Mechanics Shop

Part 1: On RPG Reviews

There are a few ways of looking at an RPG. 

One way is to look at a game from a consumer standpoint. If one takes this stance certain questions become important. Is it laid out well? Is it easy to understand? Is the art any good? What by what method is the physical book bound and will it lay flat on the table?

We could also try to look at a game with a critical eye. If so we might ask different questions. What is this game about? How do the rules enforce that? What is the author trying to achieve? Are they successful? Does this align with my own personal ideas about systems and the extent to which they matter?

Or you could look at games in their historical context. How did this game influence later games? What innovations did it bring to the table? What can this tell us about historical modes of play? How is it similar or different from other games?

Umm... and that's fine I guess if that is what you are into. I am not interested in any of that. 

Part 2: Some Anecdotes

I've never been very "handy" but growing up I was exposed to a lot of handy people. Occasionally we would go and visit my great uncle Dale. Dale was an interesting guy, he lived in a ramshackle cabin on the side of a mountain with no running water and only a wood burning stove for heat. 

The main thing about great uncle Dale's place was that about four of his ten acres of paradise was completely full of machines. Cars in various states of disrepair, snowmobiles donated by the neighbors, ATVs stripped and pulled apart like some kind of arcane ritual. But each bit of equipment would eventually get used. Neighbors would show up with mechanical problems and Dale would solve them using bits and pieces from 100 old machines.

Later I would meet similar cantankerous old men with similar methods like Mike who hired me to organize his "warehouse" of parts from crashed cars, or my wife's grandfather who filled his entire house with bits and pieces of radios. People who knew how to use bits and bobs to repair, customize, and create.

THAT is how I want to approach RPGs. Not as some consumer product, and not as art. My books, zines, pamphlets are just a bunch of cars in the yard waiting to be cannibalized. They do not exist to be examined, they exist to be used. Value proposition doesn't matter. Original intent of the author doesn't matter. How can this be useful to ME.

Part 3: Introducing "Mechanics Shop"

It seems like everyone is hacking up their own elfgame these days. Grabbing bits and pieces from 100 different games to make their one perfect thing for their table, or that they will throw up on itch for a suggested price of $2 that 30 people will download, but only 3 will play. That's my intended audience.

I want to look at games and pull out interesting things that you can bring to your table or copy and paste into your google doc. I intend to look at specific bits of mechanics, procedures, and content and perhaps give some recommendations of when, how, and why it might be useful.

Also check out my free shit on itch, some of it doesn't totally suck.