gotten more complex, have they gotten more FUN?

No, in my opinion. Worse, the tedium of hacking through 800+ pages of RPG rules has made them LESS fun to me.

All of which leads me back to TFT. I hope that Steve will ruthlessly eschew complexity. Let TFT - at least in its base form - be a near-perfect example of a streamlined, efficient RPG. 128 pages is more than adequate to describe a roleplaying system in my opinion. That was sufficient for Traveller, Runequest, and Call of Cthulhu - 3 of the best RPGs ever.