Space Wasters

[Jdvn1]

Personaly, I've never been a big fan of the sample character for each PrC, and think that's a huge waste of space.

Yep, that's one of the things I like about Dragon Compendium.

 

[Dog Moon]

Actually, just to go against the tide here. I don't mind that the sample NPC's in PrC's reprint the abilities. Makes photocopying easier. It also means that when I use that example in a game, I don't have to take the time to rewrite it to use it in game. I undertand the want to save space, but, there can be too much of a good thing.

For example in the World's Largest Dungeon, they reprint the monster stat blocks for every encounter, complete with special abilities. What that means is the book has an awful lot of stat block space, but, it also means that I can run the adventure with only that book. I don't need to cart around my Monster Manual and flip through pages for every encounter. A little wasted space now that results in saved time later is not a bad thing.

Hmm. I don't mind the stats for the creatures in an adventure, but I dislike them when they're in an Accessory. I don't see stats for creatures in an adventure as a waste of space like in Accessories.

 

[Psion]

Add me to the "like named +2/+2 feats" bandwagon. To me, D&D is more than just a tactical game, its a ROLEPLAYING game. The named +2/+2 feats are like character traits given mechanical backing. Stripping them of the flavor description removes that linkage.


That said, space wasters I see that could go:
- Repeating armor and weapon proficiency rules in every classes' description. Bleh.
- Repeating class abilities on NPCs when the class was on the previous page.

 

[Shade]

Personaly, I've never been a big fan of the sample character for each PrC, and think that's a huge waste of space.

I'm in total agreement.

That said, space wasters I see that could go:
- Repeating armor and weapon proficiency rules in every classes' description. Bleh.

Good one!

I'm not sure how I feel about the +2 to two skills feats. On the one hand, I do like having the name for quick reference ("Stealthy" immediately implies Hide and Move Silently), but on the other hand they do use quite a large amount of space. Maybe if they'd written a single feat and used the current names as a subname, like Skill Package (Alertness), and then used a table showing which subname affected which skills, it could have saved a page or two?

 

[Staffan]

Actually, just to go against the tide here. I don't mind that the sample NPC's in PrC's reprint the abilities.

I wish they wouldn't include sample characters for PrCs in the first place. I've never used one of those, and I don't think I ever will.

 

[Psion]

I'll also empahsize since I didn't:
Sample NPCs are NOT a waste of space and I do NOT want to see them go. They let you put new concepts into play immediately, and serves as an example how some stranger abilities might work.

Of course, I wish they got them RIGHT every time... I've seen sample NPCs that don't even follow their own rules. And, again, I see no need to repeat the same ability text on two consecutive pages.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Personaly, I've never been a big fan of the sample character for each PrC, and think that's a huge waste of space.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of sample characters. Without them, the chance I'll use them as NPCs is cut way down. I don't like numbers crunching, and I'd rather have space in a book wasted rather than my time.

 

[Dog Moon]

What about not having sample NPCs within the book, but place them in a web enhancement? How would that be? That way, you don't have to have them, but if you want them, they're still available. I mean personally, I don't want them, but I do understand why some people might.

[Although I'm a big fan of WE and believe that so much more could be done with them than what WOTC is, but that's beside the point]

 

[Ranes]

The space-waster pet peeve of mine is font size. Why does WotC feel we're capable of reading 300-page core rulebooks in dense 10pt (which we are) only to pad out all supplements at a hand-holding 12pt?

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Most people buying the book won't be going to WotC's website, so it's unfair to them. I like sample characters a lot. The glut of Prestige Classes with no point of reference to show them "in action" just seems boring to me.