Boxed Text or No Boxed Text?

[catsclaw227]

As for not describing the monsters in a room... there's a specific reason that the boxed text in Dungeon doesn't do that. We don't assume player actions in the boxed text, which also means if we put monsters in the text we're assuming that the monsters haven't already responded to the PCs, that they're doing one precise thing (no matter when the PCs reach the room), or that they haven't heard the PCs coming and are hiding in ambush.

Dungeon has the kind of boxed text I prefer, for this reason specifically. If the encounter descriptions were organized, maybe in a format similar to an "encounter statblock", then I could scan for relevant information. i.e. PC-Quick-Glance, Ambience, Traps, Monsters (and what they would be doing if the PCs weren't there), tactics, treasure, etc.

 

[Nalfeshnee]

i think boxed text is great at showing the atmoshpere of a location and for detailing certain important things that should not be missed out, though out of session as the Dm reads thorugh the aventure. though the more i DM the more i think that you should adapt (or paraphrase) them to suit the mood of adventure. ive had many ood moods and atmospheres ruined by a dry, cardboard-like text box description

i write all my adventures with text boxes, more as a reminder of what i wanted to convey in a particular room rather than as canon

 

[FusionBurner]

Boxed Text -- It works for everyone

Here is an example of how it used to be done back in the Golden Age of 1e AD&D:

L.67 Tomb of Amun-Re:
Through the double doors and down a 10-foot long corridor, you now enter the burial room which is 30 feet wide by 40 feet long. The great sarcophagus is in the center of the room, the golden staff lying across it. In the center of the north wall stands a statue of Amun-Re with a carved copy of the Star of Mo-Pelar held out in its right hand and the staff held across its body with its left hand. A phrase is written on both the east and west walls.

Play: The players may proceed with Treasure and Trap/Trick as well as the runes in Lore. The Monster is inside the sarcophagus and will not attack unless the lid is opened.

Monster: If the sarcophagus is opened, the Mummy (the monster's STAT BLOCK goes here) will attack.

Treasure: Lying across the sarcophagus isn the Pharaoh's Staff of Ruling. This is one of the two treasures that players need to fulfill their quest. It can be easily and safely taken from the top of the sarcophagus. See TREASURES AND TOMES (this is something included in the module) for its magical powers.

Trap/Trick: The statue is a secret door that leads to a 10-foot wide by 20-foot deep alcove...(and so on)

Lore: There is a base 30% chance (using the d20 rules, this would be a DC check) of each character correctly reading the writings which say:

A PASSAGE WAS ALWAYS PROVIDED BETWEEN THE TOMB OF THE KING AND HIS LIKENESS...(and so on and so forth)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

The comments in parenthesis where added by me, but the rest is from the AD&D module, "PHARAOH", by Tracy and Laura Hickman, published in 1983 by TSR.

At any rate, I found that sort of layout worked very well both back then and now.. as I take these old modules and convert them over to d20 rules to be run by myself on Internet Relay Chat games.

Game On!

 

[Nathan P. Mahney]

I like boxed text in professional modules, but I'm toying with a new format at the moment - I'm listing all the major elements of each room in point form, so that I can paraphrase the description. It also makes it really easy to cross things (like monsters) out when they're no longer in the room, and there's plenty of room to add new elements as well. It's not really an effective space saver, though.

 

[Mycanid]

Hey I like boxed text too ... but I like it more when I write them in my homespun adventures. Sometimes they could get a little tricky in the modules, though, when some unforseen event took place.

 

[T. Foster]

I hate almost all read-aloud boxed text in modules, especially when it assumes PC actions (which no right-thinking player would ever do -- "as you pluck an apple from the tree and bite into it you find the taste quite refreshing" wtf?!) or, worst of all, includes canned "dialogue" for NPCs, often complete with some sort of ridiculous 'accent' or other speech affectation. Reading this kind of stuff makes me want to gouge my eyes out, and I can't imagine actually reading it to a group of players (and, as a player, know all too well how horrible it is when the DM does try to read it 'straight' -- nothing takes me out of the game faster than the DM reciting a column or two of boxed description, or, absolutely worst of all, a canned NPC speech -- the prevalence of boxed narrative text is one of the big reasons I stopped playing in rpg tournaments 15 or so years ago).

