What makes a TTRPG purchase "worth it" to you?

[aramis erak]

Heck, I just found my "Central Casting" books by Paul Jaques from the early 90s. There were three (fantasy, SciFi, Present) books where you could random roll events in your character history if you needed ideas. I also used them for villains. The bindings have fallen to pieces, but I got some plastic sleeves and binders, and now I can re-use them all over again.

Sadly, Jennell (née Paul) Jaquays passed away last year. Actual titles: Central Casting: Heroes Now, Central Casting: Heroes of Tomorrow, Central Casting: Heroes of Legend.
And there was a 4th, Central Casting: Dungeons.
All 4 written pre-transition.

 

[TheSword]

Three questions…

• Is it fun for me to read?
• Does it work either adjacent to or parallel to something else I’d like to run (system or theme)?
• Is it well made - Art, maps, online module support etc.?

If the answer is yes to one of the first two categories then I would be sorely tempted to buy it but it wouldn’t be a cert. If two of these three are affirmative then I am likely to get it.

 

[DragonLancer]

And there was a 4th, Central Casting: Dungeons.

I have this one and still use it frequently to this day.

 

[aramis erak]

I have this one and still use it frequently to this day.

I havel all 4, and Dungeons is the only one I've used in this century.

 

[Aldarc]

Having enough of a budget to justify the purchase.

 

[Corinnguard]

Do I get any enjoyment at all from.

1. Reading it.
2. The Art.
3. The ideas presented.
4. Any inspiration it gives me.
5. The game itself obviously.

Now, I dont just throw money around at things, but if I do decide to buy something, I generally know what I'm going to get from it.

6. When the designers of the TTRPG show off bits and pieces of their latest project to their intended audience.

Sometimes it's easier to purchase a TTRPG product when its' designers show off bits and pieces of their project in a news article. You get to learn what ideas are going to be presented in it, and some of the rationale behind a particular idea. You also get to read some of it, and you get to see what kind of artwork is likely to be in it. But basically, you get to know what you're going to get before you make that decision to buy or not buy it. You don't buy it blindly and run into any buyer's remorse later on.

Seeing bits and pieces of a TTRPG beforehand and liking it is what led me to backing and later on, buying Level Up.

7. Coming across a free-to-look at PDF version of the TTRPG product. This one is sort of like #6 in that you get to see the work before you actually buy it. A couple years back when I was collecting PF1 material, I came across a website called the Trove. This website had PDFs from several different RPGs and you could look at them for free and at your leisure. Thanks to this website, I was able to buy PF1 books like Inner Sea Races. Which was nice IMO because this book's entry on the Genie-kin made up for a rather disappointing purchase on PF1's Blood of Elements by providing some much-needed lore on this particular planetouched race. PF1's Blood of Angels and Blood of Fiends had raised the bar for me, so I was expecting Blood of the Elements to be the same. It wasn't. So, the Inner Sea Races' entry on the Genie-kin helped me over my buyer's remorse back then.

 

[SlyFlourish]

Really fantastic thread and one I’m paying attention to as both a publisher and a customer.

I like to think I have different layers of potential purchases. As a publisher, such purchases are a business expense so I’m in a different boat than most people but I consider $20 an experimental price for a PDF of something that looks interesting. I won’t feel bad if I don’t use it or play it. Just having it and flipping through it is enough for me for that price.

If I think it’s something I think I’ll use or play I’ll pick up the physical copy for $50 to $60. Some games I go all out on because their quality is so good and I just want them I won’t say there’s no upper limit but I’m spending $200ish on the Shadowdark kickstarter as an example and have certainly spent more than that on various Numenera products and deep into four figures on D&D 4e and 5e material over the years.

Some other points from other posts:

- PDFs over $20 aren’t a scam. Each publisher has to figure out the right price to pay back their expenses. They also have to figure out what the market will bear. It’s totally cool to say that $20 is your limit on a PDF purchase but that doesn’t mean a publisher charging you more is a ripoff.

- Amazon broke shipping worldwide. It’s changed everyone’s expectations and, I believe, raised everyone else’s shipping expenses because of their secret back door deals with shipping companies all over the world. As a publisher, our shipping costs are high but again, we’re not ripping people off. This is what it really costs.

- The Trove was a pirate site that stole a ton of material from small publishers. Maybe someone used it to preview books before buying them but most just used it to steal books. The owners of the site had no moral qualms stealing and distributing millions of illegal PDFs without a publishers consent.

 

[mondeen]

For an RPG book like Exodus, it's not just about the hours of direct play, but also the preparation, the creative enjoyment you get from the game world, and the enjoyment you share with your players. If you use a rule similar to your movie-to-the-movie model, you could count not only the hours of play, but also the hours of preparation and reading the books as moments that add to the overall experience.

Mini Militia App Lock​

 

[Bill Zebub]

My litmus test is, "Will my life seem hollow and devoid of meaning if I don't own this...in hardcover?"

Which is why I have acquired so many RPGs over the years.

 

[sabrinathecat]

But you "just found them". How many years did you NOT use them?

Haven't done much gaming in the last 10 years, and during my soap-opera marriage... Yeah, that nightmare that never seems to end.
It's been 24 years.
I had the 4th book for generating dungeons, but only used it once. As with all things, your mileage may vary.
Found a second copy of "Central Casting: Heroes NOW!" in my collection. This one is still intact.