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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Raven Crowking" data-source="post: 3435422" data-attributes="member: 18280">Two things I would like to note:(1)  The comment about min/maxing is not simply a "garbage line" because the game itself assumes some level of min/maxing, and you need to look forward in order to qualify for some things (feats, prestige classes), meaning that you must make careful selection of character abilities even in the low levels.  Role-playing games are largely about making meaningful decisions, IMHO.  In 3.X, there is an emphasis on meaningful decisions during character creation, while at the same time there is an apparent disconnect between actual game play and the traditional rewards gained from game play.  By this I mean that, especially for those new to DMing, or who cut their teeth on 3.X, the Wealth-by-Level guidelines and the admonition to "Just say Yes" can mean that the PCs should have a certain level of wealth, as well as complete control over how that wealth is manifested, regardless of their actions in the game milieu.  If you read the book this way -- and judging by posts on EN World, many do -- decisions made while adventuring have less impact on character development in 3.X than in previous editions.  This in turn makes those choices less meaningful, which increases the emphasis on more "meaningful" choices during character building.Obviously, the game doesn't have to be played like this, but even a cursory examination of threads both on this site and on others demonstrates amply that the game is played like this at more than a few tables.(Obviously, treasure is only one in-game mechanic to reward actions during play, as your own recent Bennies thread points out.  However, the core 3.X books are fairly quiet on rewards that lie entirely within the hands of the DM to administer -- and, hence, that require braving the unknown to acquire.)(2)  I, for one, purchase RPG materials not only for their utilitie (i.e., crunchy bits), but also for reading.  I want new ideas for using old material, discussions of world-building, and reminders of things that I might have overlooked.  I enjoy the "fellow-to-fellow" tone that the older editions took.  For me, the fluff is often more inspirational than the crunch.In the case of a splatbook, I want to have the crunch, an interesting discussion of how the crunch might fit into a campaign, and some reasonable (and hopefully, fun to read) discussion of what the crunch is meant to represent fluff-wise.Recently, I would say that Tome of Magic has done a good job in this respect.  I just picked up Dungeoncraft about a week ago, and while I found it a bit uneven (mostly with regard to PrCs), but worth reading.</blockquote>

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