Jason Corley COIN is cool – but it’s not exactly light or anything. It’s pretty complex (although some games more so than others).

The playbook/reference book duality is a really difficult problem for RPGs. Might be even more difficult, since RPGs sometimes try to capture three separate ideas: a playbook / reference book / setting book. Each of which really have different goals in terms of engaging the reader.

But I’m all for going the direct route in terms of outlining the key parts of the game.