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Message: <blockquote data-quote="pemerton" data-source="post: 5944082" data-attributes="member: 42582">You may not be surprised that I disagree with you somewhat.First, on the 4e MM: it has the following to say about Hook Horrors (I've slighltly toyed with the sequencing, and elided some of the content, including repetition):Hook horrors drag victims to their deaths using their powerful hooked arms. These pack omnivores scour the Underdark in search of live prey, foraging when necessary. . . Hook horrors are omnivorous but prefer meat to plants. Rumor has it that they prefer the flesh of drow over any other. Not surprisingly, drow slay wild hook horrors and take young and eggs to raise as slaves. . . Hook horrors live in total darkness. They can see in lit environments, but in the dark of the deep earth they navigate using echolocation. They Hook horrors communicate with one another using . . . clicking noises they make with their mouths and carapace. . . An Underdark explorer might become aware of nearby hook horrors by these noises. . . The eerie clicks echo in the Underdark, warning prey that death is near. . . Although they hunt in small packs, hook horrors also gather in larger groups called clans. A particular clan, ruled by its strongest egg-laying female, ranges over a wide area in the Underdark. Its members defend clan territory fiercely from any intruder, including unrelated hook horrors.I think that is quite a bit of "fluff". It doesn't strike me as being all about combat at all. I learn about matriarchal clan structure, a fondness for drow (suggesting to players that hook horrors could be used to advantage in a War of the Spider Queen or Vault of the Drow-type scenario), and the taking of eggs for enslavement. We certainly get told about the preference for meat, and - as far as brining cows is concerned - there is no reason why this couldn't be resolved as a simple skill challenge.Second, more generally - I don't find the "rules should follow story" mantra very useful. Mechanics, in my view, should evoke story. If a situation is meant to be scary to the players, or tense, the mechanics should help induce that experience. For me, this is the significance of 4e's tactical mechanics - the players have to think hard, and the game can spend a long time in a difficult and complex situation where the outcome remains in doubt. In my RPGing experience, that's not a bad way to try to evoke an appropriate emotional response in half-a-dozen people sitting around someone's kitchen table.</blockquote>

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