And these days, most designers have a “more is better!” approach to design. More creatures, more spells, more magic items. If game A has 20 monster types, the sequel needs to have 50! Designers brag that their games have hundreds of thousands of magical items! That’s not something to brag about.

These designers fail to grasp their mistake. By adding more, they subtract value from the existing pool or enemies and items. Nothing is special or epic or legendary anymore, none of those buzzwords that people like to throw around.

In SoW, I am taking a different approach. Monsters are rare, special, and I hope interesting. And legendary creatures/items are legendary. Which, generally, translates into highly lethal. If people for a league around a cave talk about how dangerous the creature that lives there is, listen to them. I will warn players before instant death encounters, but it’s a warning you can miss or ignore if you want to. So pay attention.​