D&D 5E (2014) Convince me to Spend the Money

[Iosue]

I don't think I ever asked for them to give me one of the books for free.

And, to repeat,... I am not exactly asking whether or not I would like the system. I am asking whether the books are worth the price point. These are not the same questions. I am interested in the books as books.

Then you don't really need us. Go to a bookstore or game store, open the books, page through them, read a chapter or two. Pour over the ToC. That will give you a much better idea of the books as books than we can give you. Everyone here who bought the books bought them because of the system, not because of their qualities as books.

It's like saying, "I'm thinking of buying Stephen King's latest novel, but it's kind of thick and pricy. Sell me on buying the book!" And then when someone says, "Well, you can read the first chapter on his website, and see if you like it," replying, "I don't care about the story, I want to be sold on buying the book."

 

[jayoungr]

I've only skimmed the rest of this thread, so apologies if I'm duplicating something someone else has already said. If you're interested in books-as-objects, it's probably worth saying twice, though.

I've heard that some of the PHBs (maybe 10%?) have some kind of flaw in their construction that makes them fall apart rather quickly. See this thread. Mine is fine, and so are those of all the people I know personally. It probably depends on whether a "bad box" made it to a certain area, so if you're planning on buying locally rather than ordering from Amazon, you might want to ask around and see if anyone else is having trouble.

 

[Mercurius]

I haven't read the thread, just the first page or so, so forgive me if what I say has already been said.

Clearly you don't "need" 5E, but it sounds like you "want" it, or are at least very curious, and are asking someone to justify you spending the money.

The problem is that you won't get the full effect unless you buy the trinity. The Starter Set is OK, but nothing compared to the three core books. The PHB is an excellent book, but the true depth and greatness of the game isn't fully realized until you have all three.

My take on 5E is that it takes many of the best innovations of 3E and 4E, but dials back to a feel that is more like AD&D. Adding to that, it has a core simplicity that makes it very playable and flexible. For me it better facilitates the "theater of mind" approach than 4E and isn't bogged down by all of the fiddly bits of 3E. After two sessions my group is doing things with it that it never or rarely did in four years of 4E. Players are being more daring and creative in combats, and the focus is less on the battlemat and more on the story world.

 

[Mistwell]

The books are a very good read. They read less like an instruction manual and more like a tome of hidden knowledge. Even if you never played 5e, you won't regret reading the core books, paging through the stories and advice and tables of ideas. You will get things from these rpg books that will enhance your enjoyment of all other rpgs you play, and your enjoyment of the lineage and lore of d&d.

 

[Umbran]

It's like saying, "I'm thinking of buying Stephen King's latest novel, but it's kind of thick and pricy. Sell me on buying the book!" And then when someone says, "Well, you can read the first chapter on his website, and see if you like it," replying, "I don't care about the story, I want to be sold on buying the book."

And therein lies part of the issue in understanding here.

Right here, you are assuming that the major point to the book is the story. As opposed, for example, to the writing style. Many of King's stories are actually pretty simple, but the style and word choice are rich and complex - From a Buick 8 comes to mind as an example. Very little actually happens in the tale, but it is still creepy as all get out.

The real issue is that he's asking to be sold on "the book", as opposed to the system, but he's not given us a whole lot of information about what about game books, aside from the system, interests him. Is it logical organization, art, fluff text? What has sold him on previous books that *wasn't* the system.

 

[Wicht]

Then why can't you have the book? It's simply a matter of printing the thing. I mean, we're not talking about a huge effort here. Probably faster than actually physically going somewhere to buy the book. If you don't like the rules you see in the Basic set, then you save yourself the trouble.

I don't think you are actually understanding me when I type.

 

[Wicht]

Then you don't really need us. Go to a bookstore or game store, open the books, page through them, read a chapter or two. Pour over the ToC. That will give you a much better idea of the books as books than we can give you.

The bookstore is an hour away. I get there maybe once a month.

Everyone here who bought the books bought them because of the system, not because of their qualities as books.

It's like saying, "I'm thinking of buying Stephen King's latest novel, but it's kind of thick and pricy. Sell me on buying the book!" And then when someone says, "Well, you can read the first chapter on his website, and see if you like it," replying, "I don't care about the story, I want to be sold on buying the book."

Actually, its not like that at all. If I want to buy a novel, I probably do care about the story. But if you try to convince me that I can tell whether or not I will like a story from reading the first chapter, I'm going to be skeptical.

And if I ask you to tell me why you like the story, I'm not going to be too impressed by telling me to go read the first chapter unless said chapter is really excellent.

 

[Wicht]

The real issue is that he's asking to be sold on "the book", as opposed to the system, but he's not given us a whole lot of information about what about game books, aside from the system, interests him. Is it logical organization, art, fluff text? What has sold him on previous books that *wasn't* the system.

You know, its really hard to pin down what I would like, but I'll know it when I see it. My tastes are actually fairly eclectic. Which is why I asked for people to tell me what they liked about the books. I was interested in the consensus on the value and content. By reading the various reviews (which is what these are, little mini-reviews) I can form an opinion of whether I think its worth it for me.

 

[Umbran]

But if you try to convince me that I can tell whether or not I will like a story from reading the first chapter, I'm going to be skeptical.

Well, everyone is different, of course. However, I have found that, for the modern novel, the first chapter, page, paragraph, and sometimes even sentence, are not actually a bad measure for whether I'll like the book. It may turn out to be nothing like I expected, but that initial grab tells me if the author has the chops to write prose good enough to keep me engaged.

Some of my favorite First Sentence Test examples:

"In the tower of the nameless necromancer, it is always cold." Grunts, by Mary Gentle

"The building was on fire and it wasn't my fault." - Blood Rites, Jim Butcher

You know, its really hard to pin down what I would like, but I'll know it when I see it.

Well, that kind of means we can't sell you on it, except perhaps accidentally, and that personal review is about the only way to choose, now doesn't it?

 

[Wicht]

Well, everyone is different, of course. However, I have found that, for the modern novel, the first chapter, page, paragraph, and sometimes even sentence, are not actually a bad measure for whether I'll like the book.

My experience has been that I can generally tell if I will dislike a book from the first paragraph or so, but as to whether I will end up actually liking the whole thing, its 50/50 on whether the beginning is indicative of the quality of the whole.

Well, that kind of means we can't sell you on it, except perhaps accidentally, and that personal review is about the only way to choose, now doesn't it?

Nah.

I'm fairly easy to please.

The comments have allowed me to make a fairly decent educated guess concerning the relative value of the books to me. The consensus seems pretty uniform on liking the books, though somewhat split on actual value as relates to MSRP (which is my main concern). I'll likely end up picking up the books, but will wait until I have a little more money saved up then I currently do, and/or find them half-price.