Old, New, In-the-middle School: I Don't Understand (Part 1)

When I was a kid, there was a TV commercial for Kinder chocolate eggs where a child asked his dad, as he was leaving the house, if he could get a present when he returned. The dad agreed, and the kid said, "I want a toy, a surprise, and some chocolate..." At that point, the dad smiled and replied that it wasn’t just one present but three! In the end, the dad came back home bringing the child the chocolate egg, solving what seemed like an impossible request... Well, many discussions about old-school and new-school RPGs remind me of that commercial: there's a problem that seems unsolvable… Can't it be solved? Most of the time, the author explains that it looks like there's a solution, but in reality, it's just an illusion... Let me go through some of these (un)resolved issues.

Topic#1: Light vs. Crunch

In today’s world, there's hardly any time to play, therefore so-called "light rules" are a blessing, this way, anyone can start playing in no time! But are we sure that's really the case? Or rather, light rules can certainly be a good way to introduce someone to an RPG, but let’s flip the question: why do those who play "crunchy" RPGs have time to waste? Or are they masochistic souls who love getting bogged down in complex rules as much as in tax returns?

This debate can be illustrated with a metaphor: suppose we're asked to build a car. One person builds it complete with all the essentials, while another builds a vehicle without a steering wheel, without seats, and, why not, without brakes. The first is a "crunch" vehicle, the second is a "light" one… Both vehicles move forward, but I’ll leave any further conclusions to you...

I want to clarify one thing about this reasoning: I’m not against light rules; I’m against those who claim a light RPG is automatically better than a crunchy one just because it’s light.

So, what’s the unresolved problem in all of this? A light RPG has the advantage of quick adoption, and the first to be happy about it is the GM... but choosing a light RPG triggers a paradox: the GM is happy because the rules are easy, but at the same time, they'll be unhappy because they have to manage all the countless situations that the light rules don’t cover… In the end, the GM has more responsibilities because they must handle things without predefined rules. It’s like choosing a car that can’t steer or brake and then realizing you're heading downhill toward a sharp turn...

Wrapping it up: people who take sides in this debate often do so out of bias, because every RPG model has its pros and cons (without considering the matter of tastes!). Choosing a light RPG for a one-shot can be a great idea; choosing it for a long campaign might be a terrible one… I'm not here to pick a side or fuel discussions about which is better:

- Want to do a high-speed drag race on the Salt Flats? Take the light car!

- Need to do a mountain rally? Take the crunchy car and don’t use the light one just because you think it's always superior... You’ll get hurt!

I don’t want to be a philosopher, at the end of the day I just want to play RPGs and have fun!

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