D&D Rules Compendium: How useful would it be to me?

[Jan van Leyden]

Finally I'm going to continue my tabletop campaign which was put on hiatus because of a DM volunteer. Now I'm not so sure how I want to organize myself for running the show again.

I stopped buying the books with PHB3 and switched to my DDI subscription to keep up to date and do research with my laptop even when running the game. With the beginning of this month I let the subscription finally lapse and don't intend to redo it. My old modus operandi won't work anymore.

Browsing around the DnDClassics site I noted the Rules Compendium being offered for an affordable sum. Now I want to learn how useful this PDF could be to me.

Does it have a useful, clickable index?

How complete ist the book?

Are there any Essentialisms I'd have to know to use it?

Players will be using existing classical 4e characters, so character specific information (powers etc) isn't needed, but stuff like rules for skills including DCs and explanation of conditions is. And of course I want to be able to find it quickly.

This may very well be the last sale WotC can make to me and I'd want it to be a good, satisfying experience!

 

[Mercurius]

I don't own the PDF, but when I bought the book I almost never opened up another rule book (other than monster books) after. It was that useful - a great rules reference, very handy at the table. Highly recommended for any 4e game.

 

[TerraDave]

The hard back is also the main reference for my group in play.

If you don't have DDI, I would strongly encourage you to get it. (even with DDI it might be worth it)

 

[Dungeoneer]

I agree with the above posters. The Rules Compendium is THE reference book that I keep by the table at all 4e game sessions. It is well-organized and the comprehensive index makes it easy to find things.

 

[The Human Target]

Yeah, its really nice.

Get it.

 

[Rune]

I don't have the PDF, so I don't know if its index is clickable (but I kinda doubt it). It is, however, well-organized and extensive.

What it is: All of the rules, including errata.

What it is not: Anything else. No character options, no magic items, no NPCs, no monsters.

 

[MerricB]

The index isn't hyperlinked, but the bookmarks are extensive. It's a fantastic book, much recommended. I use it mostly for the new (random) treasure tables.

 

[Jan van Leyden]

Sigh; so it's 6:0 for needing it; hard earned Euros, there you go! But why the designers and layouters don't include hyperlinks in a PDF index is beyond me.

 

[Lindeloef]

Yeah I am eyeballing that pdf too, btw.

Full-text search is possible, right?
[MENTION=20307]Jan van Leyden[/MENTION]
The book is the only thing I bother to use, if I need to look sth up. (or i ask Roy look it up)

 

[Echohawk]

Full-text search is possible, right?

Yes, all of the WotC PDF releases are searchable. For 3.x, 4e and Next releases, you get the original electronic document, with full search enabled. For the earlier releases, the PDF is a scan of the original; that means you can still search the text, but the results are slightly dependent on the quality of the OCR.