I am addicted to D20 products... Help...

[Tokiwong]

Okay not as serious as it sounds, but I have a problem. I own so many different books, and settings that I find it hard to settle on one game to run or play, and yeah I could just combine them but sometimes even that is hard. Anyone else have this problem with the variety inherent with owning too many products?

For example I own all the Core 3.5 books, Forgotten Realms, Rokugan, Star Wars, Mutants & Masterminds, Spycraft, and D20 Modern just to name a few. Not to mention my non D20 Stuff, like Exalted, Vampire, BESM, and GURPS... it is enough to drive a boy batty. I find that either I have a short attention span, possible or this may be a common occurrence among role players... or maybe both.

Like now I ma struggling on trying to find a setting to work up a campaign for, for kicks, and to fuel future games if need be. I want to do D20 Modern, but I just got OGL Cybernet, and I want to do Cyberpunk. I could combine the two, but I also want to keep them separate. At the same time I run a Mutants & Masterminds game, which is fine, but to keep from burning out I want to try something else...

But then I see cool story hours for purely fantasy games and my brain just freezes up, and wants to do Fantasy... ahhhhk.... am I alone?

 

[Crothian]

I had this problem. I realize that I'll never get to play all these games the way I want to. So, I traded or gave away the ones I knew I wouldn't be useing.

 

[Tokiwong]

I had this problem. I realize that I'll never get to play all these games the way I want to. So, I traded or gave away the ones I knew I wouldn't be useing.

Oooh I have Crothian recognition, and yeah maybe I should do that...

 

[Crothian]

It's worked like gold for me. From one guy, I was able to tradea bunch of d20 stuff I was never going to use for 9 out of print planscape modules I didn't have. I've also traded RPG books for other things that aren't related to RPGs. Sometimes I even trade for books that my friends don't have to give them.

 

[DaveStebbins]

I'm rapidly becoming addicted to PDFs. I already have about a dozen which I've only skimmed through at the highest levels, and with GM's Day tomorrow, that number could easily double. I know that's small compared to others, but when am I EVER going to find time to read all these?

But I WANT 'em!

-Dave

 

[Acid_crash]

Toki, I did have that same problem for a long time, and still do but it's not as bad as it was...

I was one of those original d20 fans who bought not just the Core books, not just FR, SL, Kalamar, Oriental Adventures, Mutants and Masterminds, Arcana Unearthed, psionics hb, the revised books, d20 Modern, some Green Ronin d20 books, some Mongoose books...heck, I probably spent about 2 grand in d20 books alone over 2+ years...

Now include Exalted, finding some old Earthdawn books I didn't have before, Talislanta, Shadowrun, some out of print Alternity books, and lately Silver Age Sentinels...

With all of these games and books, in 3 years the only games I was able to get into around here were with a group of nimrods who wanted to play D&D and ONLY with the CORE books. It sucked, it really did, and kind of still does. What I did to get out of this rut of buying d20 books that I won't use was quite simple...

I got rid of every single d20 book I have, except Silver Age Sentinels. They are gone, and for the first time in 3 years, I am happy with my collection. I gave them away, sold them at used book stores, lost money of them but now I can go into the gaming store and not buy any of those books. My wife is happy also.

But I know what it's like, it sucks, there's not enough time in the year to play them all with the way many gamers are stuck on one game.

 

[SSquirrel]

heh I refer to my house as the Home for Wayward Games...as I've had a friend donate all of his old RIFTS books (up thru England I think), another 3 milk crates worth of 2E stuff (made a small stack of stuff to get rid of, kept a bunch of spelljammer and such), anotehr friend gave me his old Ravenloft and Spelljammer stuff as he never plays anymore, another friend told me recently he was going to send me 2 gaming books he never plays.

I have over 5 shelves full of D&D, White Wolf games, CoC (d20 and 20th anniversary green leather), Shadowrun, CP2020, loads of Dark Sun (still think the flipbooks were a weird module style), SAS, SLA Industries (I need to find anyone who can run that as well as my friend Jeff), etc etc.

Our current gaming group has been in a bit of turmoil lately so we decided to start doing 1 shots...Rebecca ran Vampire one weekend, 2 wknds later I ran an Aberrant one shot from the Worldwide Phase 2 book. (Amp Room scenario if you care) Currently I'm plotting to spend 2 weekends running the 2 free AU adventures Monte provided on his website and at the same time working up ideas for a full on campaign of AU once I get Legacy of the Dragons (waiting for physical release in what..May?) and before then I'll also run a 1 shot or 2 of Everquest RPG. Oh yeah and our friend Eric will be running some Paranoia in there at some point and Ginger may try her hand out at running CoC.

My point is do the huge string of one shots. Rotate DMs. Avoid burning yourself and your players on one system (2+ years of nothing but 3E burned our group so we went back to Rolemaster which was quite fun) and along the way gague their interest in everything that gets played. maybe someone will discover the DM spark and want to run their own campaign of something, maybe your players will find they love CP2020, whatever. Try it all. Try SLA Industries, it's a great game.

I am a big fan of 4 Colors to Fantasy and need to print it out when I have money (see my thread on geting an OGC version of Unearthed Arcana it ruffled some feathers) b/c one day I was thinking a D&D setting using 4 Colors for rules to lay super powers into it all, d20 Mecha from the Polyhedron and the Gamma World stuff also from Polyhedron would be a very fun world. Mutant trolls, mechs run by magic, kobolds that fly, turn into water and hypnotize dragons...whatever. Maybe I just need to fall back to an old idea about a RIFTS or Secret Wars (80's Marvel comics miniseries) style world with lots of magic portals, things from all kinds of different d20 universes all together. Jedi, droids, samurai, mutants, super heroes, mechs, Conan, better versions of Rangers, the kitchen sink..you name it it would be there.

God I have to learn to stop rambling. Heh. I did just recently refind an old campaign idea where I stole Ogier from WoT, Jedi and droids from SWd20, renamed every class and race following a specific them I came up with and was having serious problems filing the serial numbers off of the Jedi heh.

I need to go to sleep. Hopefully you will figure out what you need to do to get past this. if the answer ends up being to donate your gaming materials to a worthy soul, I nominate myself. The Home for Wayward games will provide them with excellent company.

Hagen

 

[MrFilthyIke]

I am the same as many above, with 5 bookshelves worth of D&D and assorted games/minis/board games/etc. It's my hobby, it's my...addiction.

There, said it. But I'm ok with that. Some people collect coins, some antiques, I collect games. Hey, could be spending it on booze/liquor and drugs, which do you think is better for me?

Do what is best for you. For some, purging is the answer, for others it is just accepting that you love RPGs. I read these things like people read novels, some have never even been used!

 

[Psion]

There is a cure to becoming addicted to d20 products.

Getting burned out by having too many of them.

Anyway, I have a real problem getting rid of gaming products unless I am really and truly certain I am not going to use it. I'm just that way.

 

[Razuur]

Unfortunately I too am addicted. I have so many books, and whenever I think i hit my limit, I look at my fav companies and what is coming out on the horizon, and then I am screwed again.

And I have not had that problem of having too many book - ever. I have shelves of them, and I keep buying. Sigh.

I wish I could stop, but I just have this feeling that this is a new golden age, and it ill end, and I will be kicking myself if I didn't pick up this... an that... and this... and that....

It doesn't help that so many companies are putting out outstanding stuff either.

razuur