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Message: <blockquote data-quote="kroh" data-source="post: 3370818" data-attributes="member: 16768">I disagree with this to an extent.  Although a novel would be cheaper, a novel focuses on a specific story element within an overall setting.  The book is written to convey the story and setting is merely a plot device.  The Fluffy written game setting book would be written (at least I hope it would be written this way) with the game in mind and would give much more attention to a wider array of details.  Although I see your point with the novel, what the statless game book provides are the motivations for NPC's (for which drag and drop NPC stats can usually be found in most good RPG systems), backdrops for more than just a story element in a novel, and juicy tidbits for GM's that might not have seen such elements in a story.That is a good reason to have the rules companions to the settings.  Yes the GM is the processor, but much like the video game industry, even though the game is the same whether you play it on Wii, Xbox360, or PC, some of the code (rules) that the platforms use  to project it on screen is different.  With the proposed Rules Companions, the GM doesn't have to do any leg work  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f60e.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":cool:" title="Cool    :cool:"  data-smilie="6"data-shortname=":cool:" />  The setting is statted out for each set of rules and the leg work is just setting up the adventures (depending on your GM style).Very true, but this is not about the crunchy splat books, but a fluffy setting book.  If you are using the setting with a system that is heavy on class oriented , feat driven splatter, and the players want to use that with the setting... shouldn't the GM be able to plug that right in?  If your player wants to fit in his 3/4-drow/warforge/dragon - soulknife/necromancer/French maid with the kung fu grip and you have the d200 rules companion...where's the harm? Good point.  I was more speaking of games I was in where the players would argue with the GM because he had changed cannon material ( I could care less) or we as the players wanted to do something that would vastly throw the metaplot out of whack.  Vastly defined settings made for argue fests...but this was solely my experience and why I personally do not buy overwritten settings.  Thanks for the rebuttal JoeGKushner!  I love a different point of view and yours was well written.  Although I will NOT be buying forgotten realms any time soon (I have all of the original release, once is enough) I have been following the Eberron setting (guilty pleasure) as one of my standard purchases and it has been fun.Have Fun Gaming! Regards, Walt</blockquote>

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