I'll put this plainly - here is something I want when I buy a new RPG.

 

I want a reference sheet.  One that summarizes all of the rules, the special powers, and anything else that I will end up flipping through the rulebook for when I'm running that game for the first three or four times.

 

It can be one side of a page, or both. Two or three sheets are also okay, if your rules are that complex. I really don't mind.  

 

It can even be smaller, as long as it's useful in getting me the information I need quickly. One of the most brilliant attempts at this that I've ever seen is the bookmark that the folks at Evil Hat made for Spirit of the Century, that they were handing out at Origins this summer. (I would have liked to have gotten a PDF of it included with the game itself, but that's okay. The idea might not have come to them until afterwards.)

 

It seemed to be inspired by another great quick reference bookmark, put out by Chaosium in 1992 for the 5th edition of Call of Cthulhu - mine is 16 years old now, and I still use it whenever I run that game.

 

The fact is, if I don't get one of these in an RPG that I'm getting ready to run for the first time, I'll end up making one myself - either a fancy full-page refererence sheet of rules and ability effects (as I made for Faery's Tale), or a series of scribbled index cards for me to glance at when I'm trying to remember if the players are supposed to roll high or low.

 

It's not hard to do. I've done it a lot. In fact, for a nominal fee, I'd be willing to do one for you. I've become quite the expert at it. (If interested, drop me an email!)

 

So there you have it, industry folk, game designers, and so on (the THOUSANDS of you who read my blog here) - a Perfectly Reasonable Request.  I can certainly live without it, but it would really make me happy - and more apt to buy your games in the future.

 

Stay tuned for more Perfectly Reasonable Requests, as I think of them.