When I saw this question, my immediate thoughts were for Shanna Germain's beautiful, empathic writing: how effectively it evokes the feeling of the setting she's created. I also thought about Monte Cook and how his approachable gaming theory essays really helped me understand concepts like "weird" in Numenera or sandbox gaming in Invisible Sun. I thought back to 1st edition D&D and how my creativity exploded when I read the DMG for the first time,. I especially remember reading through the artifacts and relics and thinking about the games and world-building that brought them into being.
But then I realized that all of this was treasonous propaganda. How could I allow myself to be so steered from the true path? I have reported to the rehabilitation center for curing or termination, depending on how bad my psyche is...and the rest of this essay will be written by Blog-R-GRG-2.
Hello, Citizen. This is Blog-R-GRG-2, picking up where the traitorous Blog-R-GRG-1 left off. The correct answer for "best writing in an RPG" is, of course, Paranoia 2e. Canonically, Paranoia is the best game ever, and 2e is the most superior edition of a perfect product. Anybody who says otherwise is a commie mutant traitor.
A few years ago, in an RPGaDay prompt, I explained why the Paranoia 2e cover art was the best cover art, so why would its writing not be equally splendid?
For those who don't know, Paranoia is a game of about idyllic life in the utopian Alpha Complex. Everything in the complex is perfect, except for the threat of Commies (and other secret societies), mutants and traitors. You are a troubleshooter, and your job is to root out and eliminate threats to Alpha Complex, especially from Commie Mutant Traitors. There are only five small issues with this goal, and they are totally your fault:
- You are a member of a secret society
- You are a mutant
- You are therefore a traitor
- So is everybody else in your group, though you try to keep it hidden
- You all have laser pistols
Fortunately, you also have 6 clones, so if one of your traitorous selves should find themselves in a physical or mental state (such as being very dead) whereby they cannot complete the team's critical mission, another clone can be brought online to continue the fun.
The writing for Paranoia 2e uses a combination of in-character writing, play examples, meta, and mechanical descriptions to not only teach you the game, but get you in the spirit.
One of the first things one sees when opening the rulebook is that there are the Red rules, and the Ultraviolet rules. The Red rules are at the beginning of the book, and may be read by any of the players. This has some mechanical descriptions, but most of it is related to the setting, how the game is played, and why this perfectly-designed game and each perfectly-crafted mission will leave you utterly screwed.
The ultraviolet section gets into the mechanics of play, as well as the secrets of Alpha Complex. Such secrets might include the traitorous rumor that our friend, The Computer, is bat-guano crazy, and that despite sensors and agents in virtually every area of the complex, has no idea what's going on. This isn't a simple "Players shouldn't read the Monster Manual" meta-rule. It's explicitly traitorous to show any understanding of the rules.
"You rolled an 8, you missed."
"But I'm at close range, so I get a 4-point bonus to my roll."
"You what, citizen? Did you express an understanding of the rules?"
"Wait, no. I meant that it just seemed obvious that I should get a bonus."
"No, no. You're correct. 4-point bonus it is. You hit."
The knowledgeable Troubleshooter sees that indeed the small robot is disabled. They also see that the other 5 troubleshooters have a new target--the traitorous Knows-R-ULS-3. Maybe Knows-R-ULS-4 will have better sense.
The rulebook, though a wonderfully consistent voice, honestly gives a great feel for the setting, mechanics and perspective of someone living inside the complex. It finds the right ways to address questions such as "is there anything outside Alpha Complex", what would "Outside" even look like? How do you thrive when literally everything seems out to get you? If you succeed in a mission, what does that look like? How does Citizen rank (ROYGBIV) look to those with power, and those without? What are the different secret societies, why do they exist given the risks, and what are their goals, and how does the computer view them?
It is, without question, the most perfect rulebook ever written. And anybody who has read it will tell you so. Unfortunately, my copy was subverted by a 1980's editor who rewrote things to make it hard to find answers in a straightforward way during play. He also left gaps in the world-building such as "how does one have a current job with one of the 6 or so service organizations if one is also a troubleshooter?"
But fortunately, all other copies appear to be perfect., I'm just waiting for the correctly edited copy to be sent to me, instead of the one that was sent to be by mistake. No, I didn't mean "appear" pefect; I mean that they ARE perfect; certainly, the computer's logistics team made a mistake, I mean that there was human error based on what the computer...wait, I...no. *BLAM BLAM BLAM*
Blog-R-GRG-3 has entered the chat
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