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With Respect to the Door and Expectations....The REAL Reason 5e Can't Unite the Base
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<blockquote data-quote="Aenghus" data-source="post: 6014691" data-attributes="member: 2656"><p>I think the issue being danced around here is the extreme positions of "flavour/colour text trumps everything" and "RAW mechanics trump everything". Anyone who argues for "flavour text first" can be seen as advocating the former, anyone who argues for mechanics to be prioritised can be seen as advocating the former.</p><p></p><p>See, flavour, colour, descriptions don't need to involve any balance at all, and just moving straight from concept to mechanics to realise that concept can easily lead to broken or badly written mechanics and issues such as LFQW and magic trumping everything just because. Descriptions can include logic chains and inferences that are difficult to implement mechanically without unintended consequences, and easy to get wrong so the resulting mechanics actually describe something very different than what was actually intended. "Style over substance" is one version of this approach.</p><p></p><p>Whereas mechanics first can result in absent or ill-fitting flavour text, making it difficult to be evocative in describing what happens in the game. I have less of a problem with this personally so am finding it difficult to come up with examples, but obviously a number of people have objections in this area.</p><p></p><p>Different players will have different priorities on the issue above.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Aenghus, post: 6014691, member: 2656"] I think the issue being danced around here is the extreme positions of "flavour/colour text trumps everything" and "RAW mechanics trump everything". Anyone who argues for "flavour text first" can be seen as advocating the former, anyone who argues for mechanics to be prioritised can be seen as advocating the former. See, flavour, colour, descriptions don't need to involve any balance at all, and just moving straight from concept to mechanics to realise that concept can easily lead to broken or badly written mechanics and issues such as LFQW and magic trumping everything just because. Descriptions can include logic chains and inferences that are difficult to implement mechanically without unintended consequences, and easy to get wrong so the resulting mechanics actually describe something very different than what was actually intended. "Style over substance" is one version of this approach. Whereas mechanics first can result in absent or ill-fitting flavour text, making it difficult to be evocative in describing what happens in the game. I have less of a problem with this personally so am finding it difficult to come up with examples, but obviously a number of people have objections in this area. Different players will have different priorities on the issue above. [/QUOTE]
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Community
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With Respect to the Door and Expectations....The REAL Reason 5e Can't Unite the Base
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