How do you guys prefer your RPG (3.5 or 4th ed))books to be presented..

[grymn]

The poll above is to gauge how everyone feels about a few different ways of new crunch to be presented within the confines of a book. The options from above are as follows:

The Traditional Method
New content is divided by specified chapters. New Feats go in a feat chapter. New Spells/Powers go into spell/power chapter. New Prestige Class/Paragon Paths/Epic Destinies going into a chapter for those items. Etc etc. Much the way books have traditionally been done for d20.

The Thematic Method
This idea is to actually group items via the thematic aspects. Examples would be to have any Elf Racial Feats, Prestige Classes, Powers, Paths or destines would be introduced in the Race chapter under the Elf information. Furthermore, fighter only feats would be listed along with fighters under a class section. Etc etc. Any general crunch not related to a specific race/class/organization/etc would be lumped together in a "general" options chapter of sorts.

The Hybrid Method
A combination of the two. Having specific chapters holding the Feats, Powers, Spells, PrCs, Paths, Destinies, etc...but also having tables listed in the Race/Class/Organization areas that collect all of the crunch in the book that is directly linked to the item with page numbers and such. Example would be the Elf listing would have a table at the end that says Elf Feat 1 (pg x), Elf feat 2 (pg xx), Elf Paragon Path (pg xxx), Elf Prestige Class 1 (pg xxxx)..etc etc.

[Note: I've purposely mentioned stuff from 4th ed and 3.x ed for discussion purposes...I don't want to tie the discussion down to just one edition, although, the books I currently have in development are 4th Ed GSL books]

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Traditional Method. It is the method I am using in my Tale of the Twin Suns Player's Guide.

 

[Rechan]

Presented on a naked f- er, ahem.

I like the hybrid method, actually. Because the thematic method is neater; you aren't going to care about elf feats unless you're looking for elf feats. Same with spells. So putting stuff in their topical area seems reasonable to me.

However having page number references is good.

A good example of this (for me) is "Faiths of Eberron". Each religion is given its own chapter, and each religion has its own PrC. Then at the end there's 15 pages devoted to feats/spells/equipment.

 

[Jhaelen]

My preferred method is none of the three presented.
What I like best is the complete separation of fluff and crunch. I.e. in the first part you'll get a bunch of (thematic) chapters with fluff and references to the game mechanics described in the second part. The second part only contains crunch, ordered 'traditionally' according to gamesystem elements.

 

[grymn]

My preferred method is none of the three presented.
What I like best is the complete separation of fluff and crunch. I.e. in the first part you'll get a bunch of (thematic) chapters with fluff and references to the game mechanics described in the second part. The second part only contains crunch, ordered 'traditionally' according to gamesystem elements.

So, essentially, its a variant of the hybrid method where you have all the fluff in a section (with references to the appropriate crunch when waranted) and then the referenced crucnh in another section?

 

[Boarstorm]

I went traditional. I like being able to just flip to the feats chapter and finding everything I need. Having to flip through the book for racial feats or class-specific feats would just be annoying.

Now granted, sorted thematically within the chapter could be nice.

 

[grymn]

Now granted, sorted thematically within the chapter could be nice.

Thats actually a pretty decent alternative idea as well. Traditional Method with the chapters being divided up thematically within themselves. A feat chapter with a sections for Elf-Only, Fighter-Only, Wizard-Only material. Hmm.


On another note,

Its seems like the traditional method is overpowering the others..the hybrid one is trailing slighty behind with the thematic taking a distant 3rd and very few votes for others.

 

[Moon-Lancer]

High quality ink and paper. Thats about it

 

[Jhaelen]

So, essentially, its a variant of the hybrid method where you have all the fluff in a section (with references to the appropriate crunch when waranted) and then the referenced crucnh in another section?

Exactly.

 

[Riposte]

Traditional is best for PHBs, neutral sourcebooks, and campaign settings.

Thematic is best for follow ups with single theme with multiple entities such as race books(with 3-4 races), class books(with 2-3 classes), etc etc. Btw, that class thing only works well for 4e rather than 3e as 3e multiclassing would make thematic actually annoying for those who want to use more than one class content.

As always, the most important thing for crunch is a useful look up in the back.