Five (or so) favorite RPG books for lore/reading pleasure

[Mercurius]

Any game, any genre, any type of book. What are favorites for lore and reading pleasure? Meaning, which books could you pick up and get lost in for hours upon hours and either enjoy for considering gaming possibilities, or just the ideas themselves? While such books will trend towards settings, it doesn't have to be.

I said "five" because placing some limitations is helpful to think about it (and not list dozens), but of course feel free to exceed that (I'm including some honorable mentions).

I'll post mine a bit later...

 

[Jer]

Good question! These are the first 5 that came to mind, in some cases because I've just been reading them again recently, but I'm sure that in a few hours I'll think about something obvious that should be on this list...

1. Unknown Armies, 1st or 2nd edition, almost any book in the line (3rd edition with a few caveats).
2. Wraith the Oblivion
3. 13th Age Bestiary 2 (actually I could fill this list with 13th age books, but I'll stick to just one)
4. 2nd edition Paranoia corebook or Paranoia XP corebook
5. Runequest or the Guide to Glorantha

 

[Gradine]

One of my favorite RPG books to just kick back and "read" was Heroes of Horror in 3.5.

 

[TwiceBorn2]

In no particular order...

1. Living Greyhawk Gazetteer
2. Midnight 3.5 Core rulebook/setting (and most of the setting sourcebooks/gazs)
3. Dark Heresy
4. I suspect some of the Symbaroum sourcebooks (NOT the core book), if I got around to actually reading them

 

[Mercurius]

What comes to mind for me (in no particular order)...

• Talislanta Worldbook (Talislanta - Bard Games, 1990): This is the only Talislanta book that touches upon the whole world. Just a terrifically imagined setting.
• Midgard Worldbook (Kobold Press, various years): The most recent is probably the best, even though I'm partial to the older watercolor maps. Midgard is a nice combination of thematically constructed and kitchen sink. Meaning, it makes more sense than some of the D&D kitchen sink settings, but still has a diversity of cultures and stuff going on.
• Deities & Demigods (AD&D - TSR, 1980): A nostalgia pick. This was my favorite RPG book growing up - I think I even brought it to school in my back-pack for awhile. And of course the version with Melnibonean and Cthulhu mythos.
• Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (D&D 3E - WotC, 2001): While the Gray Box has more Greenwoodian atmosphere, this remains--imo--the best setting book ever made. So densely packed, with a bit of everything. The whole FR "white book" series was great.
• Spherewalker Sourcebook (Everway - Rubicon, 1996): I haven't checked out the new "silver anniversary" of Everway, so maybe that would replace this. But this is just densely packed with quasi-mystical and mythological ideas.

I might re-think it later, and swap something out. Other stuff that came to mind...

Honorable Mentions:
DMG 1E - I don't know if this qualifies as lore-packed, but it is filled with Gygaxian idiosyncrasies and fun to pick up and get lost in every once in awhile; Symbaroum - any book really, but if they had a dedicated setting book, it would jump to the top of the list, but alas, no such book exists (ditto Forbidden Lands); Glorantha Sourcebook - or other Glorantha setting books, but that's the one I currently own; Wilderlands of High Fantasy - maybe not the deepest lore, but so many fun seeds that it is a fun browse; Hyperborea 2E - Does old school right, imo; Swords & Glory, Vol 1: Tekumel Sourcebook - for a wacky, rambling, and deeply detailed setting. Coriolis - Fria Ligan, after all.

So many others, especially setting books, but that's what came to mind.

 

[Alzrius]

Narrowing it down to just five is hard, but here we go:

1. Eclipse: The Codex Persona has no lore or setting information whatsoever. Rather, it's a point-buy character-builder for d20 System Games. It's more flexible than any such sourcebook (there were a few), and every time I open it, I find something inspiration; for me, this is the book that makes the "options, not restrictions" credo of D&D 3rd Edition come true.
2. The Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting 3E was the book that made me a fan of the Realms. I'd picked up plenty of supplements for the setting before (though not the 1E or 2E boxed sets), but this was something else again. Jam-packed full of lore galore and quite a few new developments such as the return of Bane, the appearance of the Shade Enclave, or the rise of Deep Imaskar, which made it really seem like the world needed heroes beyond Elminster and the Seven Sisters. This remains an impressive presentation of what's arguably the most famous tabletop RPG setting.
3. HârnManor is a product I'm picking to represent the entire Hârn line from Columbia Games. That's because, while their native RPG system is HârnMaster, a lot of their supplements are system-neutral, and provide great overviews of various aspects of running a medieval fantasy world, such as Heraldry or managing Real Estate. In the case of HârnManor, it covers an aspect of medieval life that's all too often misunderstood or overlooked completely, and makes for some great reading. This setting always makes me so hârny.
4. An even split here between the AD&D 2E Domains of Dread and Ravenloft 3rd Edition. This setting has always been, for me, the most evocative of the classic D&D settings, and while I'm not sure which take impressed me more, the collective whole is one that I don't think has ever been surpassed (including by its 5E counterpart).
5. For my last entry I'm going to cheat, and put this one down to a three-way tie between Dragonstar, Dawnforge, and Midnight. I don't know what Fantasy Flight Games had going on back in the early days of 3rd Edition era, but they consistently cranked out imaginative setting after imaginative setting. A dragon empire that ruled the galaxy, and had just found your campaign world? A young world where the legends that would echo throughout history were just now happening? A world where Sauron the god of evil won? Each and every one of these still has a fan community today, and it's not hard to see why!

Please note my use of affiliate links in this post.

 

[Mercurius]

This setting always makes me so hârny.

Ha! This deserves to be singled out.

As for Harn, the only product I've owned is the Harnworld folio from 1983 - that's one of few dozen RPG products that I've owned since the 80s. I'm generally not into that level of Medievalism but it is a very impressive product, and really years ahead of its time. The maps were considered unsurpassed in the industry back then, if I remember correctly. The Lythia continent shape is one of my all-time favorites. Your mention makes me want to scan over those maps.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

In no particular order:

• Veins of the Earth for OSR rules set
• World of Darkness books (big fan of Vampires: the Masquerade or Requiem, Promethean: the Created and Hunter: the Vigil)
• Mutant: Year Zero
• Tales from the Loop/Flood
• special mention to the upcoming Old Gods of the Appalachia from Monte Cook, I cant stand the Cypher System, but those settings are full of awesomeness.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

The RPG setting books that really grabbed me the most were for:

RIFTS
Space:1889
The Strange
Deadlands
Underground
Spelljammer
DarkSun

 

[Crusadius]

• Weapons of the Gods - the Lores (lore sheets) are a great read.
• Spire The City Must Fall - I just enjoyed reading about the city (setting), its quite different to traditional fantasy.
• Mage The Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition - I just like the modern urban setting of this game.
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4E - I just enjoy reading the new rules and familiarising myself with the setting once again. This is probably a bit of a cheat because I'm including the entire line because the setting is spread out among many books.