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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ripzerai" data-source="post: 2698117" data-attributes="member: 38324">Perhaps I've been reading Boing Boing and download mp3s too much, but I've become a huge open-content/file sharing advocate. I really think it's good publicity for anyone.  We agree there. I think that's why I find you so frustrating - your extreme negativity toward the way I like to play. I've never criticized epic or divine-level play, but you get hugely excited whenever I talk about preserving some elements of mystery in the planes and start ranting about how I'm oppressing you.A proper game product should have dozens of story hooks which are nothing but mysteries for the DM to develop. Revealing everything you introduce is hugely destructive. Roleplaying is by its nature a do-it-yourself enterprise, and most DMs love reading alluring little tidbits that spark their imaginations. If a company develops everything themselves, what is there for a DM to do? The more detail the better, but for every mystery that's explained at least two more should be added - look at James Jacobs' Demonicon articles. Every time he fleshes out some old reference from Planescape or 1st edition, he adds more references. That's good design.That's why elements like the Lady of Pain - enigmatic figures that remain fresh because they're never detailed by anyone - are so useful. Some things should have no purpose other than to be mysteries. Some things (like the Lady) should even stay mysteries - it makes the game world seem bigger and more magical if not everything can be explained. In a divine-level campaign, which is all about revealing things that were previously mysterious, this is more important than ever, or else the gods and religion become nothing more than a mortal adventuring party - less than that, since things at least feel magical to adventurers. Nothing more than a party of merchants and bureaucrats who have had all joy sucked from their lives. Of course not. Mystifying some things, definitely.</blockquote>

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