My Inital Review Rating System

Hello!

My initial blog post is to explain the rating system I intend on using for RPG products.

I intend to rate products on three metrics with a rating of 1 to 5 stars on each.  The metrics I will use initially are:

➽ Grit:  Grit is my rating for how useful the game or supplement appears to be.  Games, supplements, and modules which I find to work really well will get higher scores.  A module that works as is will be rated higher than one which requires a lot of work from the Referee to be useful.  This rating will not be based on the number of rules in the product.  A Free-kriesgspiel Revolution (FKR) product with one page of rules will be judged on that one page and won't be compared to whatever new-fangled, three rulebook system is currently in vogue.  Conversely, a 400-page rules tome will be rated on the rules tome itself and not compared to a 32-page game.  Comparisons might certainly appear but the judging will be apples-to-apples, to the best of my ability.

➽ Vigor:  Vigor is my rating for how much longevity the game, supplement, or module will provide.  A setting that I find has unlimited potential will rate higher than one which seems like it would work well for a one-shot.  A boxed set with 200 pages of text and 20 maps may not be any more useful than a 32-page setting book if the boxed set digs way down into the nitty gritty that will very unlikely to come up in a campaign.

➽ Grace:  Grace is how beautiful I find the product.  Artwork, layout, and general usability will be judged.  A module with tiny and tight text will rate lower than one with a clean layout and lots of breaks to rest the eyeballs.  If I rate something that is a Print-on-demand (POD) product, I will try to separate flaws in the physical product due to printer error from defects caused by the author.  Books that have a usable index and easily determined page numbers will rate higher than a manifesto written on a stenographer's pad while hiding out in a Montana cabin.

I might change my rating system if I think of one better.  

Since people are insane, I suppose I should mention that my ratings are 100% subjective.  You might very well find that you love something I dislike and you dislike something I love.  This is how the world works and there is no need for you to have hurt feelings.

I intend to mostly rate products that are not mainstream or are out-of-print.  You probably won't find any reviews of currently in-print D&D products.

I also will endeavor to leave links where a project might be purchased, if it is currently in print.