Just over eleven months ago I blogged about Ken Burnside's Minimus, the one-page RPG. Ken has since made it four times longer, and he's submitted it for consideration for an Origins Award, where it will be up against the eight-hundred-pound gorilla of the industry, D&D 4.0. I play D&D 4.0, but I love rooting for the underdog. Besides, Minimus is such a brilliant distillation of role-playing that it should be required reading for people who play other table-top RPGs -- especially game-masters. From page three: Minimus is a storytelling game ... The focus of a storytelling game is descriptions of character actions and interpersonal relationships. The cardinal rule for running a storytelling game is this: Story logic trumps realism. If it sounds cool, say “yes”.
I remember playing "How to Host a Murder" years ago, and thinking "this is just a 'Miss Marple' D&D game." Role-playing games are a form of group storytelling, and once you peel away the game mechanics you usually find yourself with a simple set of rules for storytellers. Those rules are so simple it's hard to charge money for them. Besides, the physics simulations inherent in the game mechanics are fun, so game designers and players alike bury themselves there. But some of the very best moments in any role-playing session arise out of the story logic you'll find explained in the four short pages of Minimus. Go have a look.
