Idraluna Archives had an post on Footnotes in RPGs that grabbed my eye. My degree was in Graphic Design and usability is a big thing with me. The article didn't seem to allow comments so I thought I'd spew forth here on my own blog. The point Idraluna Archives is about making the flow of the prose, of a dungeon key, easier to read and uses the Gygax wall of text vs a minimalist example from the Cairn house style(1) and Idraluna Archives believes using footnotes would solve the readability problem.
I think the Idraluna Archives picked a bad example as dungeon keying is not about flow and readability(2) but about quick access to information at the table and dumping all that information into footnotes would make the footnotes massive. For use at the table the Cairn house style is nicely written. It does attempt to utilities a multi-level 'information hierarchy' except unlike footnotes that make you hunt for the information it drops the info right there where you can skip it or not (depending upon how curious the players are). Just read the bits without the bullets and it should flow very smooth. Add the bullet points and you get extra information on different aspects that were highlighted in the first sentence. They act like footnotes but are placed closer for easier readability. They also have a third-level of info, presumably to help the GM if the players keep asking questions or do a Perception test(3). This is really good design, maybe not for someone that wants to read read read but from a usability stand-point it is well thought out.
So by choosing dungeon keys as an example Idraluna Archive is asking for design that actually hurts the functionality. What they should have picked was game books. The core rules that is. And instead of Footnotes which as they pointed out are difficult in a modern word processing program they should have narrowed in on Endnotes. The industry could really use some love for Endnotes.
An RPG rulebook should have design notes and examples to help make understanding easier to understand (and as a good way to add humor). These are things you don't need to read often and that will make the prose clunky if mixed in with the text. The reader would be better served if they were dumped into the last chapter of the book. That way if you know the rules well you can ignore the little numbers but if not you keep one thumb at the end of the book and flip back and forth to ensure you understand. Also if written properly you can just read the End Notes as a design chapter and if linked backwards(4) will have examples from the text.
So Idraluna Archives, thanks for the design experiment. You got me thinking and made a good point, you just used the wrong example(5).
(2) I have read that most adventures are bought & read and then pilfered for ideas so I could be wrong in modern usage but I'm gonna stick with the modules stated and original purpose, to be used at the game table.
(3) I'm sure the module mentioned this sort of info in the intro at the start of the adventure so I could be wrong but I doubt it in this case.
(4) If it's a pdf put links in both locations to get you back to where you were. We're talking usability and without the links back you're screwing with the person trying to understand.
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