D&D 4E 4E Core Rulebooks- how can the layout organization be improved?

[Someone]

I never understood why the equipment lists (weights included) were in one place and the encumberance rules somehwere else.

 

[hong]

I never understood why the equipment lists (weights included) were in one place and the encumberance rules somehwere else.

The better for people like me, who consign encumbrance rules to the trashcan (along with other minutiae of character management, such as ammunition).

 

[mmadsen]

The DMG needs a complete overhaul.

That raises the question of what material is actually useful for a DMG (but does not belong in the PHB).

I was quite impressed years ago with how Warhammer conveyed so much about its quasi-Renaissance setting simply by providing professions (classes) that fit that world and by providing lots of little encounter maps, etc.

I'd love to see a DMG with maps of a typical guard tower, castle, hamlet, roadside inn, elf tree-top village, etc.

 

[Patlin]

I'd also like to see the Monster Manual broken up by Type and then Monster.

Ouch! Having to remember which school a maneuver was in before I could look it up was the worst part of the Bo9S. Don't do it to the monster manual too!

 

[Dinkeldog]

Reduce terminology of words that are the same but have different meanings. Level would be one good one to think about between character level, spell leve, etc....

I'd also like to see the Monster Manual broken up by Type and then Monster.

I don't think I'd like it broken up that way, but a set of indices would be nice. I'd also like to see a monster summoning index (provided MSI, MSII, etc. are still in).

Also when MM2, MM3, etc. come out, include updated monster summoning indices. I thought there would be blood spilled at the table once because someone suggested that a MM2 monster might be summoned with a spell.

 

[Quartz]

All three books should come with laminated or plastic quick-reference sheets - an A4 / Letter sized sheet of useful info. The DMG should also come with a DM's screen (possibly in the boxed set only).

 

[Sadrik]

If they waste 1 page on 1 creature I wont buy it. I dont want a whole page devoted to a rhinoceros or a cat!

 

[mmadsen]

I dont want a whole page devoted to a rhinoceros or a cat!

While I don't necessarily want a one-page description of a cat, that does remind me that I would like the monster entries to be a bit more like a nature book entry on a rhino, describing how the creature behaves, what might cause it to attack, what would draw its attention, etc. I'd like way more hooks for characters to deal with monsters in a clever way.

 

[Zoatebix]

I'd love to see a DMG with maps of a typical guard tower, castle, hamlet, roadside inn, elf tree-top village, etc.

Plentiful example maps are a must, but they should be part of clear guides to the conventions and successful creation of maps, encounters, and adventures. The main focus should be on traditional site-based adventures, but other ways to organize game sessions and adventures should be covered, too.

I think Mr. Mearls came up with some neat rules for making site-based adventures that seemed "dynamic" - a concrete set of rules to determine when and how creatures in one part of the "dungeon" react to things that happen in another part of the dungeon. They were included in Fiery Dragon's Battlebox but I forget where they came from originally. Although They made good use of some cool bits in the D&D core rules (especially the +2 to a skill roll for favorable circumstances), I never got around to running them as written 'cause they were just a little too different from the D&D core rules (granted - this is after not looking at them in 3 years - my memory could be way off). Perhaps 4th edition D&D will "natively" support such a system...

 

[Szatany]

Reduce terminology of words that are the same but have different meanings. Level would be one good one to think about between character level, spell leve, etc....

Agreed, to me the chief offender is term Ability.