My TORG2 vision

[skeloric]

With the upcoming sale, I've decided to go over my "shopping list" of what needs to be in the new edition.
(Based upon the box set version of the rulebook)

1. Concise rules review.
The rules for TORG are all over the place in the book.
Just trying to determine what rules exist takes a determined list of page numbers for reference.
Sometimes an easy photocopiable sheet with the rules in short form (along with a page number to review the longer version) is a very nice perk indeed.
White Wolf offers several such pages and so do many other RPGs I imagine.

2. INDEX!!!
How in the hell did they NOT deem an index necessary????
Together with #1, it would alleviate a lot of frustration.

3. Proper Organization.
The rulebook might have been designed to teach the game by increasing the complexity per chapter (which is debatable, both in the intent and the level of success), but the book generally fails as an actual reference.
Most uses of a rulebook after the initial read are for reference purposes.

4. Reprint rules.
If the core has a section with 6 pages each of info about some sample Cosms, I'd really prefer it if that info were represented in in the followup independent sourcebook.
Going to the worldbook from the box set for about 6 pages of info and then juggling it with the followup sourcebook which assumes you know it but never again references it or even alerts you to potential changes due to expanded rules.

5. AXIOMS
No holes please.
Say SOMETHING!
If an Axiom level really does nothing, what in the heck is it there for?
If it DOES do something, then alert us to that -- no matter how insignificant it might seem to be.
Furthermore, certain Axioms probably could use a "shorthand" example.
"Wild West"/ "Victorian" / "WWI" / "WW2" -- if for other reason than that the example probably will give a better initial understanding than several paragraphs worth.

6. The more skills involved in the main book, the better it will be for players trying to get started on character design.

[Rabbitball]

With the upcoming sale, I've decided to go over my "shopping list" of what needs to be in the new edition.
(Based upon the box set version of the rulebook)

I have no stake in the sale, but I have worked up the Cosmversal Grimoire and the rule supplement to go with it. The total is currently 400 pages but will likely go a bit longer. I'll reveal how well these connect to your goals.


1. Concise rules review.
The rules for TORG are all over the place in the book.
Just trying to determine what rules exist takes a determined list of page numbers for reference.
Sometimes an easy photocopiable sheet with the rules in short form (along with a page number to review the longer version) is a very nice perk indeed.
White Wolf offers several such pages and so do many other RPGs I imagine.

The rulebook section has the complete spell design system with a section for modifying the rules to handle spells for other cosms. There is one part where step-by-step rules for spell design are provided, but I don't think it fits in the 4-6 page limit yet, nor is it currently formatted for easy photocopying.


2. INDEX!!!
How in the hell did they NOT deem an index necessary????
Together with #1, it would alleviate a lot of frustration.

The Cosmversal Grimoire reworks every Torg spell I could find and indexes the rewrites. The supplemental rulebook adds new spells and indexes them within the book. The end result is a listing of every spell, but a combined index is not in the works yet.


3. Proper Organization.
The rulebook might have been designed to teach the game by increasing the complexity per chapter (which is debatable, both in the intent and the level of success), but the book generally fails as an actual reference.
Most uses of a rulebook after the initial read are for reference purposes.

The rulebook supplement is arranged functionally, with separate sections for understanding a spell description, designing Aysle spells (i.e., the standard system) and designing other spells that need work to integrate into the standard system.


4. Reprint rules.
If the core has a section with 6 pages each of info about some sample Cosms, I'd really prefer it if that info were represented in in the followup independent sourcebook.
Going to the worldbook from the box set for about 6 pages of info and then juggling it with the followup sourcebook which assumes you know it but never again references it or even alerts you to potential changes due to expanded rules.

This requires that the sourcebooks be written before the game is published. That wasn't possible in the early days of Torg (why write sourcebooks if nobody likes the game?) but could be done with the published cosms now. In fact, later versions of the Worldbook tried to implement some of the changes from the sourcebooks, but weren't dogmatic about it. The Compleat Magick project fully supports all the published cosms magically, as well as one other created to provide an example of a different but similar magic system (and justify a change used in the Cosmversal Grimoire).


5. AXIOMS
No holes please.
Say SOMETHING!
If an Axiom level really does nothing, what in the heck is it there for?
If it DOES do something, then alert us to that -- no matter how insignificant it might seem to be.
Furthermore, certain Axioms probably could use a "shorthand" example.
"Wild West"/ "Victorian" / "WWI" / "WW2" -- if for other reason than that the example probably will give a better initial understanding than several paragraphs worth.

Magic 33--Magic no longer has holes.


6. The more skills involved in the main book, the better it will be for players trying to get started on character design.

That's for a more complete system; my opus only covers magic.

[skeloric]

I'm just not at all certain where what you've done will have any impact at all upon the nebulous new owners.
They may have their own vision, in which case my "shopping list" of desired improvements can still be just as (ir)relevant.