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D&D Older Editions
Things wrong with 4e: Dragons
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<blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 5892364" data-attributes="member: 2067"><p>Take, for example, the blue dragon's illusion-based spell like abilities. These abilities are important to me because they help me run a blue dragon who is difficult to find -- illusions and mirages make the party wander for days in the desert. In the desert. This implies how the dragon is felt beyond the combat encounter: it is a plotting creature that toys with people, slowly starving them and driving them mad with thirst over the course of days. This is key Interaction and Exploration stuff: exploration because the survival in the desert becomes part of the dragon's challenge. Interaction because the psychology of the creature -- the delight it receives from the evil it performs -- gives a better idea about how to play it, as arrogant and manipulative.</p><p></p><p>It's not trivia, it's not supplemental information, it's part and parcel of what going up against a blue dragon should mean in D&D. It's useful at the table. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It hasn't been an option until basically this edition, but now that it is an option, it deserves to be used well. And, FWIW, the Adventure Tools gives you an illo of the monster next to the stat block. Bears probably don't need a massive splash image, though. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The space, in my mind, comes mostly from getting rid of the useless information for support monsters like mimics and bears and whatever. </p><p></p><p>There's also the fact that in a game with a monster creation engine (similar to the one that 4e had) doesn't NEED as many monsters. Even if you use 10 paged detailing an entry (with multiple statblocks for supporters and leaders and variants and traps), you can still fit 30 or so entries in each MM, and if each monster is useful over many levels, you can basically fit an entire campaign's worth of monsters, lairs, traps, and other critters in the MM. </p><p></p><p>Some iconic monsters may get temporarily overlooked, but with a monster creation engine, if you want to use them, you easily can. </p><p></p><p>You also avoid padding out the MM with things like swordwings and ythraks.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="I'm A Banana, post: 5892364, member: 2067"] Take, for example, the blue dragon's illusion-based spell like abilities. These abilities are important to me because they help me run a blue dragon who is difficult to find -- illusions and mirages make the party wander for days in the desert. In the desert. This implies how the dragon is felt beyond the combat encounter: it is a plotting creature that toys with people, slowly starving them and driving them mad with thirst over the course of days. This is key Interaction and Exploration stuff: exploration because the survival in the desert becomes part of the dragon's challenge. Interaction because the psychology of the creature -- the delight it receives from the evil it performs -- gives a better idea about how to play it, as arrogant and manipulative. It's not trivia, it's not supplemental information, it's part and parcel of what going up against a blue dragon should mean in D&D. It's useful at the table. It hasn't been an option until basically this edition, but now that it is an option, it deserves to be used well. And, FWIW, the Adventure Tools gives you an illo of the monster next to the stat block. Bears probably don't need a massive splash image, though. The space, in my mind, comes mostly from getting rid of the useless information for support monsters like mimics and bears and whatever. There's also the fact that in a game with a monster creation engine (similar to the one that 4e had) doesn't NEED as many monsters. Even if you use 10 paged detailing an entry (with multiple statblocks for supporters and leaders and variants and traps), you can still fit 30 or so entries in each MM, and if each monster is useful over many levels, you can basically fit an entire campaign's worth of monsters, lairs, traps, and other critters in the MM. Some iconic monsters may get temporarily overlooked, but with a monster creation engine, if you want to use them, you easily can. You also avoid padding out the MM with things like swordwings and ythraks. [/QUOTE]
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