Forum > Pen and Paper Roleplaying Games (RPGs) Discussion
The Window RPG Reminder
RulesLiteOSRpls:
Hello Everybody. This one is going to be really basic. I just want to gush a little bit about The Window. I have not been in the hobby a super long time. My friends introduced me to TTRPG's with [brace yourself] D&D 4e in 2013. Back then, I didn't know anything, and I went along with it. It worked okay, I supposed. But it was awfully complicated, even for my taste back then. I started perusing the internet for alternatives, particularly rules-light systems. I discovered The Window by Scott Lininger before or after Risus by S. John Ross; I don't remember which was first. I have and still do enjoy both games. But, The Window, despite having a much smaller user base than Risus, is far better suited for serious mood campaigns.
I have a fairly severe bias toward loving and using mainly rules-light systems. Since discovering The Window, it has often been my default system for introducing people to TTRPG's. I just does so little to get in your way. Gameplay is fast and smooth, and lets you focus on developing a memorable story. So, just thought I would give The Window a shoutout. I am very grateful to Scott Lininger for his work on The Window. Maybe if enough of us pester him, he might consider making a little money off of materials for his marvelous system. If not, we should archive it, datahoard it, whatever. I want to see the system gain users. If Mr. Lininger reads this, thank you, Sir, for making this system available to us. I hope you find some time to promote the system further. Anyway, here are the links.
The Website:
http://www.mimgames.com/window/
The English download:
http://www.mimgames.com/window/downloads/WindowRules.pdf
Let Scott know how great The Window is:
https://twitter.com/scottlininger
https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottlininger
FingerRod:
Christ in leather chaps, no.
Lol who put you up to this?
Pat
BANNED:
I remember The Window, and not for positive reasons. It managed to combine a derivative little nothing system with an incredible degree of hubris and self-congratulation, when it came out more than 20 years ago. I don't imagine it's gotten any better.
RulesLiteOSRpls:
What is it derivative of?
Pat
BANNED:
It was one of about a zillion free internet ultra-lite games from the period, with overlapping features. Find an archive of 90s-era internet RPGs (this was before PDFs, so they were all TXT files), and you'll see a lot of similarities. I don't remember most of their names, because it's been a long time and they're mostly forgettable.
Edit: Incidentally, if you like the game, that's fine. Enjoy it, and don't let me stop you. I never saw any value in the system, and was turned off by the tone, but that's my personal impression.
If you're interested in context, the 90s saw a huge profusion of game distributed via Usenet, FTP, or crude websites. Most were just ASCII text files, a few used basic html. There were some crunchy games, and a lot of AD&D derivatives, but the decade started with some high profile mainstream rules light games like Amber and Over the Edge, and they inspired a lot of people to try their hand at their own little games. There was a lot of discussion of minimalist approaches in the newsgroups. The Window was a late entrant.
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