D&D 5E To boxed text or not to boxed text

robus · Apr 16, 2019

We should probably start a separate thread capturing boxed text botch ups!

ParanoydStyle · Apr 16, 2019

I assume the argument is of the "should we have prepared text at all" type and not of the "should prepared text be in boxes" type.

Anyway, I like to have boxed text around because it's only an option. You don't have to use it and you are free to modify it however you like. As a GM I am always grateful for prepared text when it's available (unless it's both terrible and RIDICULOUSLY lengthy, also possibly add to that the sin of telling players what their characters do). While with 20 years GMing experience I certainly COULD describe a room and what was inside it off-the-cuff without a lot of difficulty, it's still always nice to have something to use as a foundation rather than building from scratch. Also, while it's rare, occasionally boxed text can be (very) well written.

MerricB · Apr 16, 2019

OverlordOcelot said:
After running some of the Season Eight Adventurer's League mods, I am definitely in favor of boxed text.

The Season 8 adventures would make anyone in favour of boxed text... but they actually just demonstrate how not to organise information. Boxed text would at least give the DM a starting point for running those encounters, but I'm not sure if it would save it by itself!

I'm very much in favour of boxed text, but you can survive without it - if the information is presented well. Mostly, it isn't.

Cheers!

MerricB · Apr 16, 2019

Satyrn said:
Have you looked at Dungeon of the Mad Mage? It doesn't use boxed text.

You might be interested in this article I wrote about how DotMM presents information (which is often inconsistent) and some problems it causes: https://merricb.com/2019/03/12/encounter-writing-introductory-paragraphs-and-room-descriptions/

Cheers!

jasper · Apr 16, 2019

As one of the locate and maybe the only dm running season 8 modules. GIVE ME BOX TEXT. Four or five sentences to give me the mood, or some clue how to run this module. I CAN. YOU CAN. WE ALL CAN. CAN THE BOX TEXT. I have taken to writing and highlighting a lot this season.
NO bullet points. Only butter bars love bullet points. Just do a paragraph instead with same information, it will take up less space.

FXR · Apr 16, 2019

Injecting "you" into boxed text is almost a guaranteed recipe for an epic fail. Using scripted events is even worse. And then not having any room description from that "brilliant light" makes you wonder what the writer of the boxed text was thinking.

I've read twice the frst boxed set you quoted and I'm still wondering what is wrong with it. From what I understand, the characters open the door into a chamber which is dark and fall into an ambushed set by archers, perhaps with the use of a light spell. I expect the characters would focus more on the sound of the bowstrings to avoid being shot than on the fact that the room has three chairs and a chest or whatever. There is nothing prohibiting the DM from adding further information once the beginning of the encounter is set up.

In fact, I believe adding a room description would distract from the urgency of the situation - the PCs are under attack!

akr71 · Apr 16, 2019

I'll temper my comments with reiterating that I am a proponent of boxed text - when done well.

2. Great Hall of the Brigands
As you open the unlocked door to this chamber, you find yourself peering into total darkness. Suddenly, the darkness is pierced by a brilliant light, and you hear the twang of many bowstrings!

Injecting "you" into boxed text is almost a guaranteed recipe for an epic fail. Using scripted events is even worse. And then not having any room description from that "brilliant light" makes you wonder what the writer of the boxed text was thinking.

FXR said:
I've read twice the frst boxed set you quoted and I'm still wondering what is wrong with it. From what I understand, the characters open the door into a chamber which is dark and fall into an ambushed set by archers, perhaps with the use of a light spell. I expect the characters would focus more on the sound of the bowstrings to avoid being shot than on the fact that the room has three chairs and a chest or whatever. There is nothing prohibiting the DM from adding further information once the beginning of the encounter is set up.

In fact, I believe adding a room description would distract from the urgency of the situation - the PCs are under attack!

My problem in the stated scenario is that it assumes that the party is behaving in one way and one way only - that they open the door with the intent to walk into the room.

What if the players wait outside the door and listen? Do they not hear the creatures on the other side of the door? How do the creatures on the other side of the door know the party is there? Surely waiting in the dark with bowstrings drawn for something to happen will get physically and mentally tiring.

What if they only open the door a crack and peer in, or send a familiar in to scout it out? Or toss a fireball into the room, slamming the door afterwards?

What if the party stands well back and one person yanks the door open suddenly, hiding behind the now open door?

My players have done all of these at one point or another and it drastically affects how the encounter plays out. What I want out of boxed text is a clear separation of what the characters observe upon entering the area and what is meant for the DM's eyes only - things the players can find out, but maybe do not find out. Who is in the room? What does it look like (dimensions, furnishings, etc)? Any other relevant sensory information - smells, sounds, wet/dry, etc?

iserith · Apr 16, 2019

robus said:
The way I think about scene setting is similar to a chapter in a book. The first page or so of the chapter typically immerses the reader in the location, setting the mood, describing the environment etc etc. After that the reader is assumed to have that picture in their head and the action resumes. So some lengthy (2 or 3 paragraphs) boxed text at the beginning of an adventure/extended sequence of encounters is OK with me as it helps to set the mood. (And I have a habit of not setting the scene well enough, jumping into the action a bit prematurely so I, at least, could do with some encouragement in that department ). But a randomly long piece of exposition in the middle of the action? No thanks!

So one thing I try to do is roll out important information throughout the scene, not just up front. Boxed text gives us the impression (or me at least, at one time) that you get it all out, then the PCs do their thing. When really, we have to look at the play loop: DM describes the environment, players describe what they want to do, DM narrates the results of the adventurers' actions. Then repeat. The repeating is the key thing. We should be describing the environment several times over in any given scene, at least what has changed in terms of scope of options that are now available, plus any additional mood-setting we might want to slip in now instead of all up front. By the time the scene is done and you're moving on to the next thing, those important mood-setting elements are in play. And if they aren't, the loop continues!

By doing it this way, we're building on the scene as we go, continually reinforcing the thematic elements we want to include rather than doing it in the beginning and hoping it sticks.

lowkey13 · Apr 16, 2019

*Deleted by user*

robus · Apr 16, 2019

iserith said:
So one thing I try to do is roll out important information throughout the scene, not just up front. Boxed text gives us the impression (or me at least, at one time) that you get it all out, then the PCs do their thing. When really, we have to look at the play loop: DM describes the environment, players describe what they want to do, DM narrates the results of the adventurers' actions. Then repeat. The repeating is the key thing. We should be describing the environment several times over in any given scene, at least what has changed in terms of scope of options that are now available, plus any additional mood-setting we might want to slip in now instead of all up front. By the time the scene is done and you're moving on to the next thing, those important mood-setting elements are in play. And if they aren't, the loop continues!

By doing it this way, we're building on the scene as we go, continually reinforcing the thematic elements we want to include rather than doing it in the beginning and hoping it sticks.

Absolutely. I just think that when we're approaching a new "environment" - a remote castle, or a dangerous swamp it's a good idea to really come up with some evocative language to "set the overall scene". Then, as exploration proceeds, continue to flesh it out with new details as they go, but hopefully that background scene setting at the beginning has been infused so that the details are building on it, rather than having to remind them constantly of the surrounding castle, swamp or whatever. For example in the Matt Colville The Chain Episode 8, I briefly encountered in yesterday (sorry to keep picking on you Matt!), he spent very little time introducing this new island they had moored at. No indication of the weather, the environment (are there trees, rocks, hills?), the time of day (I don't think), in the end my mind drew a very blank picture.