What is your favorite RPG book of all time?

[Reynard]

Lands of Mystery for Justice Inc by Aaron Allston. Aside from being a cool campaign supplement, it taught me a lot about the type of GM I want to be.

Ooh, I should really find more actual adventures and supplements written by him considering how much I adore Strike Force.

 

[uzirath]

My answer will change depending on my mood and which memories surface, but these two immediately leap to mind:

• Flying Buffalo's Citybook I — I got a lot of use out of this book. Despite not seeing it in decades, I still remember the names of many of the establishments, especially Slimon's Strolling Salmagundi Wagon and the Diamond Spider Tavern. Slimon Rood and Spider Braz were beloved NPCs in multiple campaigns back in the day.
• Lankhmar - City of Adventure — My players in high school absolutely loved urban adventures. Guilds, intrigue, sewers, temples, etc. Like Citybook, we used this one in multiple campaigns. I liked the amazing map and the innovative geomorphs for the alleyways.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I don't really have a "favorite"

No books I'd want to read more than once except to run a game

But I do have some nostalgic feels for The Traveller Adventure. Maybe if I ever run Traveller again, I'll run that

 

[innerdude]

Hard to decide between Savage Worlds Deluxe core rulebook, the 3.0 Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, and Ironsworn: Starforged.

I guess if forced to choose I'd go with Starforged. Could adapt that ruleset to almost anything imaginable and it would be both playable and fun.

 

[Campbell]

Apocalypse Keys

 

[Legitamine Games]

 

[Wolfpack48]

Oh, I need to add Central Casting. Absolutely great for character backgrounds.

 

[Vexorg]

This one helped me a ton when I first started running my own games. It's one of only two books I've kept since I played 2nd edition, and I still use it today.

 

[aramis erak]

It can be a core rule book, an adventure, a setting guide, a splat book, or even a tie in novel or comic book. What book directly related to TTRPGs is your favorite of all time.

You can use whatever definition of favorite you want, and of course your criteria are your own, but let us know the details!

WEG Star Wars 2e (Blue cover). I love the scaling tables and many-on-one/one-on-many table. The art is excellent, evocative, and mostly B&W line art. The core d6 system rules are also pretty good... tho' if I run it again, I'm going to cap dice pools at keep 5d, simply because that keeps the difficulty labels true.

 

[GrimCo]

White Wolf's Vampire the Masquerade revised edition core book. First ttrpg book i ever bought. Art, style, vibe. It has that 90's dark edgy cool i like. Little spinets of story. That is and always will be my no1.

2 is Ad&D 2ed Dark Sun boxed set - Gerald Brom. I love his art style.

3 is Masque of the Red Death - 2ed ad&d Ravenloft sub setting. Victorian era gothic horror. For D&D product, it couldn't be more different than mainstream D&D. It stands out even among other Ravenloft products and i love Ravenloft dearly. Art, descriptions, whole vibe.