I like writing them as a script and with my core examples for Trilogy (the longest game I've written) I tried to make them add up to give a story of a group's campaign so it offered a good idea of the game in play.
Personae SRD Text, Shadowlight RPG Text by Craig Hatler Games; under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license (CC BY 4.0). Permission granted to reproduce this document freely for use with Personae SRD and Shadowlight RPGs.
@johnwsheldon @kitwinter Once you're getting into more detail I would lean towards describing the conversation at the table so it makes clear who is responsible for what. One trick that I take from cryptography explanations is giving players A, B and C names and making their characters match so Claire is playing Caradoc and so on. Makes it easy for me to organise and for a reader to follow.
@glenatron @johnwsheldon @kitwinter Yeah I've got names for the players and names for one of their characters so far. I zeroed in on character creation for one player and their character. I need to keep fleshing out details for the rest.
This is actually absolutely critical in a good Example of Play:
Describe failures. Not just mechanical failures of conflicts but failures of the players to understand something, failures of the GM (if there is one) to find or understand something, and show how that can be worked out.
In the process you will think about where the major failure points are in your game design. You might even go back in sand those down a little. Rinse and repeat.
The first electrum archive zine by @EmielBoven starts with a 2-page example of play, I enjoyed it because - it includes all major mechanics (usage, inventory, combat, encounters, checks etc) - the conversation is natural but brief - the players are successful which sets a positive, welcoming tone "you will have fun here" - it is 2 pages - so you can see how it all fits together
If you're at that point, you probably have at least one play test group. Just use them as your personas (feel free to change the names). Remember that what you're trying to get across isn't "how rules work" but "this is how I think the table should *feel*"
@blackcoat For sure, I've had many actual play groups over the years, I've playtested and demo'ed a ton. I guess it's just strange translating the comfort and familiarity of table stuff into something written?
Tezrak, Impslayer of Worlds
•Ben from CDS
•Tezrak, Impslayer of Worlds
•Personae TTRPG SRD: Game Creation to Gameplay In Depth
Google DocsTabletop Courant
•my tip would be, don't!
"Press X to jump." Yeah, we know.
Ben from CDS
•Tezrak, Impslayer of Worlds
•silverwizard
LexTenebris
•This is actually absolutely critical in a good Example of Play:
Describe failures. Not just mechanical failures of conflicts but failures of the players to understand something, failures of the GM (if there is one) to find or understand something, and show how that can be worked out.
In the process you will think about where the major failure points are in your game design. You might even go back in sand those down a little. Rinse and repeat.
unclevova (Atelier Pilcrow)
•The first electrum archive zine by @EmielBoven starts with a 2-page example of play, I enjoyed it because
- it includes all major mechanics (usage, inventory, combat, encounters, checks etc)
- the conversation is natural but brief
- the players are successful which sets a positive, welcoming tone "you will have fun here"
- it is 2 pages - so you can see how it all fits together
edit - words and found Emiel on here
blackcoat
•Remember that what you're trying to get across isn't "how rules work" but "this is how I think the table should *feel*"
Tezrak, Impslayer of Worlds
•