Quote from: SineNomine;938290As a playtest doc, it's fine as it is, and is probably overkill.

When you take it to final, I'd single-column it if you're using about a 5.5 x 8 footprint at that font size, though I've seen small books use two columns with a smaller font. Also, small tables don't need strokes; if it fits in a single column, you don't need to stroke anything, and you don't need fills either unless you want to add a little texture to the page. Most designers would center single-column tables, or if you've only got a couple horizontal inches of table in a single column book, they'd stick it against a margin and flow the text around it at a breathable remove. I noticed the columns aren't set to a grid, either; this is optional, but it's generally a good idea. Your subheads are equally-spaced between preceding and following material, which is generally not what you want- you want the subheads to be closer to the following material, which can be tricky when setting to a grid, but can be done by choosing a subhead font size that fits well into your leading. If you've got 12 points between each line, for example, you might have a 16-point subhead with 8 points of following space, fitting neatly into two lines with a full 12-point blank line above it. As usual, you want to be ruthless with your subhead styles, choosing a single style for a particular use and then never mixing styles. If you've got font X at 16 points for section headers, then only ever use font X at 16 points for section headers. Ideally, the reader should be able to tell what kind of information they're looking at just by your design choices without actually reading the text.

Very incisive. Thank you.

"I'd single-column it if you're using about a 5.5 x 8 footprint at that font size, though I've seen small books use two columns with a smaller font."

I figure 8.5x11, because that's what people can print. Is there something obvious I'm missing?

"Also, small tables don't need strokes; if it fits in a single column, you don't need to stroke anything..."

Questions... "stroke" means vertical lines, horizontal, or either?

"...and you don't need fills either unless you want to add a little texture to the page."

My eyes loses track very easily so I tend to like fills. Is there an upper threshold, when it's too much?

"...or if you've only got a couple horizontal inches of table in a single column book, they'd stick it against a margin and flow the text around it at a breathable remove."

Smart. I'll see if I can figure out how to do that.

"I noticed the columns aren't set to a grid, either; this is optional, but it's generally a good idea."

Noted. More control? Yeah?

"Your subheads are equally-spaced between preceding and following material, which is generally not what you want- you want the subheads to be closer to the following material, which can be tricky when setting to a grid, but can be done by choosing a subhead font size that fits well into your leading."

"Leading" is a term here...? I just think I understand the gist.

 "Ideally, the reader should be able to tell what kind of information they're looking at just by your design choices without actually reading the text."

That's a standard worth pursuing!

It's hard to tell in PDF, but the proportion of font to page looked like a 10-point text on a 5.5 x 8 page or so. If it's actually an 8.5 x 11, your font may be too big. 10 point is standard for gaming books. I've seen some people use 12 point, and I've used it myself in one of my books, but I didn't like the result- the page color was uneven and it was harder to set cleanly. For 8.5 x 11 pages two columns is best, yes. You want about 50-75 characters per line in a column before people start losing their place, and you can't do that single-column on a 8.5 x 11 page without blowing up the font size.

Strokes are the lines around an object. In this case, table cells. Many new designers use a lot more of them than they should, as I certainly did. Their function is to serve as a visual break marker, and putting them around every row or column is jarring to read. Fills are meant to guide the eye horizontally or vertically over a long line. The reason you don't normally fill narrow tables is because there's no need for it- the eye doesn't lose its place running across a short row. For a page-wide table, on the other hand, they're useful to help the reader track the entry. When they're not strictly necessary they can still be used to add texture to a page that's otherwise a little heavy on the raw text.

(So why not use horizontal strokes to do the same line guidance? Because adjacent horizontal strokes look identical, while two different adjacent fill colors do not. You can read the gray-tinted line below the paper-white line a lot more easily than you can read the boxed-in line beneath the identically boxed-in line.)

The reason to set to a grid in two-column text is because it looks less-than-great when two uneven columns are directly adjacent to each other across a narrow page gutter. You can also easily get in a situation where the foot of one column is very slightly different than the foot of the adjacent column, giving the page a somewhat haphazard look. The downside of setting to a grid is that you have to be careful about your subheads and make sure their font size + following space fits neatly into your leading.

Your leading (pronounced as in "lead pencil") is the invisible "ruling" on your page, usually 120% of your body text font size. So if you've got 10 point body text, you've got 12 point leading. Lines rest on the bottom of the leading if you're setting to a grid.

When it comes to hardcopies, I prefer A5 or thereabouts (6" x 9") for ease of handling.

If you expect most of your readers to be viewing this on a screen or tablet, I'd strongly suggest single-column text, with about 50-75 characters per line.
https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2014/09/balancing-line-length-font-size-responsive-web-design/

Here's a version at 10 point font plus a few other suggestions you made. I can print these out on 8.5x11 paper for my play testers. I suppose this is overkill, but I enjoy making things look good. This was done in Word. I imagine that to do it for real requires In Design or something similar.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwuYURG0h86fLWFyc1NlQS1qRWs

This is the sort of stuff I know nothing about. It's why I don't self-publish.