Psion
Adventurer
I am going to take this out of the context of the "We aren't representative" discussion, because it strikes a different chord in me that I have been thinking about:
If only they could live up to that calling.
For a while, I picked up a few fluff heavy books and didn't like what I saw. I felt like I was slogging through minutia (Rokugan Secrets series, I am looking at you...) or was being provided with details that were all to apparent to me (Slayer's Guides, I am looking at you.) This led me (and many gamers, I think) to beleive that fluff is just bad.
Then I picked up Book of Taverns and was bowled over. This writing was good. Intriguing. I gobbled it up. And it was mostly what we would call "fluff", but it actually had risen to the level that I might call it "flavor" instead of fluff as Mark suggests.
This made me realize that when it comes to fluff/flavor, most of the current stable of d20 writers quite simply aren't up to the task. Many of them came from the background of beign good DMs. Good DMs may be good designers, but they aren't necessarily good writers.
I have no recommended solution to this, but will say I wish there were more good "flavor" writers out there, and it is refreshing to realize that the problem is not just a personal disdain for non-mechanical writing.
Originally posted by Henry
If that were true, WotC would be concentrating on "fluff" and "crunch" more evenly.
Originally posted by Mark
Yup. And that's where I think the d20 community is largely missing the boat, thus far. WotC is crunch-heavy, which leaves the door open on the other side of that scale.
If only they could live up to that calling.
For a while, I picked up a few fluff heavy books and didn't like what I saw. I felt like I was slogging through minutia (Rokugan Secrets series, I am looking at you...) or was being provided with details that were all to apparent to me (Slayer's Guides, I am looking at you.) This led me (and many gamers, I think) to beleive that fluff is just bad.
Then I picked up Book of Taverns and was bowled over. This writing was good. Intriguing. I gobbled it up. And it was mostly what we would call "fluff", but it actually had risen to the level that I might call it "flavor" instead of fluff as Mark suggests.
This made me realize that when it comes to fluff/flavor, most of the current stable of d20 writers quite simply aren't up to the task. Many of them came from the background of beign good DMs. Good DMs may be good designers, but they aren't necessarily good writers.
I have no recommended solution to this, but will say I wish there were more good "flavor" writers out there, and it is refreshing to realize that the problem is not just a personal disdain for non-mechanical writing.
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