WotC content has too many spoilers

All of the content from Wizards of the Coast contains amazing artwork, that you really want to share with your gaming group. Except that it is loaded with information that could spoil the adventure. This happens in a few places. In adventure paths, Handouts are created for nearly all of the NPCs, which is great. Except that the images have the name of the Monster clearly printed on them. Why not use the image that is in the Compendium, which is often the same image on D&D Beyond that is just that, an image, without the text revealing what it is? Likewise within the Adventure Paths and the Monster Manual, all of the Attributes and Traits are listed on the public Bio and Information tab, not the GM Notes???? Why wouldn't this be in the GM notes? I've heard this was from a previous implementation long ago. This should be changed and pushed to the adventure paths as a bug fix in my opinion. Finally, it's great that that the Adventure Paths come with these handouts, but there's no such handout for the Monster Manual entries, which means showing the image to the players means showing them them the Character where they can see the Bio and Info tab, where all the aforementioned content resides. Every game I've ever played in person someone goes, "you see THIS!" and they show a picture, with no labels. Then they cackle maniacally. This ultimately could probably be resolved if Roll20 made it easier to splash images on screen like you can with a token (Shift+Z), but that's not possible today.

They are making you do some extra work. You can copy a handout and then delete everything except for what you want to show to your players.

How do I delete the word Animated Armor from the image?

Thank you for the feedback and interest. I've commented on the posted thread, but unfortunately I'm all out of votes at the moment. But what he wants to do is very similar to what I'm asking for in this thread and in another in the general forum. Just being able to pop images up on screen like the Shift + Z method would solve a lot. Even if the image URL has to come from Roll20 I could at least use the images that I've access to through the Monster Manual addon to the compendium where they don't have the names on them.

All module designers should consider Jeremy's situation, which we have all faced (since the old days of hiding part of a page with a piece of paper.)  In my home games, we definitely try to make sure that all handouts can be revealed to the characters without unwanted spoilers.  In fact, I designed my own game ( Seven Days at Ranger Fort ) around this very concept.

I'm also interested in seeing less spoilers in WotC material, particularly in the monster manual. I've been using a work around to show my players the image in chat, but I'd really love to be able to just show the bio tab without having to go in and delete a bunch of information.

In this particular case I would show my players the zoomed in token instead of the handout, but I've definitely been in this boat several times with the magic items. Example: "You find an awesome axe, I'd show you what it looks like, but I can't because it says what it is right there in the image and the handout."

Kirsty said: I'm also interested in seeing less spoilers in WotC material, particularly in the monster manual. I've been using a work around to show my players the image in chat, but I'd really love to be able to just show the bio tab without having to go in and delete a bunch of information. This is the only alternative I can think of at the moment myself. It's alright, but it's just not the same as going in their face with the image like so! I even checked to see if there was an API function for show to players, but couldn't find much.

Spren said: In this particular case I would show my players the zoomed in token instead of the handout, ..." I do show the token sometimes, but tokens often only show a portion of the image (which I really like because it makes it easier to pick out what is on a token when you're zoomed out). Also the tokens are much smaller, so it doesn't have the same impact as bringing up a large beautiful art piece with Ctrl+Z.

It could be more trouble than it's worth, but you could always use Windows' Snipping Tool to capture the image without the label and then upload it to show your players.

Justin W. said: It could be more trouble than it's worth, but you could always use Windows' Snipping Tool to capture the image without the label and then upload it to show your players. If I am paying $50 for a product I don't want to have to go through all of that just to show an image that should be easy to show without ruining the experience. Default should be image only no text and hide monster details in the DM section just like Jeremy suggests. That gives the DM more control of the information.

Please do not add spoiler info on handouts and NPCs where players can see them.

Totally agree with this, details should be in GM Notes, instead of Bio & Info. I have been using the work around that Kirsty said, but just directly showing the journal entry would be a lot better, especially with the monster manual, I use that one a lot.

