Unnecessary Details
In a recent issue of Dungeon (#125), there's an article for generating the color, flavor, and other characteristics of potions. It's a neat article, but looking at it I have to ask - what's the point? Using the 3.5 RAW, you can identify a potion just by tasting it. So,is the extra detail really necessary?
Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not the type of player who rushes past the color and "fluff" of a game just to get bigger numbers (i.e.; more XP, more gold, bigger pluses...); this much should be obvious if you poke around my website. But you need to be practical - details need to add value, not just more detail. When a GM describes a place you're going to enter it not only allows you to build a vision in your head, it also provides information that may prove useful in the game later on. You may note the position of things for tactical maneuvering in melee, for instance, or you may see something that provides foreshadowing for a later encounter.
The article could be useful if you've decided that potions cannot be identified by a taste, but instead must either be consumed completely or identified via identify or analyze dweomer. In that case, the players are going to want to keep track of each potion they find by color, viscosity, odor, etc. after they've been identified. This may seem more appealing (for whatever reason), but does it really add anything to the gameplay? There will be a transition time when the players are collecting potion data but once they have an appreciable amount all this is an extra step to do something that with the RAW is relatively simple. It also adds extra paperwork for the collection and identification processes. It's likely many players will resent having to do this, particularly if their characters have to spend extra money for identifications to do something that by the standard rules is free. Granted, those who taste potions run the risk of getting poisoned, but that's generally why its done by the character with the best Fortitude save. And poison "potions" should be fairly rare.
To be clear, I'm not picking on this particular article; I'm simply using it as an example. When adding detail to your game, make sure the detail also adds value if it's going to add extra work.
Now, don't get me wrong - I'm not the type of player who rushes past the color and "fluff" of a game just to get bigger numbers (i.e.; more XP, more gold, bigger pluses...); this much should be obvious if you poke around my website. But you need to be practical - details need to add value, not just more detail. When a GM describes a place you're going to enter it not only allows you to build a vision in your head, it also provides information that may prove useful in the game later on. You may note the position of things for tactical maneuvering in melee, for instance, or you may see something that provides foreshadowing for a later encounter.
The article could be useful if you've decided that potions cannot be identified by a taste, but instead must either be consumed completely or identified via identify or analyze dweomer. In that case, the players are going to want to keep track of each potion they find by color, viscosity, odor, etc. after they've been identified. This may seem more appealing (for whatever reason), but does it really add anything to the gameplay? There will be a transition time when the players are collecting potion data but once they have an appreciable amount all this is an extra step to do something that with the RAW is relatively simple. It also adds extra paperwork for the collection and identification processes. It's likely many players will resent having to do this, particularly if their characters have to spend extra money for identifications to do something that by the standard rules is free. Granted, those who taste potions run the risk of getting poisoned, but that's generally why its done by the character with the best Fortitude save. And poison "potions" should be fairly rare.
To be clear, I'm not picking on this particular article; I'm simply using it as an example. When adding detail to your game, make sure the detail also adds value if it's going to add extra work.
Labels: DnD
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