Ten books

External Since: May 03, 2005 Posts: 395

mcv wrote:
> "Peter Knutsen (usenet)" <peter.RemoveThis@sagatafl.invalid> wrote:
>>I prefer boxes because you get all the text on one page. With sidebars,
>>you sometimes had to turn the page to continue reading.
>>
>>I imagine that there was also a certain pressure, before boxes were
>>invented, for authors to make each side bar contain roughly the same
>>amounf of text, even if it meant leaving out something they'd have
>>preferred to include (Although I don't believe "pad text" was added
>>frequently). Boxes are more flexible.
>
> True. Boxes are probably easier for the author, but I liked the consistency
> of sidebars. Every page had one. If you didn't feel like reading the
> entire bok yet, you could read just the sidebars to get an impression
> and tons of fun little facts and ideas. Sidebars are a bit more
> independent from the main text. Or at least they feel that way to me.

Yes, the side bars did seem to be independent from the main text,
although still dealing with the same subject matter as the chapter they
were found in.

But so can the boxes. And so they do. I suspect that much of the
information that was put in sidebars in 3E (because, as you say, every
page had to have a side bar) is put into the main text today.

--
Peter Knutsen
sagatafl.org

External Since: Aug 03, 2005 Posts: 493

"Peter Knutsen (usenet)" <peter DeleteThis @sagatafl.invalid> wrote:
> mcv wrote:
>> All hail Discordia <wyrm_ksc DeleteThis @hotmail.com> wrote:
>>>8. Skills are not grouped.
>>
>> Yeah! I couldn't quite put my finger on what's wrong with the presentation
>> of skills, but this is it. There are too many skills. Grouping them in
>
> I disagree. 4E was a conscious effort, on behalf of Kromm and Pulver, to
> make the best skill list possible, and I think they did very well. They
> trimmed a lot of the ultra-narrow Compendium skills, and they also added
> some new skills, ones which cover activities that were *not* covered
> *at* *all* in 3E.
>
> The only thing missing is categorization, including categorical rather
> than alphabetical presentation.

I didn't mean the total number is too big, I meant it's too big for this
presentation: just a big alphabetical list, covering many, many pages.
Dividing them into smaller categories makes it easier to read.

Other than that, I like having lots of skills.

>> 3e was a Realy Good Idea. It's a lot harder to get an overview of the
>> various skills now, and it's easier to forget an important one.
>
> Buy the official character creation software, and then use Eric B.
> Smith's data files where in the skills are grouped. He didn't follow all
> of the suggestions I gave him, but it'll still be quite good, I'm sure.

I want it in portable, cordless treepulp format.

mcv.
--
Science is not the be-all and end-all of human existence. It's a tool. A
very powerful tool, but not the only tool. And if only that which could be
verified scientifically was considered real, then nearly all of human
experience would be not-real. -- Zachriel