D&D General I hate pdfs, and I'm happy that WOTC primarily publishes Books

[Voadam]

I feel like when my latest incarnation was about to be loosed upon this world, I was asked, "So, you will either lose your hair or your eyesight. What will it be?"

And I, being the eternal smart...donkey... replied, "Why not both?"

Eh, better than to lose your wits, I guess.

All good things come to those who wait.

 

[toucanbuzz]

1. Do you correctly prefer your RPG materials to be in real, book form, or are you one of those .pdf lovers?

Books. It says "I cared enough to spend extra to get this thing I can hold lovingly and put on a bookshelf." I can also learn to love PDFs with a particular print site that will print your PDFs (after you disavow making money and change the cover/back page.)

2. Relatedly, if you're a .pdf lover, how do you like Huey Lewis and the News?

6 pages and only one person got the American Psycho reference? As long as you don't have an axe, I'll answer the question, yes.

3. Do you use electronic devices at your table when you are gaming in person (assuming this will ever happen again as it used to in the BEFORE TIMES)?

No. Maybe I should, but no. The book functions as (1) an aid that I can quickly thumb through faster than my laptop, (2) an aid I can move aside easily and (3) a visual to my players that your DM cares enough to invest in the best...except the first print of the 5E PHB and MM that had the glue in the middle that caused the pages to fall out and I had to take pictures and get a replacement set of copies sent.

 

[TheAlkaizer]

I also dislike PDFs. They're useful in some ways, but I can't be bothered to read on a screen and nothing comes close to the tactile experience of going through a book. I also buy my TTRPG books as beautiful objects in addition to the content and game they offer; not unlike someone would by some artbook.

When it comes to the experience of playing, I own a few PDF: physical book hard to find or just doesn't exist, only interested in a segment of the book and don't want to pay for the rest, free material, etc. I do like having monster books in PDF because I use my laptop when I DM.

And that brings us to devices. I'm currently going through my first campaign where my players have devices at the table (for D&D Beyond) and I'm not really liking it. There's something really sad about seeing their eyes riveted on their tablets looking for answers when I normally have eye contact with them. Also, every manipulation they do on the table takes all their focus to do and takes longer than scribbling a note. I never allowed devices at the table before, and probably won't after this. I do use my laptop for both music and my notes, and I like to snip and paste the monsters stat block from PDFs to my notes. But that's about it.

 

[MGibster]

1. Do you correctly prefer your RPG materials to be in real, book form, or are you one of those .pdf lovers?

I'm offended you would even ask me such a thing. I'm not an animal, I am a human being. Of course I prefer my RPG materials in the form of real books. I say this as someone who just bought the PDF of Twilight 2000 because it was on sale for $25. I also like that out-of-print books that were almost impossible to get in 1998 are available in PDF now.

2. Relatedly, if you're a .pdf lover, how do you like Huey Lewis and the News? I mean, their early work was a little too new wave for my tastes, but when Sports came out in '83, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically.

Just how old are you?

3. Do you use electronic devices at your table when you are gaming in person (assuming this will ever happen again as it used to in the BEFORE TIMES)?

I do at times. I've used Google Maps, D&D Beyond, and even PDFs at the game table. For a Deadlands campaign, I even came up with a Power Point presentation to look like the opening credits of a 1960s western complete with theme music and photos of actors playing the part of the PC. For example, Vincent Price was a guest star playing the part of Dr. Darius Hellstromme in a few scenarios. The credits would periodically change as PCs were killed and added as well as featuring different guest stars each week. At the end of the final session, we had an In Memorium show accompanied by the song "Drop Kick me Jesus" featuring all the PCs who had died during the campaign. Good times.

 

[JEB]

1. Do you correctly prefer your RPG materials to be in real, book form, or are you one of those .pdf lovers?

I'm assuming that this is when either print or PDF options are available for a product.

I prefer print for:

• Material where I think I'll enjoy the experience of reading it in print.
• Material that's essential to a game I'm running, so I have a version that doesn't depend on electronics and that I can easily show to players.

I prefer PDF for:

• Material where I'm not sure if I'll like it, but was still interested enough to try.
• Material that I only want for reference purposes, and don't think I'm likely to read (or reread).
• Material that's extremely expensive or difficult to get in print, and the PDF is the practical option.

I should note that for a long time, those last two reasons were the primary reasons; I almost never bought PDFs for pleasure reading. But that changed after I got my Microsoft Surface Pro, which makes it much easier to read PDFs at near full size. (I can read PDFs on my smartphone, but it's annoying having to swipe and zoom around single multi-column pages.)

However, I only have so many shelves here, and I figure that if you're storing something away, it's a waste of space unless it's essential or has sentimental value. So if I read through a product, and decide I only want to keep it for reference, I'll get it in PDF and get rid of the print copy. Over the years I've gotten rid of a fair number of RPG products this way.

It can also go the other way: very rarely, I'll get a product in print that I only originally intended to have in PDF, and even more rarely, I'll get something print-on-demand sight unseen if it looks extra cool. This has only happened a few times, though.

3. Do you use electronic devices at your table when you are gaming in person (assuming this will ever happen again as it used to in the BEFORE TIMES)?

As GM, I kept my tablet handy, for referencing game materials during an adventure, though I generally had printouts handy as well for the essential details. As player, I would use my smartphone or tablet to look up rules in a pinch, but that's all.

 

[Stormonu]

1. Both. As DM, I generally use PDFs at the table, and books when I'm sitting about relaxing. My back can't take 35 lb. backpacks anymore, so I use my 12" ipad for my books. Gotta save my back for the mini case, and the Tardis is on back order for transporting my Dwarven Forge dungeon tiles.

2. Prince, all the way

3. I do, most of my other players don't. I've also taken to using Beyond on my ipad for D&D characters. But I hate computer dice rollers and use physical sets where I can, unless I'm using a VTT, so everyone else can see my rolls.

 

[Maxperson]

And you can't un-notice it now.

....you're welcome!

You know, I don't really dive into the lyrics of songs that I listen to. In order for me to notice something like this, it would have to be very direct and hit me like, well, a...................................sledgehammer. Except I still missed this one.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

You know, I don't really dive into the lyrics of songs that I listen to. In order for me to notice something like this, it would have to be very direct and hit me like, well, a...................................sledgehammer. Except I still missed this one.

You might not want to re-listen to Lauper's She Bop.

 

[FriendlyFiend]

1. Overall, I prefer books, though at this point my bookshelves are silently crying out for me to switch to pdfs. I do like the ability to carry a whole bunch of gaming material on a tablet and definitely look most kindly on the companies that give you the pdf at no extra cost when you buy the book.

2. Huey Lewis? Not so much. More a post-punk/electronica/goth type when Huey Lewis and the News were at their UK peak and now I mostly listen to the more minimalist end of classical.

3. Electronic devices have been creeping into my tabletop gaming more and more. As a DM/Keeper/whatever I still instinctively know where to find pretty much anything in the main AD&D 1e/2e ruleboooks, but with 5e or anything else, having something searchable is really handy at the table.