How often do you read a rulebook through?

[Crazy Jerome]

Go with your gut here, based on all the rules you have read. It's understood that there will be vast exceptions based on particular games, and ease of such reading.

Probably some problems with this poll. Let's try it this way, see what people say, and then maybe try it again later with better understanding ...

Ideally, this should be a separate poll for each edition of each game checked. However, that is far too unwieldy without a better understanding of what the response might be.

 

[Minigiant]

I usually read the book front to back 3 times after purchase. Then once per or selection every new campaign as a DM or Player.

But I have read the 4E PHB dozens of times to formulate my house rules and homebrew systems.

 

[Ahnehnois]

I used to sit down and read rpg books, but I haven't done that in a long time. Partly because I haven't bought many new ones, but also because I knew what I was reading and I just skipped to the important parts. The only ones that I know I've really read cover to cover (though not straight through or in one sitting) are the 3.X core books and CoC d20.

 

[hafrogman]

Depends on the rulebook, I suppose.

I'm certain there are books that I read through upon getting, but on the other hand there are D&D rulebooks. With your typical D&D book I read through the rules . . . get to the spell sections, maybe flip through, but mostly I end there. I have no interest in reading straight through the spell lists one at a time. Possibly over the years, I eventually read through every spell in the book, but not in one sitting.

 

[seregil]

I'll read an interesting rulebook several times.

Lately (end of 3.5 and 4e), the book are as fun as watching paint dry.

4E's approach of having as little fluff as possible with power descriptions being essentially a list of stats means that those books suck as something to read 'for fun'.

I used to like reading the spells and the magical item description but now?

It's like reading the specifications section of a tech manual. Yuck.

 

[RHGreen]

I read them the same way I read any reference type book, I skit around and flick through pages randomly. I must read through them dozens of times in total, just not front to back.

I have a lot of criticism for 1E, but the best thing about that, and I only realized recently, is that it is a massive treasure trove of random rules and titbits you can rummage through and dive into like Scrooge Macduck diving into his money bin. 2E wasn't bad, but 3E was the same for that. I hope 5E has that element to it. 4E didn't. It was quite plain, which explains why I've never really rummaged.

The exception is with character generation parts. That section is more of a front to back process that you can't really skip about much.

 

[Incenjucar]

Once.

After that, I just use the index.

Usually the more I have to read it the worse the writing of the book is.

 

[hemera]

I've read all my books front to back more times than I can count. Just weird I guess. lol At least it means I can usually answer any question at our table though. ^.^

 

[jodyjohnson]

The only books other than modules I've read all the way through were the 3.0 PHB and DMG since they took 3 months for the full set to come out and it was so different and the 1e PHB.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

I've read first edition AD&D many, many times. Everything else, I've read once. At best.