D&D 5E Do you Consider Flavor Text to be part of Raw?

[Hussar]

Reading through This thread on how closely do people stick to RAW, the poll question caught me a bit by surprise. To me, I've never considered flavour elements to be part of RAW. After all, they have no mechanical impact, so, I don't really consider them to be rules. By the definition in that thread, I've never played D&D even close to RAW since I almost always homebrew campaigns and I've never once used a TSR or WOTC setting. Anything and everything is up for grabs and can be changed at will without any regard to "official" flavour in my games.

So, I'm wondering if I'm the odd man out here. Do people consider flavour text, the stuff with no mechanical impact, to be part of RAW?

 

[Mistwell]

I don't really think RAW has a big role in this edition, and so it seems an odd question to me. If it fits, we use it. If it doesn't, we don't, or we re-interpret it. Just like the rest of the rules. Does that make it RAW?

 

[Paraxis]

Flavor/Fluff is just that filler.

I don't need it, it serves no purpose at all in my games.

 

[BigVanVader]

No. Considering that I play Barbarians eighty percent of the time, but none of them have ever been wildmen or illiterate rage-machines, I don't consider flavor text to be all that important.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I voted yes, but I want to add that I use the fluff to help figure out the RAI of the RAW... yea confusing.

Then again half the rules of WoD games are hidden in the fluff

 

[BigVanVader]

Oh my god, don't remind me. My group went crazy on WoD for October because we'd never played any of them before, but the unhelpfulness of those books have really cooled us off on all of our different campaigns we were planning.

 

[Mouseferatu]

If you mean, "Will I look to the flavor for answers on a rules question if the mechanics aren't clear?" then yes.

If you mean, "Do you balk at changing the flavor/reskinning/all of that good stuff?" then no.

In either case, though, I consider the flavor to be at least as important as the mechanics, even if I change it or don't use it. I have no interest in a D&D textbook, and AFAIAC, if a gamebook isn't both fun to read and useful in play, it's failed.

 

[Serendipity]

Sometimes? It depends on both the game and the table. For D&D though? Never.

 

[Leatherhead]

I consider it to be RAI.

 

[Authweight]

With 5e the distinction between flavor and rules is much less clear than in 4e. With 4e, we always played with extremely liberal reflavoring. Basically, anything that wasn't a direct combat effect was open to interpretation.

I feel like with 5e being in part balanced around the three pillars, the flavor is much more built into the game, so I'm currently much more wary of reflavoring.