One Page Rules (or: Taking a page from other peoples’ books)

The problem

I like finished books, but I also like "hacks" and house rules, most of them found online, in blogs and such.

I love retroclones, neoclones, etc, but they are  more than I can count and most of them seem to be 90% repetition of each other, sometimes on purpose.

Many of them are cool, but none is cooler than being able to freely combine OSR Links to Wisdom, for example.

I should probably write my own clone (take a look at what I got so far), but it will take a while (I’m writing something else at the moment - check my DotD posts, more to come), and time seems scarce this days.

Also, it might be 90% repetition anyway.

One possible solution

One Page Rules.

I'm not sure where I got the idea from; probably Roles, Rules, and Rolls. Or the One Page Dungeon contest. Maybe Links to Wisdom, Searchers of the Unknown, Doomslakers!, etc.

Of course I can't the first one to have thought of that; if you already know of a compilation of pages such as this, let me know.

In any case: if you have a cool idea for a mechanic, class, task resolution system, etc, try to reduce it to one page. This page must contain one single subject or subsystem, not a whole game or a compilation of different house rules.

Want some examples?

Roger G-S has just posted his New Edition of 52 Pages here. In most cases, you can use each page separately. One of my favorites is this page, for example.

Check this fantastic page from James V. West. Here is another example. You can find more in his blog.

(Both blogs are awesome BTW).

Moldvay's Basic D&D has some good examples: one page for character abilities, one page for their bonuses and penalties, one page for alignment, one page for weapon and equipment cost, one page for encumbrance and equipment weight, etc.

My first effort was OPH - Hazards, based on this post. It includes rules for food, water, suffocation, poison, intoxication and other dangers.

What's the point?

The one page limit does wonders for brevity. It works well for the One Page Dungeons, right? IF you ever wanted to write your own game, finishing a single page is a good experience. And any class or sub-system that takes more than that is using up time I probably don't have anyway.

The idea is that, after we have a complete set of house rules, you can physically build you book with your favorite rules. Or just instantly merge every page in a pdf.

One page for describing how to create a character. One page explaining character abilities. One page for equipment, one page for movement and encumbrance, one page for saving throws, etc. One page for alternate rules on 0 HP, or stunts, or proficiencies, or feats, etc. A die drop table for hit locations, starting equipment or something else. Maybe one page for all spells, or one per spell level, etc.

Well, you could just do all the work with microsoft word (or something), editing each word to fit your tastes (start here if that is what you want); but the idea of having a chaotic Frankenstein of a book where each page is designed by a different OSR author just sounds too cool to pass.

Guidelines

Choose a single subject per page. Not a whole system, but one mechanic: abilities, saving throws, alignment, a new class, etc.

Make it compatible to classic D&D (or 5e, or both; just make it clear). You can take the usual shortcuts: "XP progression: as cleric", "armor: as chain", etc. If you want to add something weird, make a reference to something familiar (for example, if you mention a "luck check" in you class, say "luck check or Save vs. Spells", for example).

As far as the formatting goes, use whatever you like. Make sure it is readable on a printed page. I would use portrait over landscape, but there are already cool examples using the latter.

You can use something similar to B/X for familiarity, or you can use templates and guidelines found here.

If you need art, check my public domain folder on Pinterest, use an art pack from Kevin Crawford, or check Roles, Rules, and Rolls.

If you like the idea and are willing to participate, comment on this page with a link to you blog post or .pdf page with your one-page rule; and link back to this post or share the idea somehow.

Make it free and easily accessible, of course. Needless to say, nobody would own your stuff but you. This is just a compilation of links, at first.

If you want, you can put it under the "Creative Common Attribution-Share Alike 3.0", like they do on The One Page Dungeon Contest, so anyone can use, share and remix freely.

Some things can take a couple of pages, or even a bit more, as long as you keep it modular and limit yourself to a single subject. For example, you can use two or three pages to describe all equipment, including costs, starting equipment, encumbrance rules, etc.

Many heads are better than one. Right? Source.

What else?

Let me hear your ideas. What is a good name for the project? Should we have multiple covers? Are multiple pages or more on the same subject allowed? Should we use docs instead of PDFs? Scissors and glue?

(BTW: and what about one page monsters? Remember using a three-ring binder to collect your monsters? Why not do the same today, without the hassle of missing pages or having a monster in each page screwing with alphabetical order? Sure, old school monsters might need no more than a line, but with a full page you can have art, plot hooks and subspecies).

I might edit this post to try and keep things organized.... somehow. I'm not sure that there will be any interest at all - if I don't get any responses, I might just organize a list of links on this page.

And let us see what comes out of this.

UPDATE: I'm encouraging anyone who has a one-page house-rule to add it in the comments, and I've been writing my own, albeit very slowly. Here is what I got so far (if you want the PDFs for this "one page hacks", look for "OPH" in the links below):

B8 (character classes & skills):  PDF - post.

B12 (equipment & money):  PDF - post.

B20 (encumbrance and Movement):  PDF - post.
Updated version (harsher encumbrance, better organized): PDF.

Hazards: PDF - post.

UPDATE 10/12/19: ultimately, my "one page rules" effort led me to publishing Dark Fantasy Basic my own homage to B/X. Check it out!