How do I handle game mechanics in fiction?
- Stat blocks slow pace; used well they punctuate, used badly they interrupt.
- Readers skip repeated blocks that contain no new information.
- Formatting matters: blocks need to render cleanly in ebook, not just in a document.
- Mechanics should have narrative consequences, not just numerical ones.
- Consistency errors in displayed numbers are among the most-reported reader complaints.
Show a stat block only when it delivers information the prose cannot, and cut every one that repeats. Mechanics should change what a character can do and how they feel about it, not just what a screen says. Keep the numbers consistent, because readers track them more carefully than you will.
Chapter i·Why it matters
The stat block is the genre's most abused device. Writers use it to convey progress cheaply, and the result is chapters where nothing happens but numbers rise. A block that lands, appearing after a hard-won fight and showing one unexpected line, does more than twenty routine ones.
Chapter ii·What to include
- A rule for when a block appears: milestones, surprises, and reveals only.
- Formatting tested in an actual ereader, not just a word processor.
- A running record of every number shown, checked against the last one.
- Narrative consequence attached to each mechanical change.
- Prose alternatives for routine progress the reader can infer.
- Accessibility: blocks readable by screen readers, not images of tables.
Chapter iii·Example
A writer cut 41 stat blocks from a 140,000 word book down to nine. Reviews that had said it drags between fights stopped, and the nine remaining blocks each landed on a genuine turn.
Chapter iv·Related questions
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