i generally let my players use any wizard supplement that i have access to with the character builder. maybe my players are not nearly as good as min/maxing as the players on this forum but ive never had issues with overly powerful players only un optimsed characters like a wizard with nothing higher than a 14 in his 13 primary stats.
Gotta Have Them All Gamers -- a problem?
- Thread starter Bullgrit
- Start date
It can be a problem, but it doesn't have to be. The closest I have come is genre books for Hero and GURPS and that is as a GM (edit: For M&M, it would be the "Age Books, Book of Magic, and Genre Books (e.g, Mecha and Manga if I had the extra cash)
Now, as for the completionist lobbying to use book x,y, and z or particular items from those books. They can ask. However, if the item or book is not on my houserule doc of approved supplements/supplement items, the answer is most likely no unless I have not seen it (in which case, I will first look it over). If the supplement or particular material from a supplement is on my list of banned items or supplements, I have no problem saying no. A player should buy a book, because they want to own it and not out of any sense that owning a book grants them any entitlement to use it in a particular campaign.
Now, as for the completionist lobbying to use book x,y, and z or particular items from those books. They can ask. However, if the item or book is not on my houserule doc of approved supplements/supplement items, the answer is most likely no unless I have not seen it (in which case, I will first look it over). If the supplement or particular material from a supplement is on my list of banned items or supplements, I have no problem saying no. A player should buy a book, because they want to own it and not out of any sense that owning a book grants them any entitlement to use it in a particular campaign.
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Jeff Wilder
First Post
I own every 3.5 non-setting-specific book, plus all 3.5 Eberron books, plus a few 3.5 Forgotten Realms books. It's pretty much all open to use in my game.
It has been a little bit of a problem. I have two players who definitely scour the books for powerful items, classes, and spells. The problem is that since they control only one PC, and I have to maintain and prepare the game-world, they have more time to pore over the rules and find things to benefit them than I have time to realize what they have in mind.
When I run Pathfinder again, anything outside core rules will need a written application (I'm not kidding), with an explanation of why the players wants this rule, how the player intends to use this rule, and how this rule can be exploited. If I'm unsatisfied with the application, it'll be denied. If I accept the application and later find that the player didn't disclose his plans and exploits, I'll take it away.
But I'm a completist. That was true for 3.0, it was true for 3.5, and now it's true for Pathfinder. I'm fighting very, very hard against the completist urge in M&M and Shadowrun.
It has been a little bit of a problem. I have two players who definitely scour the books for powerful items, classes, and spells. The problem is that since they control only one PC, and I have to maintain and prepare the game-world, they have more time to pore over the rules and find things to benefit them than I have time to realize what they have in mind.
When I run Pathfinder again, anything outside core rules will need a written application (I'm not kidding), with an explanation of why the players wants this rule, how the player intends to use this rule, and how this rule can be exploited. If I'm unsatisfied with the application, it'll be denied. If I accept the application and later find that the player didn't disclose his plans and exploits, I'll take it away.
But I'm a completist. That was true for 3.0, it was true for 3.5, and now it's true for Pathfinder. I'm fighting very, very hard against the completist urge in M&M and Shadowrun.
Festivus
First Post
I am the opposite. I stopped buying the hardbacks when I realized I wasn't using most of them, thanks in part to DDI but also that I flat out don't have enough time to read them and feel that they are getting too expensive for what you get (I am looking at you really thin books for $30).
The adventures, on the other hand, I have been snapping up mainly for the maps, but I also enjoy reading them through and salvaging things from them. While the adventures on the whole haven't been that good, there have been some really fun encounters, traps and what not that I really like. I also read adventures instead of novels, as a escape, much as a novel reader would.
"Hello, my name is Mr. Library."
"Hi, Mr. Library!"
I tend to buy 80%+ of the books for any given game that I enjoy. Sometimes, I buy multiples.
I can't see how it has impacted my gaming negatively, except in the sense of wanting to try out the new "shiny things." Other than that, my acquisitiveness is a positive force within the group, because I buy what I buy with the intent to share.
Part of it is that is because most of the gamers I know DON'T have their own books. I buy the books so that everyone in the game can afford to play.
Another part of it is to aid anyone who is running a particular game to have resources at their disposal that players haven't memorized. Face it, anyone who has played D&D for a decade plus has probably encountered enough of the foes in the basic MM to be intimately familiar with their strengths and weaknesses and act accordingly...even if their PCs are utter n00bs.
However, even with multiple players each with 10+ years of experience, nobody in my group has ALL of the various MMs, etc. memorized. Not even me, the owner of the library. That means any GM running a game that I buy will have resources with which to surprise even the most jaded player.
"Hi, Mr. Library!"
I tend to buy 80%+ of the books for any given game that I enjoy. Sometimes, I buy multiples.
I can't see how it has impacted my gaming negatively, except in the sense of wanting to try out the new "shiny things." Other than that, my acquisitiveness is a positive force within the group, because I buy what I buy with the intent to share.
Part of it is that is because most of the gamers I know DON'T have their own books. I buy the books so that everyone in the game can afford to play.
Another part of it is to aid anyone who is running a particular game to have resources at their disposal that players haven't memorized. Face it, anyone who has played D&D for a decade plus has probably encountered enough of the foes in the basic MM to be intimately familiar with their strengths and weaknesses and act accordingly...even if their PCs are utter n00bs.
However, even with multiple players each with 10+ years of experience, nobody in my group has ALL of the various MMs, etc. memorized. Not even me, the owner of the library. That means any GM running a game that I buy will have resources with which to surprise even the most jaded player.
DaveMage
Slumbering in Tsar
3.0/3.5/Pathfinder is my game of choice.
And I have far more products than I will ever use.
I enjoy reading them and the "library" factor as well. I like being able to answer people if they have a question about a particular product.
Is it a "disorder" of sorts?
Probably.
And I have far more products than I will ever use.
I enjoy reading them and the "library" factor as well. I like being able to answer people if they have a question about a particular product.
Is it a "disorder" of sorts?
Probably.
ExploderWizard
Hero
Collecting game materials is a personal preference and isn't a problem unless someone is in the habit of wanting to buy all the GM/adventure related material for a game but refuses to run anything.
Insisting that certain material be used in a campaign from a person who is not running the campaign is a different matter. It has nothing to do with collecting and I think it is a bit rude.
Insisting that certain material be used in a campaign from a person who is not running the campaign is a different matter. It has nothing to do with collecting and I think it is a bit rude.
I'm pretty close...but I didn't buy things like Mystara or Birthright.
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