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Prose, Terminology, Fluff, & Presentation: Spreadsheets or Haiku?
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<blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 5903437" data-attributes="member: 29398"><p>The online stuff should be nothing more than support for the books anyway.</p><p>Absolutely true. Prose is open-ended, while the existence of a template or table tends to force designers into shoehorning things into said template/table whether they fit properly or not.</p><p></p><p>Layout-wise, one thing that could be done to shorten the write-up space for spells is to use the 1e format, where some of the "table" is in a second mini-column to the right. Example (from the 1e PH):</p><p></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">Sleep (Enchantment/Charm)</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">Level: 1 <span style="color: Cyan">< . . . . . . . TAB . . . . . . . . ></span> Components: V,S,M</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">Range: 3" + 1"/level <span style="color: cyan">< . . . . TAB . . . ></span> Casting time: 1 segment</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">Duration: 5 rounds/level <span style="color: cyan">< . . TAB . . ></span> Saving throw: none</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">Area of Effect: Special</span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange"></span></p><p><span style="color: DarkOrange">[followed by a prose write-up including a small chart of how many creatures of what hit dice are affected]</span></p><p></p><p>The table takes 4 lines instead of 7, with room for one more entry: 4e might have the attack-vs.-defense entry on the same line as area of effect, for example.</p><p></p><p>Also, glancing at ye olde 1e PH shows me they've got about 5-7 spells written up per page on average, plus occasional small bits of art, and they don't care (and neither should we, really) if reading a spell write-up forces one to turn the page partway through.</p><p></p><p>Lanefan</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lanefan, post: 5903437, member: 29398"] The online stuff should be nothing more than support for the books anyway. Absolutely true. Prose is open-ended, while the existence of a template or table tends to force designers into shoehorning things into said template/table whether they fit properly or not. Layout-wise, one thing that could be done to shorten the write-up space for spells is to use the 1e format, where some of the "table" is in a second mini-column to the right. Example (from the 1e PH): [COLOR="DarkOrange"]Sleep (Enchantment/Charm) Level: 1 [COLOR="Cyan"]< . . . . . . . TAB . . . . . . . . >[/COLOR] Components: V,S,M Range: 3" + 1"/level [COLOR="cyan"]< . . . . TAB . . . >[/COLOR] Casting time: 1 segment Duration: 5 rounds/level [COLOR="cyan"]< . . TAB . . >[/COLOR] Saving throw: none Area of Effect: Special [followed by a prose write-up including a small chart of how many creatures of what hit dice are affected][/COLOR] The table takes 4 lines instead of 7, with room for one more entry: 4e might have the attack-vs.-defense entry on the same line as area of effect, for example. Also, glancing at ye olde 1e PH shows me they've got about 5-7 spells written up per page on average, plus occasional small bits of art, and they don't care (and neither should we, really) if reading a spell write-up forces one to turn the page partway through. Lanefan [/QUOTE]
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