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While trying to build my second character, which I hope will be much faster this time, I noticed a lot of the problems I had the first time around searching for answers which Abilities get 'boosted' when, stem from the organization of the information needed and the placement of the tables 1-1 and 1-2 in the playtest document.
I have no idea how to explain this and why the organization a presentation in the book seems counter intuitive to me, so I take myself trying to create a character as an example. My thought process while making my first Dwarf yesterday (and yes, this will be long, but I feel this might be a problem others will have too, so please take the time to read it):
The Character Creation part right now is, beginning with page 11: Introduction to Character Creation (ok, I know what that is, so let's skip over that text) a sidebar about dice (I know what dice are, so, no new information here) and a picture of the character sheet with seemingly way to many orange dots on it. The dots may be important, but right now, I have no idea what they are) - so page 11 is not useful to create a character at all it seems.
Let's turn to page 12.
Aaah, the first orange dot, "determine my character's concept" I see. Let's scroll back to the picture of the char sheet...the dot refers to Character Name. Well, my Character concept is the dwarfiest Dwarf possible, a Barbarian with a tragic backstory. The name is the last thing I care when creating a character, odd way to start the Character Creation.
Back to the text, first paragraph ends with: "Once you have a good idea of the type of character you’d like to play, move on to Step 2."
Tragic Dwarven Barbarian! That's the type of character I want to play. So, naturally, I move on. (There is a lot of text after that paragraph and before Step 2, but I have moved on already)
Scrolling past the two tables in question, I notice them obviously, I know they show the Ancestries and the Classes available, I do not notice however the footnote on Table 1-2, nor do I read the text above the tables except for the headline "Ancestries and Classes" - I get the feeling the tables are about Ancestries and Classes, which I, of course, already chose.
Page 14 now, the second orange dot! Choose an Ancestry. Did that already, that's why I'm here. I read the text nevertheless. Table 1-1 (one page earlier) gives me an overview, details are in chapter 2.
So now, I decide to not scroll to chapter two, but look into the details when I need them in Character Creation, because right now, I haven't even started that.
Moving on to orange dot 3, Backgrounds: Text says: Please go to pg. 38 and choose a Background, so I do that (and do not read what comes after the 'please go to page 38' part - if it were important it wouldn't be AFTER I was send to a different page), I scroll forward and select the Background that fits thematically the most. It's a stretch, really, but Warrior is the only one that fits somehow. So I decide to scroll back to page 13, since I have successfully selected a Background.
Where was I? Ah, yes, orange dot 3. Well, I've done that, so off we go to the next orange dot: Choose a Class, which I have done, so no need to read that, what's the next step? Finalize your Ability Score.
wait what? Finalize? I haven't even started! Have I missed something? Should I scroll back, or...oh..."To learn how to calculate your character’s ability scores, see page 19", I see, so I scroll down to page 19.
Page 19: Step-by-step instructions! Good. I feel we're getting somewhere! First step is easy, second step is Ancestry Ability Boost and Flaws...Ah, yes, the good old Racial Modifiers, they clearly must be somewhere on the first page of the Dwarf ancestry...Of course I don't automatically scroll there. Just to be sure I go back to the index, look on what page the Dwarf ancestry starts and then go there, and funnily enough, I immediatly find it under "Ability Boosts" and "Ability Flaw" That was quick. Back to page 19, to read the rest of the entry. Oh well, I could have saved time if I had just looked at the second example given. Dwarven Ability Boosts and Flaws, right there, on the same page.
Next step: Backround Ability Boosts...what? Okay, maybe my fault. I didn't notice the Ability Boost part in the description of the Background. I went to the Background for flavor, I didn't know, the rules part was that important that early on. So, scroll back a few pages to finf the part where it send me to page 38, because I figured that would be quicker than searching the Backgrounds by scrolling down until I'm there. Reread the text. Ability Boost. Okay it is there. Noted and added to the Abilities.
Back to page 19. Wait, page 20. Next step: Four free Ability Boosts. I read the text very carefully, after all, if stuff is for free, there's always a hook attached.
I can't find a hook, I get excited instead!
Then I realize, I have no idea if a Boost means +1 to an Attrib...Ability or +2. I kinda assumed it was +2, because 3.5, but there were no Free Boosts in 3.5, so, anything might go.
This is the point, where I return to page 11 for the first time to figure out if a Boost gives me +2. I scan the text for an answer, somewhere, I don't know where exactly, burried in small print, I guess, is the answer! Yes! +2!
Back to page 20 and ....Class Ability Boosts....Okay, I gueI go to the Barbarian Class pages and search for 'Ability Boost' and I just can't find it: Key Ability, Hit Points, Proficencies...No Ability Boost. Nowhere.
(Of course, the text of Step 5 says "one ability boost in a score that’s important to your class’s abilities. This ability score is called your class’s key ability" ... I know that NOW, I didn't know THEN! Maybe if the 'K' and the 'A' in key ability were in upper cases instead of lower ones, I might have noticed that it was an important game term and not just filler)
So once again, I turn to page 11, to see where the information is, that I clearly have missed and that's when I finally realized the two tables on page 13
It turns out, all the information I need to determine my ability score is right there, even though one information is burried in a footnote! (Except for the Background Boost), pages before I actually needed it, pages, before I actually had any use for that tables or the content of the tables had any meaning to me.
If 1-1 and 1-2 were implemented in the step-by-step progress of Ability Creation instead of somewhere between 'What's your Name?' and 'What's your Ancestry?' I could have saved minutes. And not just one or two, but tens of them! Implement them there, instead of where no one (at least not me) reads them!
Which reminds me: Since Choosing Ancestry/Background/Class and the Ability Points Generation are so closely related, I feel that having the step-by-step process on page 19 is misplaced anyway, It should be part of the Character Creation Steps, starting with orange dot 1:
.Create a Concept
.Start with 6 Abilities with a score of 10
.Choose an Ancestry
.Add your Ancestry Ability Boosts and Flaws to the Ability scores
.Choose a Background
.Add the Background Ability Boost to.. (and so on)
Anyway, long story short, I hope I succeeded in being either a) a bad example when it comes to reading the playtest document or b) could help with the organization of the information in the finished product or c) both, I guess
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After a couple of hours of sleep, and opening the playtest pdf again, yeah, I'm pretty sure the presentation order of the information in the step-by-step process is a problem. it wasn't just me being dumb, tired and a little drunk