I thought there was a topic in the T5 area about this, and I know I saw one from Rust about how sometimes the layout makes all the difference. But this, from RPGNow, seems to sort of summarize something that reviewer at least saw as very good (not intended as a plug or anything, but as an example of organization)
"Organization and layout are all too often ignored in RPG books these days. We, as gamers, like to go on and on about how well balanced a system is, or the ratio of crunch vs. fluff in a book, or the quality of the artwork, or any one of a hundred other things. How clearly the information is explained and organized in the book, however, doesn’t usually get discussed. That’s a shame, because products like Myth Merchant Press’s SORD Plus 1.0 showcase just how much difference that can make when playing an RPG.
Made specifically for the Beta Edition of Paizo Publishing’s Pathfinder RPG, SORD Plus 1.0 (or as I like to call it, Sword +1) is a dramatic reorganization of the Pathfinder rules regarding all aspects of combat in the game, the operative word here being “dramatic.” The PDF uses a number of techniques and ideas to make everything INCREDIBLY easy to reference. For instance, each topic is dealt with on a single page. Want to quickly reference the rules for Initiative, including holding and readying actions? Go to page four. Need to double-check exactly how grapple works in Pathfinder? It’s all right there on page nineteen. That alone would be convenient, but it doesn’t stop there. On each page, clever use of colored tables segregating various aspects of the topic into different, easy-to-manage boxes makes it possibly to quickly reference whatever part of whatever it is you’re looking for. Suppose, for example, you’re looking at the aforementioned new grapple rules for what effect they have on spellcasting. Just look at the side of the page for the Conditions sub-header, and glance down the bullet points until you find the one for spellcasting. That’s all there is to it, and it’s like that with everything!
The book doesn’t skimp on the technical aspects either. Beyond the ubiquitous (and necessary) bookmarks, the initial table of contents is also hyperlinked for ease of navigation. Moreover, the PDF is layered, so you can enable or disable the layers as you need to to remove things like page numbers or the front cover. It’s really difficult to find any fault with this product when it goes the extra mile like this."
"Organization and layout are all too often ignored in RPG books these days. We, as gamers, like to go on and on about how well balanced a system is, or the ratio of crunch vs. fluff in a book, or the quality of the artwork, or any one of a hundred other things. How clearly the information is explained and organized in the book, however, doesn’t usually get discussed. That’s a shame, because products like Myth Merchant Press’s SORD Plus 1.0 showcase just how much difference that can make when playing an RPG.
Made specifically for the Beta Edition of Paizo Publishing’s Pathfinder RPG, SORD Plus 1.0 (or as I like to call it, Sword +1) is a dramatic reorganization of the Pathfinder rules regarding all aspects of combat in the game, the operative word here being “dramatic.” The PDF uses a number of techniques and ideas to make everything INCREDIBLY easy to reference. For instance, each topic is dealt with on a single page. Want to quickly reference the rules for Initiative, including holding and readying actions? Go to page four. Need to double-check exactly how grapple works in Pathfinder? It’s all right there on page nineteen. That alone would be convenient, but it doesn’t stop there. On each page, clever use of colored tables segregating various aspects of the topic into different, easy-to-manage boxes makes it possibly to quickly reference whatever part of whatever it is you’re looking for. Suppose, for example, you’re looking at the aforementioned new grapple rules for what effect they have on spellcasting. Just look at the side of the page for the Conditions sub-header, and glance down the bullet points until you find the one for spellcasting. That’s all there is to it, and it’s like that with everything!
The book doesn’t skimp on the technical aspects either. Beyond the ubiquitous (and necessary) bookmarks, the initial table of contents is also hyperlinked for ease of navigation. Moreover, the PDF is layered, so you can enable or disable the layers as you need to to remove things like page numbers or the front cover. It’s really difficult to find any fault with this product when it goes the extra mile like this."
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