Modules: Made to Read vs Made to Run?

[DEFCON 1]

Must be nice to have a trust fund! I'm envious.

If you don't have 6 extra minutes in your entire week to read a couple paragraphs for preparation rather than a handful of bullet points... you have more things to deal with in your life that you probably shouldn't be wasting a bunch of it Dungeon Mastering.

If you are going to DM... make sure you have the time to actually do it.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Sorry to hear that. I'm nearly 50 and I do it all the time. Without a trust fund, even!

Obviously (???) the trust fund comment was hyperbole. But I find it odd to make a general claim that time-to-read is not a legitimate concern.

 

[Bill Zebub]

If you don't have 6 extra minutes in your entire week to read a couple paragraphs for preparation rather than a handful of bullet points... you have more things to deal with in your life that you probably shouldn't be wasting a bunch of it Dungeon Mastering.

I don't generally stretch one encounter of a couple of paragraphs into an entire session.

And, really, the bigger challenge is not in preparing for individual sessions, it's in knowing the adventure well enough before starting the adventure in the first place. That's the big time investment that becomes challenging.

I get that some people really enjoy reading long-form RPG supplements. I do. I used to be like that. And I'm sorry if there is high-quality content you don't enjoy because it's presented in a more terse, powerpoint-like format. But it's what makes some of us willing to, for example, say "yes" when our kid's D&D group at school asks if you'll start DMing for them.

If you are going to DM... make sure you have the time to actually do it.

Yeah, making sure the hobby is only accessible to those who are able/willing to devote hours to long-form reading (much of it terribly written). That should really keep the industry thriving.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Obviously (???) the trust fund comment was hyperbole. But I find it odd to make a general claim that time-to-read is not a legitimate concern.

That small amount of time, doing an activity you enjoy? Obviously I can't speak for everyone, but for me the time is worth it.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I don't generally stretch one encounter of a couple of paragraphs into an entire session.

And, really, the bigger challenge is not in preparing for individual sessions, it's in knowing the adventure well enough before starting the adventure in the first place. That's the big time investment that becomes challenging.

I get that some people really enjoy reading long-form RPG supplements. I do. I used to be like that. And I'm sorry if there is high-quality content you don't enjoy because it's presented in a more terse, powerpoint-like format. But it's what makes some of us willing to, for example, say "yes" when our kid's D&D group at school asks if you'll start DMing for them.




Yeah, making sure the hobby is only accessible to those who are able/willing to devote hours to long-form reading (much of it terribly written). That should really keep the industry thriving.

I thought this was about preference, not "the industry". Neither of us can speak for anyone but ourselves, and that includes whether or not we like reading more long-form material, and our opinion of how well or poorly-written it is.

 

[overgeeked]

Not so much no playing as realizing that DMs are small percentage of player base. Those succinct, condensed, ready to run, modules cater primary to DM audience. Fluff (lore) filled modules that are fun to just read (and take ideas and inspirations) will be bought by both DM and players (for different reasons). So from pure economic stand point, it makes sense to make them apealing to broadest possible customer base.

This makes a lot of really bad assumptions about the content being fundamentally different when the main difference is presentation. The ready-to-run module also has lore, can also be mined for ideas and inspiration, etc.

The only reason players would be buying modules is to cheat. So if WotC et al are catering to players with their module design, this would be yet another example of what’s good for the business being bad for the game.

Many referees are whales in the sense that they are the ones buying the most stuff despite being a smaller group compared to players. So catering to their ease of use makes far more sense.

The non-playing customers are those who collect the books rather than actually play the game in any capacity, referee or player.

 

[overgeeked]

Yeah, making sure the hobby is only accessible to those who are able/willing to devote hours to long-form reading (much of it terribly written). That should really keep the industry thriving.

Exactly. That’s one of the main points here. Consciously making it easier to run games by making an effort to present modules in an easy-to-run way. The easier it is to run games the better it is for everyone. It’s such a weird gatekeepy stance to say it should be harder than necessary and far more time consuming than necessary.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Many referees are whales in the sense that they are the ones buying the most stuff despite being a smaller group compared to players. So catering to their ease of use makes far more sense.

I don't think so. Catering to their interest makes business sense. Assuming that what DMs want from purchased modules most is ease of use is just that: an assumption, and assuming that most people think like you is one too.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Exactly. That’s one of the main points here. Consciously making it easier to run games by making an effort to present modules in an easy-to-run way. The easier it is to run games the better it is for everyone. It’s such a weird gatekeepy stance to say it should be harder than necessary and far more time consuming than necessary.

It's also gatekeepy to say that the industry should be bent to your interest, because you assume most folks think like you and those who don't like what you like aren't relevant.

 

[DEFCON 1]

Yeah, making sure the hobby is only accessible to those who are able/willing to devote hours to long-form reading (much of it terribly written). That should really keep the industry thriving.

It's kept the industry in business for 50 years thus far. Heck, in the decades before people could make, sell or buy PDFs that were 4 page bullet-point modules (if that)... almost all modules one could buy were 16 to 32 pages full of very minute type, writing out paragraphs upon paragraphs of material for the DM to read to get a full idea of where the adventure is taking place, major descriptions of all the areas, and all kinds of ecology and personality traits of all the NPCs and/or monsters the players would face. Not to mention exceedingly elaborate maps the the like. Because you couldn't actually sell what we would now call '5-Room-Dungeons' because they were too short to warrant getting printed and published for anyone to buy. And the industry survived just fine.

But let me be clear... I have nothing against bullet-pointed modules in and of themselves... I just don't think they are the bees knees and head and shoulders above other methods for distributing adventure information compared to how a lot of other people feel. Especially when it seems that some of the people who love those types of modules are the ones who say they love them because they require "little to no prep"... which to me, as I've said, is not a feature by any stretch. If (general) you do little prep because you just don't have the time in your life to really prepare for the game you run, but you still want to try and run a game for folks who wouldn't be able to game otherwise... well, good on you. I'm glad (general) your players appreciate it. But if you are DM who just can't be bothered to do any prep before a game (especially if you have like a week or heaven forbid two weeks or a full month between sessions)... I don't think that... unconcernedness... of your player's time or enjoyment is something to be proud of. But that's just me. Hopefully it works for (general) you.