FrankTrollman at [unixtime wrote:1202272924[/unixtime]]
I should not have to know the rules backwards and forwards to run the monsters out of the book, but I should be able to know the rules backwards and forwards and have that matter for running the monsters out of the book.
Mike Mearls adopted the first goal by rejecting the second. And there was absolutely no reaon he couldn't have both. It's sloppy and insulting to the reader.
Actually, we don't know yet if this is the case. It's very possible that all breath weapons tend to use the same general mechanics.
Likely something like (standard action, 1/encounter): create area effect vs reflex defense. Half damage on failed attack.
Now, I bet common stuff like incorporeality and undead immunities will still be inherited stuff, but the idea is to minimize the stuff in the glossary. If you can fit the entire thing in the monster description anyway, there's really no need to do anything else. Why bother having a glossary if there's nothing to really look up.
And you can do unified mechanics by just making them the same, though really I'm not sure what part of a breath weapon would even be the same. Some creatures you may want to be able to have a fast breath weapon as a minor action, some you may want to be able ot use it more frequently. Of course, damage type and attack bonus will vary, and some may have side effects. So really,what mechanics do you even need to have be consistent? About the only universal truth of breath weapons is that they all start their areas at the creature breathing them. So you don't need to put that little bit in the glossary so you can inherit it for all breath weapons. It's a waste of people's time and it hides an obscure rule that might as well just be in the monster description or get its own modifier to area.
Personally I'd like to see that kind of inheritance go away, that's what made the polymorph mechanics almost impossible to understand. Everything was fucking inherited. "Polymorph any object is like polymorph which is like alter self, except they do this extra"
Seriously, just write out what the damn thing does, and if it takes half the fucking page, then it's too complicated and needs to be simplified.
Inheritance should be used only when you absolutely have to use it. Like when you've got a ton of incorporeal creatures then incorporeal obviously should be some kind of global mechanic. But if just two creatures have a burrowing explosion mechanic, then just have it be the same for those two and that's it. Don't bother adding explosive burrow for people to inherit from.
And as K wrote recently, both monsters and players would then pick those abilities, such as Explosive Burrowing, when it becomes level-appropriate.
The more referencing to a shared pool of pre-made abilities is done, the less little special-incidence smears of special rules clog monster and class descriptions.
This is a great idea in theory. but the problem is that it's GURPS all over again. It's a massive tome of abilities and mechanics and anytime you want to know what something does, you've got to look it up. I mean it all sounds great, until you actually try to run GURPS, then you realize that it's better to actually have the shit simple and there for you, instead of a bunch of stuff in a glossary.