The best sort of boxed text, IMO, just summarizes the main features of the room that would be apparent at first glance (and, thus, doesn't need to be put in read-aloud format at all). I make an exception for 'scene setting' boxed text at the beginning of the dungeon/adventure (such as the first-view description of the Caves of Chaos in module B2, or of the Temple of Elemental Evil in module T1-4) which can do a great job of setting the mood, but on a room-by-room or encounter-by-encounter basis I find boxed text is rarely helpful and often extremely annoying.

I already described my prefered alternative room-description format (from the RuneQuest module Snakepipe Hollow) in this thread so I'm not going to repeat it here.

 

[Numion]

Boxed text - English

Our group - Finnish

So there's no point in reading it verbatim. But I like having it anyway.

 

[Kid Socrates]

While I don't run adventures, I do read them when they come in my books. I like the boxed text -- I think it can really help a DM set the mood, even if he/she just pulls from it for their own descriptions. Same way reading a book helps with ideas. There might be a certain turn of phrase that rolls really well.

 

[el-remmen]

I have always been of the opinion is that the boxed text is for the DM not the players.

It is an easy reference for what the room/place looks like to the PCs and between reading it once or twice during prep and then a quick reference to it when the PCs arrive I can present a good idea of what it is they see.

I agree that boxed text that assumes PC action is BAD boxed text.

 

[FusionBurner]

Boxer Briefs

Here is an example of how it used to be done back in the Golden Age of 1e AD&D:

L.67 Tomb of Amun-Re:
Through the double doors and down a 10-foot long corridor, you now enter the burial room which is 30 feet wide by 40 feet long. The great sarcophagus is in the center of the room, the golden staff lying across it. In the center of the north wall stands a statue of Amun-Re with a carved copy of the Star of Mo-Pelar held out in its right hand and the staff held across its body with its left hand. A phrase is written on both the east and west walls.


Play: The players may proceed with Treasure and Trap/Trick as well as the runes in Lore. The Monster is inside the sarcophagus and will not attack unless the lid is opened.

Monster: If the sarcophagus is opened, the Mummy (the monster's STAT BLOCK goes here) will attack.

Treasure: Lying across the sarcophagus isn the Pharaoh's Staff of Ruling. This is one of the two treasures that players need to fulfill their quest. It can be easily and safely taken from the top of the sarcophagus. See TREASURES AND TOMES (this is something included in the module) for its magical powers.

Trap/Trick: The statue is a secret door that leads to a 10-foot wide by 20-foot deep alcove...(and so on)

Lore: There is a base 30% chance (using the d20 rules, this would be a DC check) of each character correctly reading the writings which say:

A PASSAGE WAS ALWAYS PROVIDED BETWEEN THE TOMB OF THE KING AND HIS LIKENESS...(and so on and so forth)

----------------------------------------------------------------------

The comments in parenthesis where added by me, but the rest is from the AD&D module, "PHARAOH", by Tracy and Laura Hickman, published in 1983 by TSR.

At any rate, I found that sort of layout worked very well both back then and now.. as I take these old modules and convert them over to d20 rules to be run by myself on Internet Relay Chat games.

Game On!

I believe the correct way to proceed with this is when the players say "OK, we are going through the double doors."

then the DM says, "There is a 10 foot long corridor leading down when you open the doors."

then the players say, "alright, we proceed with caution down the corridor."

then the DM says, "The corridor ends at a doorway, which looks like it opens into a room .. what do you do?"

players: "We enter the room, looking for any sign of danger.."

DM: "You now enter the burial room which is 30 feet wide by 40 feet long. The great sarcophagus is in the center of the room, the golden staff lying across it. In the center of the north wall stands a statue of Amun-Re with a carved copy of the Star of Mo-Pelar held out in its right hand and the staff held across its body with its left hand. A phrase is written on both the east and west walls."

-------------------------------------------------

The text does not assume anything. You have to use your common sense and take things step by step, just as you would in a real life situation.

To say the text assumes anything is saying the book is smarter than the reader. Don't let those text boxes fool ya, guys.

Game On!