How to write a Free RPG - example inline or at the end?

[Rob Lang]

[Onix]

I think splitting them up would be confusing. If you make the examples a different font so that they are easily distinguished, one could skip over them to keep reading without fear of missing anything.

[kylesgames]

I think samples are better within the text than as a separate entity- I know that when examples are given after a huge wall of text I zone out for both, but when it's more mixed there's a much more engaging feel to it.

[SheikhJahbooty]

I'm adding my vote to inline.

Something along the lines of Onix's idea; if you think it's jarring, make it easily skippable.

Or maybe use layout, right hand side of the page is only instructions, left is only examples.

[Onix]

That works too. You'd have to balance the amount of instruction with example which could be a layout nightmare but it would be elegant as a finished product.

[Thought]

Perhaps neither? That is, you could always have two columns of text, with the examples arranged to fit up with your guide itself. Thus, as we are reading, we can flick our eyes to the side to see the example if we so wish, or ignore it. This still makes a massive post, and, if that is the only concern, it probably makes it worse. But it might increase readability (except on smartphones).

Alternately, if you were making a dead-tree version of the guide (or a PDF version), then you could always use a medieval gloss. That is, the example would be in a block of text at the center of the page, and your guide would be in the borders around the text, explaining what is going on. You can see an example of this here: http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/ ... 201067.jpg

Even if neither option appeals to you, I'd suggest that "inline v. at the end" is a false dichotomy.

[kumakami]

must find a way to do F.O.G. in medieval gloss

[Onix]

Stuffer Shack just did a . Food for thought, I usually find it helpful to look at someone else's idea of how to do something and then see what I'm missing or what they're missing.

[Rob Lang]

That's brilliant, thank you Onix! I'll make sure I build in the salient points into my guide.