The Sandwich Rule

Sandwiches are delicious, but they're not usually something to make and eat in the middle of a TTRPG session with your friends. That is, unless you're playing with rules which violate The Sandwich Rule.

Some RPG sub-systems can be complex, and some sub-systems can only involved 1-2 players at the table. In this designer's humble opinion, any sub-system which is likely to involve only a fraction of the table's players should be streamlined down.

If, when something comes up, the best move for half of the table's players is to get up and go make a sandwich (or something else unrelated to the RPG session) instead of staying engaged, that system has violated The Sandwich rule. If you've played RPG systems with hacking rules, especially some of the old-school ones from the 90s/00s, then you've likely played in a system where that's the case. In Space Dogs, I've done my best to never violate The Sandwich Rule.

Hacking rules have a bit of depth with getting bonuses from information you get outside of the hacking (like finding someone's password into a part of the network etc.) but first and foremost it's designed to keep the whole table engaged so that no one feels like the hacker and the GM are just going to be doing their own thing for the next 10+ minutes while everyone else waits.

Similarly, the starship combat rules are similar. While everyone at the table can be peripherally involved in the combat via firing turrets or helping keep the ship running, in many ways it's still the pilot's time to shine. But instead of dragging on, starship combat is designed to (usually be done in 5-10 minutes, at least once the players are used to the mechanics. This helps push the gameplay back to the infantry/mecha level where Space Dogs truly shines and where everyone at the table can be equally engaged in the action.