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<blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 9629814" data-attributes="member: 6790260">A question for you, then:Would your needs not be better-served by books about setting, and tone, and possible directions?If the point is to have a pleasurable read of a book regarding RPG-related topics, why should that be the primary focus of those books specifically made--and marketed!--as teaching tools, reference manuals, and gameplay guides?Again, this is NOT saying that such books should not inspire. I agree that it is quite important to fire the imagination, to (paraphrasing Gandalf and Bilbo) &quot;feel the love of beautiful things...to [want to] go and see the great mountains, to hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls...to wear a sword instead of a walking-stick...just, once!&quot;But should that goal be the primary goal of books that describe themselves as &quot;handbook&quot;, &quot;guide&quot;, and &quot;manual&quot;? Books whose clear purpose in marketing, design, and explicit intent, is to introduce players to a new set of rules?It seems to me quite clear that, although it is a very important goal that we ignore at our peril, it is not and cannot be the primary goal of the design, even if a great many people enjoy the books in that way.Unless, as stated before, we create a fourth book whose purpose is to be almost exclusively a reference manual, with firing-the-imagination mostly a &quot;when we can pencil it in&quot; kind of thing. (You'll note that even back when I called for a &quot;Rules Cyclopedia&quot; earlier in this thread, I specifically said that art is really nice to have and shouldn't be jettisoned without need.) Under that design plan, the other books, and most likely specifically the PHB, can be reduced to only needing to serve two roles: being a pleasurable read, and being a useful introduction. Two goals, even ones somewhat at odds, are much more easily harmonized than three.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="EzekielRaiden, post: 9629814, member: 6790260"] A question for you, then: Would your needs not be better-served by books about setting, and tone, and possible directions? If the point is to have a pleasurable read of a book regarding RPG-related topics, why should that be the primary focus of those books specifically made--and marketed!--as teaching tools, reference manuals, and gameplay guides? Again, this is NOT saying that such books should not inspire. I agree that it is quite important to fire the imagination, to (paraphrasing Gandalf and Bilbo) "feel the love of beautiful things...to [want to] go and see the great mountains, to hear the pine-trees and the waterfalls...to wear a sword instead of a walking-stick...[I]just, once![/I]" But should that goal be the [I]primary[/I] goal of books that describe themselves as "handbook", "guide", and "manual"? Books whose clear purpose in marketing, design, and explicit intent, is to introduce players to a new set of rules? It seems to me quite clear that, although it is a very important goal that we ignore at our peril, it is not and cannot be the [I]primary[/I] goal of the design, even if a great many people enjoy the books in that way. Unless, as stated before, we create a fourth book whose purpose [I]is[/I] to be almost exclusively a reference manual, with firing-the-imagination mostly a "when we can pencil it in" kind of thing. (You'll note that even back when I called for a "Rules Cyclopedia" earlier in this thread, I specifically said that art is really nice to have and shouldn't be jettisoned without need.) Under that design plan, the other books, and most likely specifically the PHB, can be reduced to only needing to serve two roles: being a pleasurable read, and being a useful introduction. Two goals, even ones somewhat at odds, are much more easily harmonized than three. [/QUOTE]

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