Are you required to bring your own books when you game?

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

While we don't require that everyone have their own copy, everyone except one person does. With 6 people and 5 copies of the PHB at the table, there is always a copy that can be passed to the other person if need be. If a character has specific things that require another book (spells, PrC, etc), they damn well better have a copy of the book or a copy of the pages they need at the table.

 

[Arnwyn]

To play in my group, one must have their own copy of the PHB or SRD. Period. (My players have never, ever, had a problem with this - in fact, they think it odd if it were any other way.)

 

[KB9JMQ]

I don't require my players to have the PHB but it is well known that i LIKE them to have it. Just makes for smoother play. If everyone doesn't have one I make sure the spellcasters at least have one of the ones at the table in front of them.

 

[Aaron L]

As one of only 2 players in my group that has a PHB, I dang well wish that the others would get their own. I hate passing mine around every time someone else has to look up a spell. I have my own spells to look up doggonit.

 

[hong]

There's no hard-and-fast requirement, although all of us own at least the 3.0 PHB. Usually there'll be at least a couple of PHBs floating around, which is all you really need during the game. It helps that one of my players is a great rules lawyer, and can handle any questions that come up.

 

[Ylis]

We have a group library, usually pool our money to buy books. Then again, none of us are rich, and there's no real point for us to all buy a copy of something, when we can pool together and share. Occasionally (like with core books), it benefits to have more than one copy, especially for leveling up, etc. Absolutely no pirate copies are allowed, since I wont' allow it. BUT, we do occasionally photo copy certain pages for in-house use only (for if we have additional players that all need level-up info and we only have 1 book for 10 people...).

We've been buying a lot of PDF's lately, since they are cheaper and easier to store (my bookshelf broke from the weight a few weeks ago...leaving the books stacked on the counters and floors...already one of the kids has destroyed the 3e MM....). That way, too, we can just print off relavant pages for in-house use. Plus, there's a lot of good books out there that are just in PDF format....I've started making it a habit to check out things from little-known companies But I guess that's getting off topic....

 

[RFisher]

For the current campaign I can't bring my own books 'cause I never bought the 3.5 editions. On the other hand, since we've been meeting at my place both my 3.0 PHB and the 3.5 SRD on my hard drive are available.

In the last campaign (Decipher's LotR), only two of the five people in the group owned the book. I wasn't going to demand that the other three buy it. Especially since--although I like the system well enough--I think the book itself leaves something to be desired. Decipher doesn't deserve to make 150% more off my group.

In the campaign before that, maybe only one person had the books. Of course, it is helpful that Marvel Superheroes is available online for free. Still, it's not like anyone printed out the books and brought them.

Everyone not having the books has never been a problem in my experience.

Heck, I don't mind players who don't even bother to learn the rules. Just play you're character using common sense and let the referee worry about the rules.

 

[Blue_Kryptonite]

That would be really odd, since three of my players are my wife and our two teenage sons. However, my other players (One regular and two others who come in from out of state) all have their own books, anyway... At least, one set between them. They're our divorced best friends and his new fiancée.

Then again, rules in my game are frequently ignored in favour of cinematics and fast-and-loose die rolls (My oldest son is about to DM, and has already said it wouldn't be worth his time to get Miniatures, he knows we'd just ignore them anyway), and all chargen is done electronically.

So I suppose just one copy around is good enough. We stop to socialize mid-scene all the time, picking right back up with the game as it goes. Plenty of time to look something up if it ever becomes necessary.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

For our D&D games, everyone has the PHB (3.5) and many of the supplements. We don't bring all of them, since we like our shoulders and bookbags intact. However, people do bring books that are appropriate to their character (i.e. if you're playing a Blade Dancer, you bring OA), or ones they want to flip through while they're dead/dying/action's on someone else for a good amount of time. This means that we have almost every book we need, and, well, the DM's a completist, so anything we didn't bring he has.

For our secondary games, not everybody has the requisite core book. When we played WoT, I and the DM were the only ones to have the book. The other players either borrowed my book in play or had written down their stuff beforehand. Same with Star Wars, though more people have the SWd20Rev. book.

Brad

 

[Emirikol]

We finally had to make some additions to our house rules..we got enough people that basically broke all of these rules...

Gaming in the Hyboria Campaign: Bring your own Campaign Handbook, 3/3.5E Players Handbook and any supplements you want to use. You must have consistent internet access. Be here for the whole game each session (if not, your character can be run by someone else but only gets ¼ of normal x.p.). Warn us if you can’t make it. Respect the other players and DM and don’t be a stinker in your attitude or body odor. Evil and annoying characters aren’t allowed. Pick a personality weakness for your character instead of only strengths. Lastly, don’t invite new people without permission.


jh