Coming to a MM near you- FLAVOR!

[Dice4Hire]

Meh.

WOTC tried this with MM4 and MM5 in 3.x and you can remember how popular those two books were....

And how well they sold....

What I think about the more fluff approach is that WOTC is trying to do something different with the book, but people who do not like too much fluff will be even more disinclined to buy the book as it is the third of the series, and thus less essential than the first two. I had pretty much decided that MMI, MMII and DSCC were enough for me, and this helps cement that.

Fluff should really be in the environment books. That is where you can really see the monsters in their natural habitat and can more easily provide links between monster types and add on cultures and history.

Overall, I would not be unhappy with an AVII level of detail, with every 3rd or 4th monster getting a sidebar writeup, but not ever monster.

And giving reasons why ENCOUNTER GROUPS hang together? I laughed out loud with that. Who uses encounter groups anyway? Now they will waste even more space.

 

[Zaukrie]

Um, did anyone ask for fluff on why encounter groups were together? Anyone? Hello? Anyone?

 

[Hellzon]

And giving reasons why ENCOUNTER GROUPS hang together? I laughed out loud with that. Who uses encounter groups anyway? Now they will waste even more space.

I don't use them now, but hey, plot seeds. It could work. Maybe. Possibly.

 

[Hellzon]

Um, did anyone ask for fluff on why encounter groups were together? Anyone? Hello? Anyone?

Why, yes, whiners whined their eyes out about how the random encounters made no sense. This is WOTC:s solution.

 

[fba827]

Um, did anyone ask for fluff on why encounter groups were together? Anyone? Hello? Anyone?

They have a survey up for a week on the WotC site asking for feedback on MM2 and the questions were strongly geared towards "how happy were you with the amount of fluff..." etc. Having said that, there was a thread here on ENWorld where someone was basically saying "if you don't like the amount of fluff, go take the survey now" -- i would imagine those who were fine with the fluff may not have actually been as motivated to take the survey.

Personally, I was fine with the amount of fluff because I change it all (well almost all) anyway. But, I'm willing to see ...

 

[Zaukrie]

I want more fluff, but I was asking about explaining encounter groups. I can't remember anyone, ever, asking for that kind of fluff.

 

[coyote6]

That's because the Cartel of People Who Want Encounter Groups Fluffed are also masters of mesmerism and hypnotism. They don't want you to remember.

(They are not, however, masters of naming stuff; CPWWEGF is a lousy acronym.)

 

[Wormwood]

"I was saying 'Boo-urns'"

 

[I'm A Banana]

I am optimistic. I love that they incorporated feedback like this, and the prospect of seeing a 4e MM that is actually useful to me is TREMENDOUSLY exciting.

This is leaning in EXACTLY the right direction. Hooks. Story. Plot. Details. Strategy. Encounter ideas. A friggin' reason to use them. Encounter Groups (if I understand them correctly as being linked monsters in an encounter) being in there is AWESOME.

Yeah, like Shem pointed out, the fluff could suck. But I'm optimistic, because aside from the MM, the 4e group has shown a real willingness to work hard when they decide that something matters. If they're paying attention to fluff, I expect some solid fluff (even if it's drastically different from the earlier-edition fluff, if it stands on its own, I don't care that much).

I'm also pumped about what they said about the Dark Sun monster book:

Dark Sun creature catalog is 144 page monster book chalk full of athasian monster - dune freaks, dune reapers , etc.

We decided to split things up a little differently for this campaign. Player generated stuff in DS setting book, creature catalog also..

includes hazards, npcs, and other things useful to DMs.

This is EXACTLY the right approach for me.

I don't need monster books that are encyclopedias of stat blocks.

I DO need monster books that are more like "Book Books O' Encounters." Traps, hazards, NPC's, potential allies....yes, yes, a million times yes.

2010 is shaping up to be the best year for 4e so far, given those mentions.

I'm pretty pumped.

 

[Rechan]

Um, did anyone ask for fluff on why encounter groups were together? Anyone? Hello? Anyone?

People who don't like 4e.