Mechanics vs. Flavor text

[Hussar]

/edit/ Nothing to see here, move along. BTW, the wifie a baby today. Yay me.

 

[Piratecat]

The insulting behavior is being addressed via email, folks. Please don't respond.

Everyone, please remind yourself that when tempers flare, it's usually because multiple people have been bickering. Disagreeing with someone's opinion is fine, accusing them or issuing personal insults isn't. People here usually do a good job at self-moderation, but no one is perfect; I'd appreciate it if you'd keep the rules in mind when you're tempted to post something borderline or clearly snarky. If you deliberately bait someone to push them over the line, you're just as responsible as they are.

A few of the posts in this thread definitely fall under that category. You may wish to edit them yourself, please, if they're not on topic.

If this is somehow a problem, please email me by clicking on my user name.

 

[Tsillanabor]

Back on topic...I picked the middle option. I would phrase it as "show me what you came up with for fluff and I'll use that as an inspiration for my own fluff."

 

[Psion]

I went with "some". I don't need a big hunk of flavor text. What I do desire is strong conceptual grounding, which doesn't take a whole lot of words.

 

[Pielorinho]

a fairly promiscuous feat

This sounds like the title of a Patricia Highsmith mystery .

I chose the middle option, too. When I DM, I like to make up my own desscriptions, and I often have fun tweaking things out of recognizeable shape (my Bone Devil reworked into a demonic lemur was a personal favorite). But I don't always have time or inspiration to do that, and when I don't, the prefab fluff is very useful.

Daniel

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I like flavor text, especially for spells. The flavor text for spells in Relics and Rituals is some of the best, IMO. You read it and you get some history of the spell, who likes to use it, as well as information about how it may look, sound etc.

If a player wants to change things for his purposes, that is great and I would encourage it. If there was nothing but a stat block many players, who would use some of the fluff description if it was provided, would just use the stat block.

Creative people will be creative whether or not someone else shows creativity before them. Less creative people may use the info to add some depth, but without it they may never bother with adding anything. Bring on the fluff, I say.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

[EDIT] Post removed at PC's request.

 

[Piratecat]

Please do remove the list. It only continues an argument and hijack that is now moot.

Thanks!

Heh - the thing to do is to start a "what old books do you own?" thread so that you don't waste the work.

 

[Faraer]

As has been said, the question is backwards. You develop new mechanics as needed to represent elements in your world. Making up new mechanics to represent nothing in particular would be absurd. What credible world was ever designed around a collage of rules?

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

As has been said, the question is backwards. You develop new mechanics as needed to represent elements in your world. Making up new mechanics to represent nothing in particular would be absurd. What credible world was ever designed around a collage of rules?

Any designed for use with HERO, since the mechanics essentially already existed?

Again, all of this has been done, and done very well. Just because it hasn't been done by TSR or Wizards of the Coast doesn't change that.