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<blockquote data-quote="awesomeocalypse" data-source="post: 5125483" data-attributes="member: 85641">4e has a reputation, even among its defenders, for being mechanically pretty kickass but somewhat weak on the flavor. I won't, for the most part, dispute that, especially for early books. Reading spell or monster lists in previous editions was often much more engaging and evocative than 4e's &quot;2 lines of intentionally bland, generic fluff, then a bunch of abstract mechanics&quot;. The first PHB was pretty brutal in this respect, and a big part of why 4e has such a &quot;plays better than it reads&quot; reputation.&nbsp;But I actually think that as time's gone on, and the 4e designers have become noticable more comfortable with injecting some actual flavor into the default Points of Light setting, they've come up with some cool and interesting flavor for different elements of their system and settings.&nbsp;I've been reading PHB3 and noticing a lot of this going on with the flavor surrounding psionics and the far realm.&nbsp;I also thought that the explanation of the Primal Power Source and how it fits into the world in Primal Power is great stuff.&nbsp;The entire Underdark book, especially the Torog stuff, is incredibly flavorful (and by flavorful, I mean metal).&nbsp;Even some PHB1 elements are pretty cool. I don't like the way they've made Tieflings look, but the Tiefling--Dragonborn backstory with their respective shattered empires is pretty nifty.&nbsp;How about you guys? Any 4e fluff that impressed you?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="awesomeocalypse, post: 5125483, member: 85641"] 4e has a reputation, even among its defenders, for being mechanically pretty kickass but somewhat weak on the flavor. I won't, for the most part, dispute that, especially for early books. Reading spell or monster lists in previous editions was often much more engaging and evocative than 4e's "2 lines of intentionally bland, generic fluff, then a bunch of abstract mechanics". The first PHB was pretty brutal in this respect, and a big part of why 4e has such a "plays better than it reads" reputation. But I actually think that as time's gone on, and the 4e designers have become noticable more comfortable with injecting some actual flavor into the default Points of Light setting, they've come up with some cool and interesting flavor for different elements of their system and settings. I've been reading PHB3 and noticing a lot of this going on with the flavor surrounding psionics and the far realm. I also thought that the explanation of the Primal Power Source and how it fits into the world in Primal Power is great stuff. The entire Underdark book, especially the Torog stuff, is incredibly flavorful (and by flavorful, I mean metal). Even some PHB1 elements are pretty cool. I don't like the way they've made Tieflings look, but the Tiefling--Dragonborn backstory with their respective shattered empires is pretty nifty. How about you guys? Any 4e fluff that impressed you? [/QUOTE]

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