Modules: Made to Read vs Made to Run?

[Staffan]

HTML mangles tables, often is unhappy with custom fonts (which are one of a bunch of ways to use custom symbols; the fonts can scale the symbols with text far better than bitmapped image files, and in fewer files than all but the most obnoxious vector files), and additionally, can become unreadable on various devices due to HTML 4 and later page layout tags in CSS.

So, for you and your particular needs? Sure, fine... but for me, I much prefer the virtual pages for finding things, and for zoom in and pan, and the ability to print consistently to the same dimensions.

I haven't seen any of those issues on either D&D Beyond or Steel Compendium, so clearly they are issues that can be avoided with competent web design and/or using modern browsers. The only table issues I've seen is when you have a table that just can't fit width-wise (like when you have a caster class features table and all the spell slots don't fit), and then at least D&D Beyond makes that particular part scrollable without messing with the rest of the page.

My needs in this case is to be able to use the material at the table and to be able to refer to it when preparing (or screaming arguing about discussing it online). My main relevant experiences are running Princes of the Apocalypse using D&D Beyond pre-pandemic and Savage Worlds/ETU using PDFs over the last year. I much prefer the way D&D Beyond works, as I could easily run that on an IPad and have multiple tabs open, including multiple tabs in the same document. So if I'm running a fight, I can have one tab open with the actual adventure text, another with the adventure map, and then a couple more with different monsters/NPCs, and maybe a few for the spells they're using. At least using Adobe's own PDF reader on the IPad, you can only have one document open at a time – if you want to switch to another, you have to back out and then open the other document instead.

The one place where PDFs have the edge is in printing – which is not surprising, given that that's the whole point of the format. I wouldn't want a blank character sheet for printing using HTML – that's ridiculous. But one of the main reasons I like electronic files is that it reduces the amount of paper I need to carry around. For example, when playing Savage Worlds I only bring the main rulebook (which I pretty much never use, but it's nice to be able to hand it to players), character sheets, various handouts, a notebook, and some decks (because they're a part of the system). Everything else is on my laptop. I have no desire whatsoever of going back to the days of 3.5e where I was bringing a suitcase full of books to game nights – the less paper the better.

 

[Bill Zebub]

Web instead of PDF could enable maps that could start as top-down 2D but then be rotated into isometric views from any angle, with details and text appearing as you zoom in.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I haven't seen any of those issues on either D&D Beyond or Steel Compendium, so clearly they are issues that can be avoided with competent web design and/or using modern browsers. The only table issues I've seen is when you have a table that just can't fit width-wise (like when you have a caster class features table and all the spell slots don't fit), and then at least D&D Beyond makes that particular part scrollable without messing with the rest of the page.

My needs in this case is to be able to use the material at the table and to be able to refer to it when preparing (or screaming arguing about discussing it online). My main relevant experiences are running Princes of the Apocalypse using D&D Beyond pre-pandemic and Savage Worlds/ETU using PDFs over the last year. I much prefer the way D&D Beyond works, as I could easily run that on an IPad and have multiple tabs open, including multiple tabs in the same document. So if I'm running a fight, I can have one tab open with the actual adventure text, another with the adventure map, and then a couple more with different monsters/NPCs, and maybe a few for the spells they're using. At least using Adobe's own PDF reader on the IPad, you can only have one document open at a time – if you want to switch to another, you have to back out and then open the other document instead.

The one place where PDFs have the edge is in printing – which is not surprising, given that that's the whole point of the format. I wouldn't want a blank character sheet for printing using HTML – that's ridiculous. But one of the main reasons I like electronic files is that it reduces the amount of paper I need to carry around. For example, when playing Savage Worlds I only bring the main rulebook (which I pretty much never use, but it's nice to be able to hand it to players), character sheets, various handouts, a notebook, and some decks (because they're a part of the system). Everything else is on my laptop. I have no desire whatsoever of going back to the days of 3.5e where I was bringing a suitcase full of books to game nights – the less paper the better.

HTML might be better for some people in actual play at the table, but PDF works great for reading and reference, which are the main reasons I use books. And it is just as good for electronic storage and transport as HTML, while not requiring an internet connection or subscription (which HTML documents sometimes do, and often in my practical experience). I bring my Kindle with me to games, loaded with whatever books I might need in PDF format, and I access them just fine, so to my mind there's nothing objectively better about HTML, and several things subjectively worse.

 

[Celebrim]

The one thing I noticed in the CoC modules I've used is they sometimes reference a far away expert on something the group is investigating, with the intent being the info they find in the newspaper clipping is enough to move things along when combined with other vague info they have not yet found. What I found happened in play was the group I run games for would decide maybe there was more info available from that expert if they paid them a visit...

I've seen this before too. Players are adventuring on Long Island and they uncover a quote or a book or newspaper article quoting an expert from Arkham, and they immediately decide that the best thing to do is drive up to Massachusetts to interview the professor.

On thing that module writers need to learn is that players don't know the scope of the adventure. That have no way of knowing what they are "supposed to do" and if you have to tell them out of character what they are supposed to do, the adventure is already failing. It shouldn't be up the GM to decide how to handle this. There should be a sidebar for such an obvious problem, and notes on how to handle it if the PC's do decide to contact an NPC mentioned in the story. And if you need a sidebar, then the question is, "How important is it for a clue to name an NPC not important to the story?"