I have a huge number of rpg books from every edition of D&D as well as a number of other games. I have a similar feeling that I have too many books and I believe I know why I feel that way. I can no longer comprehend them all.
Speaking just in terms of “The Worlds Most Popular Roleplaying Game,” OD&D, 1E and 2E were so similar (and perhaps I had a better memory because I was younger and did not have the stresses of job and family) I could comprehend the books I owned entirely. I could identify a particular game fact by book and page and I knew how that fact interrelated with the other parts of the game to make a whole.
In 3X, I am lost. The basic game from Wotc is simple enough to fully comprehend but the welter of supplements from Wotc and third parties is, for me, impossible to comprehend in the way I comprehended all prior editions. I am particularly at sea when it comes to having an immediate understanding of how game facts from these disparate products all interact.
Part of this may be failing memory as I approach middle age, part of this may be stresses that did not exist earlier, part of this may be less time to pour over the books, part of this may be the greater granularity and density of the 3X rules. Probably some of each. I am actively considering moving to PDFs just to be able to word search. Of course, it would help if I could spell . . .
But I continue to buy new books. I have, however, made a firm decision to cap my game with 3X. I have no intention of buying a 4E. (Unless it was fully backwards compatible but then it would hardly deserve to be 4E, so I’d then be uninterested in buying virtually the same thing twice . . .)
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All told, I think this is why I feel like I have too many books.
