What is the minimum you require from a playtest packet?

#1

Context: I am working on a PBTA game right now and want to start external playtesting soon.

Assuming a game is designed enough to play full sessions of, what do you, an experienced RPG player and potential player, need in the packet?

Naturally, Playbooks. What else?

#2

My feeling is that you have this question backward, because what you provide will return different data to you. “Completeness” may not be a virtue if you want to see what behavior people default to uninstructed.

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#3

YES!!!
What would I want to see in a Playtest Packet?

  1. What you want tested? A list of questions about what things to focus on.
  2. Support for exactly what you want tested. If all you want is to test out how the “social resolution” move works. Include that move, and a few scenes or starters where you think that move would get used. Are you testing character creation? Are you testing the MC’s reaction moves? Are you testing a specific playbook? Include what ever I would need to test that bit. “whatever the minimum” is might be a lot bigger than just that item. Testing “Advancement” might mean you have most everything else in play in order for people to have a feeling of when the advancement comes (for pacing) and whether the advancement feels “good”.

Maybe. To me, the base thing for PbtA play is not the playbook but the basic moves, and maybe the MC reactions. Principles and Agendas are nice too.

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#4

So I know you have something specific in mind but as someone who helped run a playtestjng meetup last year a game is never too early to play test.

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#5

It depends, as others have said. On the assumption that you essentially want me to play the complete game, rather than test some particular subsystem (which I think is a completely valid approach, by the way - it’s mostly how I do playtesting):

  • I want the basic moves
  • I want the playbooks
  • I want the GM principles and moves, or some indication of how the game should be GM’d
  • I want a bit of supporting material to explain any elements that won’t be obvious from previous PBTA experience. I’ve picked up a few games where the meaning of a move trigger or principle is opaque and what this means is I can’t use that component of the game at all.
  • If you want to dramatically increase the chances I’ll find time to playtest it, I want a one-shot scenario or similar material to help me get to the meat of play really quickly.

(If you’re expecting any of your playtesters to not be PBTA veterans then maybe you need to explain clocks and XP tracks and the dice mechanic and so on - but that’s not me.)

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#6

Oh, also, seconding the idea of providing specific questions. I don’t know what your design intentions are, so I can’t give you good feedback from the rules alone. The game might seem to have gone great to me, but be a complete failure from your POV as a designer. So tell me what you want the game to be like and ask me questions about that; and point me at any mechanics you’re unsure of and want feedback on.

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#7

I’ve tested it many times both as a GM and a player, but giving it to someone who has never seen it before and having them play it requires a bit more. I also believe in early tests and rapid iteration.

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