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

[LordEntrails]

As a DM I expect it in a quality product I buy. As a (trivial) publisher I always include it.

IMO it's required because not every DM is comfortable making up their own. If well-written it provides an example of what to tell the players when they enter an area. It's also useful in identifying the initial information a DM needs to convey to the players. And if you are an experienced DM and have done some prep work, you will almost never actually use it as written.

Now, what should it include? What should it not be?

• It should NOT be long.
• It should not tell the characters what they do (or their emotions).
• It should tell them what they sense as the enter a room, or town, or region.

Sure, as a publisher you could just give some keywords or bullet points instead and accomplish the same things for an experienced DM. But why exclude the DMs that don't have the experience or confidence from using boxed text?

 

[LordEntrails]

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.

My instinct is to always put the "moveable" parts last. And I think that's how I always write mine.

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?

I think you are right, but I'm still hesitant to change. I have always put the dangerous stuff last. Because myself once I hear the dangerous stuff I'm figuring out what to do and ignore the rest.

Of course if the text is long you're going to lose the player's attention no matter what.

What do other think? Danger first or last? (Assuming a nice short paragraph.)

 

[Sword of Spirit]

I personally dislike the cardinal directions because the party may not know the cardinal direction. Old adventures tried very hard to confuse map makers and try and get the party lost, so using cardinal directions messes with that idea.

Personally I prefer vague descriptions when dealing with relative locations. "Off to the side" and "nearby" are typically adequate, unless the exact location is necessary for a puzzle, trick, or trap. In those cases, a handout is preferred.

When in a situation where the party has no way of knowing the actual directions, I've told them we are going to designate a certain direction as "north" (typically the one at the top of a map if there is a map) for ease of communication. It's probably reasonable to introduce boxed text in a similar way. Though if there is any chance the party might know the correct directions (and of course there almost always is, through some class, species, feat, spell or other resource) then it gets tricky which one to write in the text.

 

[Stormonu]

My instinct is to always put the "moveable" parts last. And I think that's how I always write mine.

I think you are right, but I'm still hesitant to change. I have always put the dangerous stuff last. Because myself once I hear the dangerous stuff I'm figuring out what to do and ignore the rest.

Of course if the text is long you're going to lose the player's attention no matter what.

What do other think? Danger first or last? (Assuming a nice short paragraph.)

Danger first; separate the description so after the danger has been resolved, you can give more attention to the rest of the room.

Example:
"In the center of this dimly lit room sits a group of five human-sized green-gray humanoids in mismatched armor playing cards."

After the party resolved dealing the Orcs (hiding, attacking, parley, request for more info, etc.), you have a second section that further gives information.

"There is a battered wooden table in the center of the room, dotted with stacks of copper and silver and lit by an oil lamp. Five rickety stools act as seats, with a sixth smashed stool shoved under the table. In the dim corners of the room are five makeshift beds with flea-bitten blankets made from the Castle's old tapestries. Shoved into the northeast corner is a worn, closed trunk. There are three doors here - a plain wooden door on the north and south wall, and an ornate reinforced door on the west wall."

 

[Tonguez]

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.

1 - Initial Feel "The reek of old decay and mildew billows from the entrance of the crypt, with a chill that seeps into the skin"
- Room dimensions and features "The interior is a 10 x 20 chamber, its roof and walls are cracked, letting shafts of pale light spill across the rubble-strewn floor."
- Furniture and Fittings "Dust hangs in the air and bone fragments are scattered across the floor. There are maybe 7 coffins visible, two of which have toppled down and lie open, broken and empty"
- Danger Signs "there are scratches visible on one of the fallen coffins and the sound of something moving in the shadows"

I also get Aspects:
1 The chill of Decay in the air
2 Rubble-strewn floor, Unstable roof
3 Low Light, Dust and Shadows
4. Seven Coffins within (2 empty)
5 Something moving in the shadows

 

[Zaukrie]

I read it first. If it is good, I read it aloud. If it sucks, I make up my own.

This. I like it, but I usually change it up. I think it's a good addition and should stay in products.

 

[Desdichado]

Nothing wrong with it in theory; it's usually extremely poorly executed in actual practice.

 

[MarkB]

"In the center of this dimly lit room sits a group of five human-sized green-gray humanoids in mismatched armor playing cards."

I totally misread the syntax of that sentence. I was imagining them in armour shaped like playing cards, Alice in Wonderland style.

 

[el-remmen]

I was looking through some old Dungeon mags for an adventure to possibly run and thought I'd snap pix of a few examples of boxed text for us to look out (with the caveat that without the context of the adventure some of these might be better or worse than how they seem by themselves).

#1 is from "A Hitch in Time" by Willie Walsh (from Dungeon #24 [July/August 1990])

#2 is from "Threshold of Evil" by Scott Bennie (from Dungeon #10 [March/April 1988])

#3, rather than a room description is boxed text meant to introduce an adventure (a way I would not introduce an adventure and have not since around the time this mag was published), from "They Also Serve. . ." by Robert Kelk (from Dungeon #10 [March/April 1988])

 

[Bill Zebub]

I hate it 99% of the time.

Every now and then there's a really good reason for real-aloud text. I think. Honestly no examples are coming to mind.

I like terse bullet points of the most important features, whether it's a room, or an NPC, or whatever. I can turn that into a description for players.