D&D General Read aloud text in modules: What are folks opinions about read aloud content?

[the Jester]

Ah yes, "boxed text" (as I call it).

I love boxed text when done right, hate it when done poorly.

Done well, it should convey what you see/sense without making assumptions about what direction you're entering from, what you think or feel, or what you're doing. It should be short and to the point; Gygax was notorious for overly wordy boxed text. One of the few things 4e adventures did well was boxed text- they broke it down into sections that gave more information depending on the pcs' perceptions, which way they entered the room from, when they crossed certain areas and more came into view, etc.

Bad boxed text tells the pcs what they say, do, or think; gives information they have no way of perceiving; goes on and on without a good reason; etc.

With boxed text, less is more.

 

[John R Davis]

Should there be an order for the box text do we think? Should the monster be the first thing?

I am in the process of writing a big dungeon. My box text is always short, but I don't think it has any internal logic to how it's ordered.

 

[Tonguez]

I like box text as milestones that help to anchor the more freeform narratives, especially if they appeal to various senses and evoke of the settings feel. I also attach scene aspects that PCs can actively invoke to fill in details.

 

[Azzy]

Ah yes, "boxed text" (as I call it).

Apropos of nothing... When I saw that, I thought of "boxed lunches" which then made me think of "bento" (to oversimplify, Japanese boxed meal). So now, it's "bento text" in my mind.

 

[Piperken]

Should there be an order for the box text do we think? Should the monster be the first thing?

I am in the process of writing a big dungeon. My box text is always short, but I don't think it has any internal logic to how it's ordered.

Things that typically would be dangerous or obvious, should be first. Monsters do qualify! But if the monster isn't easily noticeable, say, because the PCs alerted them, should they come first?

If said monster has wandering habits, will it always be in the room when the PCs arrive?

If there happen to be competing dangers besides the monster that are obvious, might they not need to be mentioned first?

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Ah yes, "boxed text" (as I call it).

I love boxed text when done right, hate it when done poorly.

Done well, it should convey what you see/sense without making assumptions about what direction you're entering from, what you think or feel, or what you're doing. It should be short and to the point; Gygax was notorious for overly wordy boxed text. One of the few things 4e adventures did well was boxed text- they broke it down into sections that gave more information depending on the pcs' perceptions, which way they entered the room from, when they crossed certain areas and more came into view, etc.

Bad boxed text tells the pcs what they say, do, or think; gives information they have no way of perceiving; goes on and on without a good reason; etc.

With boxed text, less is more.

I'd generally agree with this (and also think of it as "boxed text"). I don't think it's completely useless, but it's often done quite badly in a variety of different ways as you describe. I'd add that purple prose or just bad, clumsy prose are also not uncommon flaws with it.

Read-aloud text is nice to have, but it's even nicer if the important parts of it get called out somehow (e.g. underlining).

When I write up my own descriptions I use ALL CAPS to do this, which is roughly how Hollywood tends to approach it, and, in my experience, is the most effective way of calling stuff out for my brain (better than bold, underline, etc.).

We did come across a situation a few years ago where the DM didn't read out the boxed text and it turned out that text had a massive bit of info that wasn't actually in the description of the room for the DM (something about a statue), and because this wasn't called out, we got kind of stuck. And the reason he didn't read the text out was that it was wildly overlong, but the info was buried in the middle of it - had that been called out he would have realized he needed to communicate it sooner.

I literally fall asleep when I hear somebody droning boxed text. It's like being in school with a really bad chemistry teacher.

Definitely have come across this, but I feel like "droning"-style reading of boxed text is mostly on the DM. Like, just thinking back, most of the times I've seen this, it's either that DM just isn't good at/doesn't like reading things out (usually easy to see when they read out rules etc.), or they're reading out text that they are themselves embarrassed or bored by, yet feel duty-bound to read out anyway, which like, probably don't do that!

 

[Retros_x]

I like them if they are a) NOT cutscenes (no action happens, no assumptions about PCs actions and decisions included) b) include descriptions for all important scene elements b) are brief, but evocative.


Unfortunately most official 5e adventures fail at these criteria, so I rarely use them. In theory they could be cool, but I prefer bullet points with evocative descriptors.

We did come across a situation a few years ago where the DM didn't read out the boxed text and it turned out that text had a massive bit of info that wasn't actually in the description of the room for the DM (something about a statue), and because this wasn't called out, we got kind of stuck. And the reason he didn't read the text out was that it was wildly overlong, but the info was buried in the middle of it - had that been called out he would have realized he needed to communicate it sooner.

Unfortunately this is quite common for 5e adventures. DMs who prep the adventure are REQUIRED to read the boxed texts at least for themselves, because sometimes important info is hidden there. Big no-go IMO

 

[Stormonu]

Maybe for deluxe editions of the VTT versions of such adventures, they could have sound files of the read-aloud text recorded by a voice actor with a suitably epic voice. Players might even pay attention to the whole thing then.

They tried some of that in the 90's, with sets like Hail The Heroes, A Light In the Belfry, etc. They were very poorly received.

 

[Umbran]

Read aloud text in modules: What are folks opinions about read aloud content? By this I mean the content that is read to players when they arrive to a new location or meet a new NPC. Our Dark Sun - Lands of the Ravaged Sun module 1-3: Echoes of the Vanished will have more than the previous 2 modules, however an approach I am looking at: I may put the much shorter versions in the module body, then offer the longer versions as an appendix.

Read-aloud text is great to make sure the GM doesn't momentarily forget important bits.

But, please don't use appendices for it. Flipping back and forth to an appendix in the middle of play is a PITA.

 

[Voadam]

They tried some of that in the 90's, with sets like Hail The Heroes, A Light In the Belfry, etc. They were very poorly received.

From the commentary on Night of the Vampire.

The results were sometimes hilarious. Baker recounts that for Night of the Vampire, he wrote a scene where the PCs captured some assassins and threatened them. Where Baker suggested the PCs say "Tell us who hired you, or we’ll put your head on a pole!", TSR West instead produced final copy where "one of the PCs demands, 'Tell us who hired you!' and another PC shouts, 'GET A POLE!'"

Audio Tropes. All of the Audio CD adventures walked the line between providing interesting audio clips to enhance the adventure and being overly intrusive by telling the players what they were saying. Though "Hail the Heroes" had not provided audio clips for what the PCs were saying, "Night of the Vampire" reverts to that style; Baker says, "I just couldn’t see a way to cover 'random heroes talk to Lord Gustav' without having someone feed Lord Gustav conversational cues." Nonetheless, he didn't love the results, saying, "I felt bad about essentially putting lines in the players' mouths. I also wasn’t happy about the voice casting, or the fact that the PCs addressed each other by their class names — for example, 'Get a boat in the water, Thief!'" (The latter was a technique that had also appeared in some of the earlier Audio CD adventures, usually to the derision of fans.)