Design Specifications for the Pudge (Pocket Fudge) Project

Here are the design specifications for the project that I announced yesterday for a version of Fudge that GMs would be able to print onto a collection of 3” x 5” index cards. The project is now officially named the “Pudge (Pocket Fudge)” project.

WARNING: This is a set of design specifications. Most of the time when us geeks “design” gaming stuff what we are actually doing is sharing our ideas. “It should do this, and be like this, and it will be sold like this!” are commonly thrown about instead of an actual design. That kind of discussion is fun, and it has value, but this is not what this article is about. This is an actual design of the form which the Pudge (Pocket Fudge) will take, and I hope that you find it interesting.

Each card will have a 0.25” margin from its edge to the printing area. The line spacing for the text will accommodate one line requiring no more than a height of 0.25”. This allows for 10 lines of text per each side of the index card. The first line on the first side of each card is reserved for the index card’s title and the unique identification code.

The text of each card will use a 12 point Consolas font. This font was chosen because it is an easily readable fixed-width font. Using this font the title section of each card has a maximum limit of 35 characters including spaces, the identification code has a maximum limit of 9 characters, and the text section has a maximum limit of 893 characters including spaces (the white space that carriage returns create counts against the maximum number of characters).

Each card will have an eight character unique identification code with an optional ninth character.  There will be a two digit version number starting at 00, followed by a period, a two digit section number starting at 00, followed by a period, and a two digit topic number starting at 00. Section 00 is reserved for a master table of contents for that version of the project with each topic sharing the same number as the section which for which it provides the table of contents for. Topic 00 for each section is reserved for table of contents limited to that particular topic.

The optional ninth character of the unique identification code will be a lower case letter used in order from “a” to “z”. This allows a single topic to be written upon multiple index cards.

The version number is used to identify all of the cards that belong to particular set. The section number is used to categorize topics that would be considered part of the same chapter within a book, such as “Character Creation” or “Magic”. The topic number identify unique concepts within a section, such as “Starting Fudge Points” or “Spell Duration”.

Topic 98 of section 00 is reserved for the licensing information, and it must disclose a valid URL to the full version of the Open Game License under which the project is released. Topic 99 of of section 00 is reserved for the credits acknowledging all contributors, and it must disclose a valid URL to a list providing the name of the content creator for each section and topic, mention of the content creator for any inspiring original works when applicable, and contact information if the content creator wishes to make such information public.

The image of a conceptual proof is provided below using filler text to show how text would be laid out.

That is the cornerstone of the design. Like it?  Hate it? Leave a comment below and let the world know how you feel. Want to help me take this project from start to finish? You can leave a comment stating that as well, and I will contact you in the near future to provide even more details.