Is an index important to you

MonsterMash

First Post

• Feb 7, 2005

• #1

Does having an index in a book matter to you?

Pretty self explanatory.

 

Last edited: Feb 7, 2005

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Jupp

Explorer

• Feb 7, 2005

• #2

Yup, indices are pretty much essential to me. The table of contents is nice to fast forward to a topic you are interested in but as soon as you don't know the topic name or you want to see cross-relations of topics an index is a must. Sometimes the same element is spread over several topics and if you have to read through a whole chapter just to find that one bit you need to know about it will produce a gnashing of teeth and the occasional curse that shouldn't be quoted in a forum.

 

Thanee

First Post

• Feb 7, 2005

• #3

Depends a bit on the book (in a monster book it's not really needed, if they are sorted alphabetically), but generally yes. In a book like PHB or DMG they are very much essiential.

Bye
Thanee

 

S

Starglim

Explorer

• Feb 7, 2005

• #4

A book of reasonably self-organising discrete items, like an Arms and Equipment Guide or monster tome, can probably get by without an index as such. Even those need more specialised listings, such as monsters by CR or environment, or items in a single stat table.

For most books, an index makes the difference between a useful reference and a one-time read.

 

Hand of Evil

Hero

Epic

• Feb 7, 2005

• #5

quick reference baby - what I would love to see, a god book/pdf of indexs for every book for D&D, yea, one place to go what list everything in everything published!

 

Thanee

First Post

• Feb 7, 2005

• #6

Yep, that would be pretty neat. Kinda like Palladium once did with the RIFTS Index.
As many bad things one might say about RIFTS, but that was a pretty cool thing.

Bye
Thanee

 

P

philreed

Adventurer

Supporter

• Feb 7, 2005

• #7

Hand of Evil said:

quick reference baby - what I would love to see, a god book/pdf of indexs for every book for D&D, yea, one place to go what list everything in everything published!

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, that's only perfect until the next book comes out. A PDF -- updated quarterly -- would make a great download at the WotC site.

 

K

Kast

First Post

• Feb 7, 2005

• #8

I just made a quick scan of my books, and all the 3rd-party ones I have have indices. WotC on the other hand seems to have more without indices than ones with. Perhaps this is just a WotC issue.

It's true that in some cases TOCs alone will suffice, but having an index sure adds to ease of use.

 

Hand of Evil

Hero

Epic

• Feb 7, 2005

• #9

philreed said:

Unfortunately, that's only perfect until the next book comes out. A PDF -- updated quarterly -- would make a great download at the WotC site.

Click to expand...

Could be done as a Net Book or a on-line database.

 

Blue

Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal

• Feb 7, 2005

• #10

Any book I'd want to use at the table needs to have an index, else it will slow down play. In my book (okay, pun intended), an index is essential and required.

Cheers,
=Blue