Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
D&D 4.5E (Not Essentials)
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Pour" data-source="post: 6251899" data-attributes="member: 59411"><p>I think we've stumbled upon the perfect usage of the pseudo-setting and background material that should come with monster manual entries, except instead of giving definitive lore, provide popular conceptions, creative riffs, mythological and folklore references, examples from designer campaigns, even indirect nods to fiction, video games, movies, etc. in a concise, well-written, and non-copyright-infringing way. Have the entries be all about the possibilities for planning stages, and let the stat blocks be the quick, convenient, abridged beauties they are. </p><p></p><p>In terms of powers, I think they could be treated in a similar way. Instead of the 'meh' flavor text under each power name, expand that into a paragraph visually distinct from the block itself for easy reference. If we take Nemesis's advice about culling and consolidating powers, there should be room. Give powers a monster entry treatment, offering different instances they might be used. Make them short, interesting, thematic, and applicable. Make the entries the seeds players might want to use themselves and, more importantly, a kind of permission to think out of the box with these very user-friendly power blocks. When at all possible, I would also take the name of the power into consideration and work that into the flavorful uses. I mean would it be so terrible if Cloud of Daggers actually cut the rest of the party loose from their bonds in one go (with an Arcana check if you're a stickler)?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Pour, post: 6251899, member: 59411"] I think we've stumbled upon the perfect usage of the pseudo-setting and background material that should come with monster manual entries, except instead of giving definitive lore, provide popular conceptions, creative riffs, mythological and folklore references, examples from designer campaigns, even indirect nods to fiction, video games, movies, etc. in a concise, well-written, and non-copyright-infringing way. Have the entries be all about the possibilities for planning stages, and let the stat blocks be the quick, convenient, abridged beauties they are. In terms of powers, I think they could be treated in a similar way. Instead of the 'meh' flavor text under each power name, expand that into a paragraph visually distinct from the block itself for easy reference. If we take Nemesis's advice about culling and consolidating powers, there should be room. Give powers a monster entry treatment, offering different instances they might be used. Make them short, interesting, thematic, and applicable. Make the entries the seeds players might want to use themselves and, more importantly, a kind of permission to think out of the box with these very user-friendly power blocks. When at all possible, I would also take the name of the power into consideration and work that into the flavorful uses. I mean would it be so terrible if Cloud of Daggers actually cut the rest of the party loose from their bonds in one go (with an Arcana check if you're a stickler)? [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
D&D 4.5E (Not Essentials)
Top