Dean said: Thanks for the feedback, Jeremy. I'll be keeping eyes on this thread to see if others share this preference for hiding more details in such ways. A lot of our production decisions overall are from common use experiences of how we, and player preference that we've noticed, approach play scenarios. If that's evolved or inaccurate, always happy to see how we can adjust! It sounds a little bit to me like a portion of your needs could be met with something similar to this suggestion thread: <a href="https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/2157373/slug%7D" rel="nofollow">https://app.roll20.net/forum/post/2157373/slug%7D</a> which if so, please definitely contribute your weight to that as well! We are actively arranging priority lists of what quality of life elements to tackle, and these factors do help us weight with proper consideration as our dev team continues to grow and have greater bandwidth! In this case, I have to agree with the OP -- hiding more detail is better.&nbsp; Just like the overland maps in the modules now default to hiding pretty much everything (so the DM / GM has total control over what to reveal and when), so also would that level of control be awesome on handouts.&nbsp; Obviously they are different systems (one being a static image and the other being layered images on the VTT), but the more we can put into the GM notes (for later copy-pasting up into the player-visible sections) the better. As it stands presently, I meticulously go through and hand-edit all the things to take out the info I don't want players to see until it is time.&nbsp; This means finding art for all the tokens that just list an NPC or monster's name on it, making each token on each map not default to displaying the NPC name / monster name, re-cropping art for magic item and NPC / monster handouts, etc.&nbsp; When I lack the time to do all this, I just describe the physical item and use theater of the mind until the players identify it, then I give them the handout.&nbsp; That works for (most) handouts, but not for tokens on the map.&nbsp; And yes, it would be neat to be able to show a nameless image to players while I describe it since that is more immersive in its own way.&nbsp; So if there is interest in saving me that prep time, I'd be all for it!&nbsp;&nbsp;

100% - I don't need the stat block repeated in the journal. Would make it much easier to show it to players, even if they see the name. The real problem is all the ability text and whatnot that goes with it.

Please do not add spoiler info on handouts and NPC.

I don't know how to add my vote to this... But I agree this is a must have change. +1

I'll second the unlabeled player handouts, revealing a monsters identity can be a hassle&nbsp; at the table, and has caused some inadvertent metagaming at tables i have run already on roll20.

In the last six weeks there hasn't been one argument to keep the content the way it is. Is this something that can be looked at being changed?

A take a screen shot of the image.&nbsp; Then simply crop out what you don't want the players to see. Delete the current image in the handout and load the new cropped image. :-)

Patrick Von Raven said: A take a screen shot of the image.&nbsp; Then simply crop out what you don't want the players to see. Delete the current image in the handout and load the new cropped image. :-) So you're using up your storage space on content you've already purchased?

There are some alternatives. The trick posted above about showing the image in chat works, though the comment is that the image is small. Clicking on said image in chat however will open the image in a new browser window, at full resolution. If you go the route of uploading a cropped image, the image can always be deleted from the library once the game is over. If you don't want to mess with the handout, place the image very tiny somewhere on the map that is not visible to the players. You can select it and press Shift-Z for the reveal. There is an API script option for Pro Users that will send a character sheet pic to the chat. Duplicate the handout and edit the duplicate. This won't work for the images that themselves have spoilers upon them such as the animated armor above, but you can eliminate text, titles and such that you feel with detract from game play. And the image won't go into your library. I know that none of these are what the users in this thread are asking for, but they are some options that are available.

I just saw the announcement for Rise of the Runelords, and while I was beyond excited to potentially both purchase this, and finally re-up my Pro subscription, I then saw in the preview images the names of the NPCs clearly on their images. Sorry, no purchase or sub from me now. Please stop doing this. It looks cute; it adds no value to the game. PC: Can I make a nature check to determine what that is? Oh, nevermind it says Goblin Boss right there.

Agreed. There is no good reason to be listing all of the Attributes and Traits in the bio and not the GM notes. There is never a time in which the players need to see all of that information.&nbsp; In terms of having the NPC/monster's name written on the art, that also needs to go. I don't see how that is particularly helpful to anyone, and nine times of out ten I want to show my players what someone looks like without immediately revealing exactly who or what they are.&nbsp;