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<blockquote data-quote="Rod Staffwand" data-source="post: 7322941" data-attributes="member: 6776279">Totally agree on the in-encounter mini-statblocks. I will not run any WotC adventures because of it. Flipping between the encounter, the NPC statblock in the back of the adventure, as well as a couple of different monster statblocks on different pages in the MM, and potentially looking up spells in the PH all at the same time is not DM friendly. Heck, every monster I use runs off of a mini-statblock. One sheet of them will get you every monster you need for a night's gaming and a bunch of extras to improvise with.Also, brevity is key. I do not want fifteen pages of intricate backstory--save it for your novel, pal! Brief, evocative descriptions are also appreciated. If I get bored just looking at a wall of text, I'll probably get bored reading it to my players and they'll be bored listening to it. A great module gets out of its own way and lets the DM and players take it from there.Structure and layout of locations and encounters is not terribly important as long as it's consistent. I'd rather have a bullet-pointed sketch rather than read-along blathering, but its not a deal breaker. What IS important is clearly identifying what is obvious to the players and what the hooks are to engage in the scenario (i.e. what the PCs can kill, take or &quot;fiddle with&quot;).Also, I've come to realize there are pretty much four paths a party can take to deal with an encounter: fighting, talking, sneaking or ignoring. A well-written adventure tells me what to do when the above happens. Roleplaying notes on monsters are also good, especially in combat.Beyond that, I'm a fan of notes, lists and tables that give flavor I can drop in. If an adventure features a band of orcs as the primary baddies, give me a table of random orc names (Splatter Foot! Yellow Bone! Flayed Porpoise!) or a table of random orc &quot;treasures&quot; (a splattered foot! a yellow bone! a flayed porpoise!) that I can drop in to personalize them as needed.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Rod Staffwand, post: 7322941, member: 6776279"] Totally agree on the in-encounter mini-statblocks. I will not run any WotC adventures because of it. Flipping between the encounter, the NPC statblock in the back of the adventure, as well as a couple of different monster statblocks on different pages in the MM, and potentially looking up spells in the PH all at the same time is not DM friendly. Heck, every monster I use runs off of a mini-statblock. One sheet of them will get you every monster you need for a night's gaming and a bunch of extras to improvise with. Also, brevity is key. I do not want fifteen pages of intricate backstory--save it for your novel, pal! Brief, evocative descriptions are also appreciated. If I get bored just looking at a wall of text, I'll probably get bored reading it to my players and they'll be bored listening to it. A great module gets out of its own way and lets the DM and players take it from there. Structure and layout of locations and encounters is not terribly important as long as it's consistent. I'd rather have a bullet-pointed sketch rather than read-along blathering, but its not a deal breaker. What IS important is clearly identifying what is obvious to the players and what the hooks are to engage in the scenario (i.e. what the PCs can kill, take or "fiddle with"). Also, I've come to realize there are pretty much four paths a party can take to deal with an encounter: fighting, talking, sneaking or ignoring. A well-written adventure tells me what to do when the above happens. Roleplaying notes on monsters are also good, especially in combat. Beyond that, I'm a fan of notes, lists and tables that give flavor I can drop in. If an adventure features a band of orcs as the primary baddies, give me a table of random orc names (Splatter Foot! Yellow Bone! Flayed Porpoise!) or a table of random orc "treasures" (a splattered foot! a yellow bone! a flayed porpoise!) that I can drop in to personalize them as needed. [/QUOTE]

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