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Message: <blockquote data-quote="steeldragons" data-source="post: 5906331" data-attributes="member: 92511">The former. Obviously. No. I mean, yes, I know this is your view. But no. That is not so. Your latter is for people who need their dungeons/lairs/encounters all worked out for them in a neat little package. That is not "how" the game has ever been nor should be learned to play.Give a man a fish and he eats for the day. Teach a man to fish and he eats forever.If you give me a "meatloaf" monster manual. Yay! I have a meat loaf. It will probably be delicious!If you give me ground beef, an onion, some garlic, salt n' pepper, maybe some ketchup...some people like eggs in it, some add green pepper or bread crumbs or cumin. I can come up with half a dozen "meatloaves" of my own design...or maybe I make some hamburgers, instead,...or meatballs...or sloppy joes.THAT is the purpose of the Monster Manual. THAT is the purpose of learning to play the game. Not being given a game to play...That's a computer game...or a board game...but it is not a table-top RPG.Seems to have been entirely effective since the creation of the game. Why would it not be effective now?No argument there. Handing the new player fully "built" combinations of monsters as the developers see fit to combine them in the book is not the way for a new player to learn and learn to ENJOY D&D.The 'new player" more likely than not, might not have any books. They're being brought into the game by a more experienced player or DM that they know. A friend, a family member, someone they struck up a conversation with at the local comic/gaming shop. I would not expect them to have all of the books on their own before they sit down...maybe their own PHB for the very enthusiastic.I also wouldn't expect, if they did have all of their own books, that they'd have books filled with meatloaf...So, enjoy the meatloaf...Next week/game, guess what?...MEATLOAF! Yaaay. Instead of "enjoy whatever combination of ingredients you want."A Monster Manual that offers the "packaged encounters" you propose is then telling people they have to disassemble and rearrange as they like.How is that "better", more intuitive or easier than saying here's the ingredients...just assemble and season to taste as you want? You're adding, as a necessity, another level of work...another step to pull apart the pre-made package, which, it seems to be by everything I've read, is NOT what people, new or old, want. "Ease of use" does not equate to "Do it all for me."And while your meatloaf, as I said, would be delicious...it is not some simple thing to pull it apart, add in the peppers I want and put it back together as a meatloaf. (in fact it's damn near impossible in the case of actual meatloaf).Just give me the ingredients. Everyone needs to learn to cook for themselves.  --SD</blockquote>

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