Follow Up
OK, so it was more time than "later today". I spent the latter half of the afternoon and all of the evening with my wife, so no guilt on me! Nyah! ;)
Ran another session of World's Largest Dungeon (WLD) since then, and it's started me thinking about stat blocks. No! Wait! Hear me out! This won't get terminally boring. I promise.
Really this will be a short rant on consistency of presentation.
Characters in RPGs can be rather complex, especially as they go up in levels and especially if they're spell casters. In D&D 3.5, DM's need to know what the spell does, what caster level it is cast at, and what the DC is to save against the spell. What the spell does is in the Player's Handbook and straight forward. The caster level is important for spells that advance in damage if the caster is a higher level and for the target number if another caster is trying to dispel the spell. The DC save allows for either a lesser amount of damage or for no damage or effect at all. All three of these are important and it is best if they are consistently listed - it makes life easier for the DM.
Now in WLD, with multiple authors and no overall editor, the information is presented in different ways or not at all. Sometimes they list the DC, but not the caster level, leaving the DM to somehow divine the appropriate amount of effect. Other times thay list the caster level but not the DC, leaving the DM to work out the math on the fly ("Lessee, 10 + spell level + stat bonus... what's the bonus for a 17 INT again?"). Sometimes you get neither and the GM has to wing it, and you get what happened last Saturday. The party opens some big doors, draws the attention of a cranky undead king, and gets blasted with a spell whose effect and save DC are not listed. So I wing it, run the spell at maximum, and get close to a TPK (total party kill) in one shot. The players have their characters say "oop, wrong door," slam the door shut and run for their lives.
A couple hours later, in hind sight, I realized it should have been a little more than half the damage (14d6 instead of 20d6), but I really didn't want them to go that way anyways, so no harm-no foul.
So stat blocks for monsters need to be consistent and have ALL of the relevant information included and spelled out (no pun intended - well, maybe a little bit).
~*~
You may notice I'm starting to spell out some of the gamer-speak. It has come to my attention that I actually have readers and the other one is not a gamer, but a good friend from work. So I'll write out or explain terms that may be cryptic for a non-gamer.
Until I get in a hurry or forget, and then she's on her own.
Meh.
Later!
EDIT: OK, I can't count. I have more than two readers. I can count at least THREE off the top of my head based on comments. ;)
Dammit. Now I'm actually curious about my reader count. Not that it would do me any good or change anything about the way I'm posting, but I'm curious. Central personality triat that is right there.
EDIT AGAIN: Wait. Four, no five. Six? Maybe I should just stop talking about it. Yes, that sounds like a good idea.
Ran another session of World's Largest Dungeon (WLD) since then, and it's started me thinking about stat blocks. No! Wait! Hear me out! This won't get terminally boring. I promise.
Really this will be a short rant on consistency of presentation.
Characters in RPGs can be rather complex, especially as they go up in levels and especially if they're spell casters. In D&D 3.5, DM's need to know what the spell does, what caster level it is cast at, and what the DC is to save against the spell. What the spell does is in the Player's Handbook and straight forward. The caster level is important for spells that advance in damage if the caster is a higher level and for the target number if another caster is trying to dispel the spell. The DC save allows for either a lesser amount of damage or for no damage or effect at all. All three of these are important and it is best if they are consistently listed - it makes life easier for the DM.
Now in WLD, with multiple authors and no overall editor, the information is presented in different ways or not at all. Sometimes they list the DC, but not the caster level, leaving the DM to somehow divine the appropriate amount of effect. Other times thay list the caster level but not the DC, leaving the DM to work out the math on the fly ("Lessee, 10 + spell level + stat bonus... what's the bonus for a 17 INT again?"). Sometimes you get neither and the GM has to wing it, and you get what happened last Saturday. The party opens some big doors, draws the attention of a cranky undead king, and gets blasted with a spell whose effect and save DC are not listed. So I wing it, run the spell at maximum, and get close to a TPK (total party kill) in one shot. The players have their characters say "oop, wrong door," slam the door shut and run for their lives.
A couple hours later, in hind sight, I realized it should have been a little more than half the damage (14d6 instead of 20d6), but I really didn't want them to go that way anyways, so no harm-no foul.
So stat blocks for monsters need to be consistent and have ALL of the relevant information included and spelled out (no pun intended - well, maybe a little bit).
~*~
You may notice I'm starting to spell out some of the gamer-speak. It has come to my attention that I actually have readers and the other one is not a gamer, but a good friend from work. So I'll write out or explain terms that may be cryptic for a non-gamer.
Until I get in a hurry or forget, and then she's on her own.
Meh.
Later!
EDIT: OK, I can't count. I have more than two readers. I can count at least THREE off the top of my head based on comments. ;)
Dammit. Now I'm actually curious about my reader count. Not that it would do me any good or change anything about the way I'm posting, but I'm curious. Central personality triat that is right there.
EDIT AGAIN: Wait. Four, no five. Six? Maybe I should just stop talking about it. Yes, that sounds like a good idea.