[D&D]No more crunch books for me

[Arnwyn]

Anyone else giving rulebooks a pass?

Me - for more than a year or two, now.

I'm sure someone will come out of the woodwork with some funky definition of rulebook, but whatever. I certainly won't buy any new character option books. So, yeah - books like the PHB2 and Spell Compendium hold no value to me (and no, I'm not "missing out", thankyouverymuch).

Mostly, my purchases just setting material (FR books, easily portable city books, even FC1) and adventures.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I've passed on most of the recent rulebooks as well. Sold a bunch off as well.

I've been debating about picking up Mysteries of the Moonsea or the Fiendish Codex, but lately I've found myself going after older edition materials for use and inspiration.

At this point, I don't really want more rules.

 

[buzz]

In some ways, I'm on the fence.

Reining in my book-buying in general is something I'm striving for these days. I don't necessarily need more rules, but I also find that I'm getting sick of big, thick books of setting material. I don't like feeling obligated to study 500 pages of fictional history in order to run a campaign. Honestly, lately I think that D&D (and RPGs in general) work better when setting details are kept to a minimum, so that things can be created on the fly; all you really need is a theme.

Ergo, applicable, easily-integrated, rule-heavy books are more appealing to me right now; Spell Compendium is a great example, as is just about any monster book.

Granted, Eberron is a harsh mistress... I have a hard time resisting those books.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

See now, I kike that stuff. That's the kind of stuff I find very portable. As it has less context, I don't have to rip out extraneous references to make it work in my game, and it can be the basis for new ideas.

Exactly. Personally, I like the way the Prestige Classes are being done by WotC right now, instead of them just churning 'em out with what often seems little thought. Too many Prestige Classes - by everyone, not just WotC - just seemed like they were thrown out there just to make sure Prestige Classes were present. At least now they show some thought and have some context to show what the designer was thinking.

As for the thread topic...well, I've slowed down buying books in general. The main reason - money. I just can't keep up with everything that comes out. But, happily, I've reached a point where I feel like I have just about all the crunch I need. Books like Unearthed Arcana, DMG2, and PHB2, the class books, as well as environment books like Frostburn have generally covered just about any contingency I might find myself needing to employ.

 

[jgbrowning]

Well you know the old saying, "One mans crap is a Dung Beetle's lunch."

or something like that...

joe b.

 

[KenM]

I'm passing on the race books, I also have no inrest in complete mage, ect because they look like re doing of complete arcane.

 

[MadMaxim]

Nope, I love rulebooks. I love interesting new mechanics even though I may not be able to use them straight away. They may prove useful some other day. Magic of Incarnum? Sure I haven't used it yet, but I most certainly will some day and then it'll be nice to have. Tome of Magic? Maybe someone in my group would like to play a Binder one day, because they look like a lot of fun to play. I don't always purchase books based on my immediate needs, but what I may find useful a some point. That's why I've bought pretty much all the Wizards of the Coast stuff that isn't setting-specific (except for Eberron which is just too cool).

 

[caudor]

Since I'm a year or more behind on buying the WotC books I want (budget limitations), my hunger for new books/rules of any kind has not diminished. Maybe a year or two from now I'll see things differently, but for right now--crunch or fluff--bring it on!

 

[Thomas Percy]

I've decided to only buy setting books for the forseable future. Why? A couple of reasons:

I smell forth edition in the horizon.

And if a new edition never will be released?

 

[JoeBlank]

I have not made a conscious decision to stop buying crunch, but I have found that my interests are more in the lines of settings and adventures these days.

Part of this comes from playing OD&D. I find I am much more creative when I don't have a bunch of rules to get in the way. If I want to figure out how to do something in OD&D then I talk to the referee and figure out a way. If I want to do something in 3.x then I find myself searching forums, books and magazines to see if it has been done already, rather than just making it up myself.

But part of this also comes from DMing for my kids. I don't want more complicated rules to throw at them, and being new to the game they have plenty of options from the core rules. But I do like having new ideas and adventures to throw at them.