Monster/NPC Traits should have their own item type? about dnd4ebeta HOT 3 OPEN

So I personally don't like it because it adds another type that is not really behaviourally different from Class Feature, Race Feature, Paragon Path, Epic Destiny etc... And of course it's work for me to update the importer.

That doesn't mean that you are not absolutely correct that it's a more correct implementation for monsters, I am just not convinced that at this stage the effort involved is worth it.

from dnd4ebeta.

Honestly I would be even happier to see all "features" collapsed into a single item model with a "type" selector for Class/Race/Path/Destiny/Background/Theme/Feat/Trait/Other, since they are all almost the exact same thing. (Well, I guess "ClassFeats" currently has the basic parameters tab, but IIRC that's just a holdover from the 5e implementation and doesn't actually work in 4e?) But that would be even more work, right?

from dnd4ebeta.

Actually, working on NPC sheets today I've remembered that Traits do have some important properties that make them distinct from the various types of PC Features—the need to attach keywords, and the ability to be an aura. That sort of means they actually have more reason to exist as unique objects than the array of features do.

Of course you can enter that info in the description text and/or name field, but that's kinda hacky and makes it purely cosmetic. Getting real fields in there would open the door to checking/manipulating that data via the system (like for automation).

from dnd4ebeta.