Quote from: jux;897493Now name one!

Traveller 1e (the LBBs)

Gamma World 1e

Quote from: jux;897482So this is discussion topic of it's own, but what I want to ask is some of your recommendations that qualify for the "bang for page count" criteria.

Tiny RPGs for pick-up play are easy enough to find; the one I keep on hand is World of Dungeons (printer-friendly version).

Brendan S' Wonder & Wickedness is a slim volume that's got excellent per-page value - it's a book of spells for use with a vancian system, organized by school. There's only a few in each school, but none of them have a spell level - instead, the book has spell power (or at least duration) increase with caster level. The school-specific 'failed casting' tables are also great.

Originally inspired by the one-page dungeon contest (which just wrapped up submissions for 2016), I regularly put out two-page adventures based around isometric maps:

Quote from: Spinachcat;897811Traveller 1e (the LBBs)

Gamma World 1e

2e GW too. Very to the point overall. Theres like what less than a page of background. The rest is rules, mutations, gear and monsters. Same for Star Frontiers and Knight Hawks or even AD&D or BX. Very little to no story. All rules and stuff.

Quote from: jux;897493Now name one!

ICE's Robin Hood Campaign Sourcebook

Traveller, Classic Traveller, The Traveller Book
               Mongoose Traveller, MgT 1e Core Rulebook

d6 WEG Star Wars, The Star Wars Introductory Adventure Game
                             Star Wars RPG, Revised and Expanded

Quote from: jux;897482So this is discussion topic of it's own, but what I want to ask is some of your recommendations that qualify for the "bang for page count" criteria. The most interesting would be to find a 10 page sandbox scenarios, but anything else is fine too.

It really depends on what you want.  To me, Eternal Lies is an ideal bang-for-buck adventure -- it's a classic, gigantic, world-spanning Mythos adventure that is probably close to a half year or year's worth of play, for something like $50.  One person who's run it all the way through did so in 22 sessions.  That's a little over $2 per session.  That's a really solid amount of value.

With that said, if you're looking for cheaper stuff when it comes to initial outlay, you have 40 years of D&D adventures online that can be purchased for a song at DriveThru or wherever, and those are usually good for a few nights play, at least.

"Bang per page" and page count aren't actually related. The best "bang per page" value in any RPG product I own is Ptolus... It's also 650+ pages.

With that being said, if you want maximum play value packed into a minimum number of pages I'd take a peek at Technoir: It has innovative plot map mechanics that allow it to present settings in 16 half-pages that can be almost endlessly recombined with no additional prep for hundreds of hours of game play.

You might also want to check out the Instant Adventures from Monte Cook Games. (They've published a set for Numenera and a set for The Strange.) 4 pages per scenario, designed to be picked up and played within 5 minutes.

Quote from: jux;897482I want to point out a problem I have in the RPG industry - it's the meaning of "bang for buck" which means how many pages of content you will get for $. The more content apparently means it's better. And if a supplement has low page count, it should cost less. Hate it.
   
And when asked what is the best adventure-, campaign-, setting supplement - people will name big heavy tomes like "Masks of Nyarlathotep", "Eternal Lies", "Mythic Britain", "A Red & Pleasant Land", "Dark Albion", "Guide to Glorantha" ... to name a few. Don't get me wrong - these really are amazing works, but unfortunately to me personally they fail to be gaming products. I cannot afford to be full time gamer/GM.

I like how some authors in the industry seem to get it - Robert Schwalb with his "Shadow of the Demon Lord" adventures for example. 3-5 pages, go, play.
   
Also John Wick told in a podcast, that one thing he learned when he studied professional writing and reading authors of classic literature was to be able to express the maximum amount of meaning with the least word count. I think this aspect is one true craftsman of a writer. And here is the conflict of interests - good writing is less words, but profitable writing is more (meaningless) words.

So this is discussion topic of it's own, but what I want to ask is some of your recommendations that qualify for the "bang for page count" criteria. The most interesting would be to find a 10 page sandbox scenarios, but anything else is fine too.

Well, it's natural that if you spend more time writing a 250 page book, it's going to be priced higher. Of course, strategically, the best dollar value per page count is not going to be in selling a 250 page book for $40 (so 16 cents a page), but in selling a 20 page book for $15 (75 cents a page).  I just can't usually bring myself to write books that short; it's actually a tough art form in some ways, to do it right.

Anyways, campaign books like Dark Albion, and shorter adventures or adventure scenarios, fulfill two different purposes. Dark Albion can be something you use to run one or two sessions with, but it only becomes worth the 'bang for the buck' if you are running a longer campaign with it.  If you want material for a longer campaign, that's what you want to get. But if you need something for two or three sessions, you probably would be better off getting a tight but well-written adventure or mini-campaign scenario.

Quote from: RPGPundit;898873Dark Albion can be something you use to run one or two sessions with, but it only becomes worth the 'bang for the buck' if you are running a longer campaign with it.  If you want material for a longer campaign, that's what you want to get. But if you need something for two or three sessions, you probably would be better off getting a tight but well-written adventure or mini-campaign scenario.

Yep, it is that simple.

However, I wish there was a quick-start scenarios for these big setting books. For example, when someone wants to run a first session in Dark Albion, one has to do a lot of reading, studying, preparing and also theres a lot to teach to other players. It would be awesome, if first 10 pages are all you need, to play 3 scenarios. Usually it's weeks of preparation to get a game going.

Quote from: jux;898931Yep, it is that simple.

However, I wish there was a quick-start scenarios for these big setting books. For example, when someone wants to run a first session in Dark Albion, one has to do a lot of reading, studying, preparing and also theres a lot to teach to other players. It would be awesome, if first 10 pages are all you need, to play 3 scenarios. Usually it's weeks of preparation to get a game going.

Well, the module The Ghost of Jack Cade on London bridge, written by Dominique Crouzet, kind of fulfills that function. It's also something that could be used in any OSR game (it would fit very nicely as an LotFP-type module, for example, or like the type of stuff Pete Spahn writes).  It's a truly great entry-level adventure.

Quote from: jux;897482So this is discussion topic of it's own, but what I want to ask is some of your recommendations that qualify for the "bang for page count" criteria. The most interesting would be to find a 10 page sandbox scenarios, but anything else is fine too.

S. John Ross's Uresia is a gorgeous piece of writing -- gently funny, subtle, evocative, melancholy. And short. Well, midsized. (The revised edition, which I haven't read, has a much-increased wordcount; I absolutely trust Ross to make proper use of it. But the d20 edition is a great achievement all on its own.)

Ken Hite packs more interesting ideas into a paragraph of his columns than most RPG writers can manage in a chapter. The bit of 'game fiction' that kicks off his Day After Ragnarok supplement started life as a 'Suppressed Transmission' column in Pyramid, and is a perfect self-contained setpiece; in 3-4 pages it lays out a whole world. My favourite RPG supplement fiction, easily. Hite does that regularly for Fenix magazine now; near as I can tell, all his stuff for them made their 'Best of Fenix' anthologies. If you can put your hands on the 'Transmission' archives, do so; Hite's 'Clio's Nightmares' columns and occult-Shakespeare glosses are really something. 'Six Flags Over Roswell' is a classic as well, and for good reason.

The NOD hexcrawls are excellent and compact.

The 4th edition supplement Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale is unusually dense with flavour -- it's generally regarded as a highwater mark for 4e-era D&D.