Off the Shelf: EZD6

EZD6 was sitting in a storage box in the garage, and I thought about it, and went to find it, and there it was. The smaller games, like Old School Essentials, Index Card RPG, Shadowdark, and all the other A5-sized games are special. The design and fun that goes into these far outweighs games 100 times their size, the six shelves of 5E books I have are a waste of time and money.

All of that can be done with a few A5-sized books packed with fun.

Old School Essentials? Great game, iconic.

Index Card RPG? Amazing game, classic. Any setting, any world, grab and go.

Shadowdark? Better than all of 5E, this is D&D.

EZD6? Instant classic. Pick up and play fun.

I have a few A5 games that are hard to follow and don't have that "discipline of ideas" that many designers force themselves to have. Size does not mean greatness. But size forces designers into greatness, and those who lack design talent will fail spectacularly and be shown clear as day.

An 8.5x11" book can hide tons of sins and poor design.

An A5 book will shine a light on a horrible design. 

What is special about EZD6 is that I could put this in my pocket with a few dice, head down to the bar, and play it with complete strangers. This is so easy to teach and play, you don't even need 5 minutes, just start playing, tell people what to roll, and then run the game in a 30-second start window. This is the ultimate "pick up game" to play at a convention or a casual social situation.

Shadowdark is not even this easy. There is prep needed, like a premade character and a bit of explanation. EZD6 is the way to go with people you just met, or have the hesitation about gaming or "getting involved" with anything. You throw down dice, ask people to pick an archetype, and get started. Even magic is "say what it does" and allows for ultimate creativity at the table, and there are no "spell lists" for people to sift through.

Magic "just is" and it is a wonderful thing. Let people summon a "swarm of cannibal hamsters" of they want. Or fill the hallway with pink balloons to slow the goblins down. Let people use their imagination! It is magic, not paid-by-the-word contractor filler text meant to beat down your imagination and drain wonder from your soul. EZD6 gets magic and that sense of wonder where most other OSR games stumble over themselves to endlessly repeat 50-year-old spell lists.

Magic should be magical.

Not a well-known list meant to limit your creativity.

These small games have more thought and design put into them than the 1,000-page games. They do more, have more options, and are far better experiences. What they don't have room for forces them to only include the best options, eliminate filler, and deliver the "best of the best."

I only want the best ideas in my games.

I don't want page after page of garbage. 

Again, if I am playing with people I just met, who know nothing about the game, who never opened the book, do I want to tell them "make crazy and fun something up" or "here, read this book, all these first-level spells, and find something to cast?" It is a no-brainier most games do not have the brains to even think of.

At that bar with people I just met and never know?

EZD6 will be the game we will play.