The Chupp Test

Apparently this is a thing.

To be clear, I don’t recall coining the term “the Chupp test” but I am pleased that it is in use. I keep a vanity  Google search going in my name; and you should too. That’s how I found the test.

The term was probably coined around the same time I was doing Internet Representative duties for White Wolf Game Design Studio (as opposed to White Wolf, White Wolf / CCP, or Onyx Path). I ran a MUSH called The Storyteller’s Circle and I would do online conferences on TSC plus AOL chat rooms. That was Web 0.5 rather than Web 1.0 or 2.0. During those conferences I would hint about upcoming products and discuss lots of Old World of Darkness (oWoD) minutiae.  So that is where I got a lot of questions like, “Why would anybody want to play an Akashic Brotherhood / Bone Gnawer / Child of Set”?

The best definition of meeting the test is “is this Character Class / Clan / Tribe / Tradition / Guild / Kith / Splats/Whatever compelling enough that it makes you, the player, interested in playing it?” Also, it is a good rule to gauge the success of written materials said splats.

So the answer to that question should always be “because it’s cool.” Which leads me to Travis Williams‘ Game Design Law, “Make It Cool.”

Now go forth and obey the law. 🙂