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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Najo" data-source="post: 3937794" data-attributes="member: 9959">Please read, important post:I apologize for not replying to any one directly. I skimmed the posts and am up to date, but my time is tight and I've been really busy the last few days. I've sent letters directly to WOTC designers so I can to make them aware of some of these issues (in case they weren't). Johnathan Tweet replied to a post I made, saying he would bring the issues up with the designers. In the process, I learned information regarding the fluff naming, but I can't speak about any specific details. What I can say, our assumptions about the fluff feats are correct. There is decent number of them. Designers have already revealed some, and there is more. Some people will like this, some won't. I only bring up this point because I think it is necessary for this discussion to continue and for us to find the best solutions for the game we all love. But, before I give the forum back I want to add a couple of my thoughts on the matter first.I discussed the direction D&D is taking with a business partner and friend of mine. We were going over the information we knew, and asking why the sudden change in D&D. As you all can tell by the leaks on the Races and Classes book, the fluff is built in, all the way through and there is alot of drama and story. In fact it was that the new D&D rules had so much DRAMA that stood out to me. Then it clicked. WOTC is trying to make D&D good for as brood an audience as possible. They are removing barriers to entry that make the gamer's non-gamer friend or his wife or girlfriend (majority speaking) who doesn't play yet, want to play. This new approach is filled with action, color, life and drama. They want the D&D world to be energized and full of fantasy adventure for the casual player who picks up the book. They are trying to minimize the overwhelming rules and percieved geek factor.Now, my primary concern is still not addressed, that being how to keep fluff I don't want from flavoring the mood and themes I am trying to create with a campaign setting. If I am running a horror game and i am dealing with Exalted type names for powers and abilties, it breaks the tension and atmosphere a bit. Likewise, settings that the fluff names don't fit in, suffer. This is what concerns me with 4e, and it is a valid concern. DMs who don't like the fluff are going to be renaming alot of things if that is the route we choose to take.With that said, I think D&D needs the invigoration of non-gamers thinking it is interesting and cool. I think D&D needs all the girl friends and wives playing. If World of Warcraft got them to do it, D&D figures it can make that happen too. This is the best way I can see D&D doing it. Direct, to the point, with little complication. Make the D&D fluff interesting and intense and in the customer's face. Give enough of a breathing world to inspire anyone holding the book into making a character and wanting to play. Until now, D&D has had a bit of stigma. Non-gamers see it as a "geek" game and 4e wants to break those walls down and get the girls playing. The timing with Confessions of a Part-Time Sorceress book and the articles online now make more sense. I agree with that direction 100%.So, with that said. I am still concerned with how settings are going to plug on. A customer of mine was talking in general about this matter and mentioned he thinks WOTC is going to do Player's Handbooks and Dungeon Master Guides for the Settings. That would be an interesting approach, to completely rebuild a majority of the core material for a campaign setting instead of plugging it onto the player's handbook. We are going to have to wait and see how that plays out, because I do not know.Fluff feats are coming, and hopefully with them whole new customers. If that is the case, then I feel it is a sacrifice worth making, as I am sure WOTC does too. So, in the meantime, let's assume the book is chocked full of fluff and story. What solutions can we find to help homebrews and official campaign settings plug on. Or, for that matter, what can people speculate the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting is going to do to plug onto D&D 4e? How do you work around alot of fluff when you don't want to have the built in fluff in your setting?</blockquote>

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