Am I a snooty gamer? [Book of Exalted Deeds]

[Default Name Player]

But then I flipped to the introduction, and I was left disappointed.

I haven't seen the Book of Exalted Deeds yet, but is your opinion based on just the introduction? (or a brief look through the contents?)

I'm in the firm belief that it's the DM and the players that supplies the "poetic and inspiring". Dictating what the "importance of virtue and heroism" would probably be a mistake (IMO) since we'd then have posts upon posts about how the BoED "doesn't fit my campaign and is useless". Otherwise, it's probably best to stick with a fantasy novel. First and foremost, the Book of Exalted Deeds is still a "gaming" book.

 

[barsoomcore]

The truly GREAT RPG aids (and I agree with TB (hey, is that twice? Weird) that Exalted is a prime example of such) combine both -- great writing (which is, to be sure, sometimes flowery and sometimes sparse -- as required by the content -- knowing when to use what is a mark of good writing) along with solid rules and mechanics.

Take the Monsternomicon -- a great example of both. They fall down sometimes on the rules side of things, but overall it's a book that excites the imagination and then follows up with a solid implementation.

And maybe that's the key. A great RPG book first of all, has to excite your imagination. It has to open you up to cool possibilities -- make you WANT to include the monster or alter the magic system or whatever.

But then it has to give you useful tools with which to make that spark of imagination into a playable, fun game. It has to be well-conceived and designed so that when you include the coolness, your game does not become less cool.

It's all about coolness.

 

[MulhorandSage]

I haven't seen Book of Exalted Deeds yet, but for what it's worth, I experienced a similar disappointment over the ELH.

 

[Olive]

For what it's worth, the BoVD is one of my favourite books. And given that I suspect that the intro to the BoVD is similar to the intro to the BoED, I suspect it won't bother me.

However, I paid almost no attention to the BoVD intro, so I sustepct I like the crunch, not the actual writing per se. I don't think this difference in tastes makes either of us snooty, just different priorities.

 

[Jeremy757]

I bought BoED yesterday.

You mean it has an introduction! I didn't even notice.

I guess I was too busy reading the variant rules, new feats, prestige classes, spells, Paragons, and monsters too notice.


To be serious, I think you are being something of an elitist. You should be buying a game book, first, because its useful for your game, not because its "fun to read". Sometimes these are one in the same other times they are not. Or a least thats the way I see things. If I want something fun to read, ill buy a fantasy novel at a quarter of the price and it will be a longer lasting read usually.

Even though the introduction reads like the editorial of a Dragon mag this in no way reflects the usefulness of the material. Yes the book reads like a text book and not literary prose, but that doesn't make it less useful. I personally have found BoED to be very inspiring and giving me several Ideas as a DM, and on top of that its very player useful. Much more player useful then the BoVD.

 

[The Little Raven]

To be serious, I think you are being something of an elitist. You should be buying a game book, first, because its useful for your game, not because its "fun to read". Sometimes these are one in the same other times they are not. Or a least thats the way I see things. If I want something fun to read, ill buy a fantasy novel at a quarter of the price and it will be a longer lasting read usually.

I disagree with you there, buddy. A game book, regardless of content, should be fun to read. Why the hell would I want to buy a book if I'm not going to have fun reading it? That's why I buy books, especially gaming books, because they are fun to read.

To the original poster, no, I don't think you're a snooty gamer. You just have particular tastes, and the BoED just doesn't match up. There are plenty of other books out there (Book of Hallowed Might, for example) that may be right up your alley. If you can't find something to satisfy you, then you'll just have to write something up.

 

[Isida Kep'Tukari]

Hmm... I thought it was just about right. I generally reserve expansive flavor text for descriptions of cities, geography, and history. Modest-but-interesting flavor text is what I prefer for rules like feats, PrCs, and other things. I think the BoED (and by extension the BoVD) had a decent amout of flavor text tied up in the descriptions of good/evil, along with the variant rules. There was a smaller amount in the PrCs, and then a bit more with the advice on how to play evil/good or work them into your campaigns.

I think it had the right amout of flavor text in the right places. And that's my two copper pieces.

 

[RangerWickett]

I think someone hit the nail on the head when they said that a game book should excite your imagination, and I agree that the Epic Level Handbook, the last D&D book I considered buying, didn't impress me in that way. Honestly, I don't use much in the way of rules from 3rd party sources; if I want a new rule, I'll make it up, usually. I prefer books that inspire with their stories, not their mechanics, and while upon a second perusal of the Book of Exalted Deeds I see a lot of interesting ideas, the introduction itself didn't grab me. They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

There's a very thin line between flowery prose and purple prose. Speaking as a student who has had to endure the turgid prose of Heidegger, Sartre, and other modern philosophers, I'm happy to have something that's reasonably concise and relatively clear. And if it's a little closer to erring on the side of dryness than of turning purple, I can live with that. After Kant, anything will seem flowery.

 

[Warbringer]

After Kant, anything will seem flowery.

Even James and Russell?

Besides, if you want obtuse prose, and by obtuse I mean tangental, try The Tickelish Subject...