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

[Thunder Brother]

I like both, more or less.

I like having books that look good on my shelf (so 5e's style disappoints me a little bit) and there's something very satisfying about sitting on the couch and flipping through pages.

For homebrew and 3PP stuff I exclusively use pdfs because it's often the practical only option for me since I live in Germany and shipping is a pain right now.

So I use both, but deep down I hate reading pdfs sometimes, because I can be really bad at it. Something about text on a screen just destroys my concentration.

I also use D&D Beyond during sessions, since my group has been playing exclusively online for almost two years now (thanks COVID!).

 

[lingual]

physical books really slow down the game. Best for just reading. Not that PDFs are much better...

Googling "5e [and whatever you need]" works the fastest for me.

PDF searches are done purely by string matching and not that useful to look something up. The DND beyond search doesn't do fuzzy matches. Nor do they index by popularity, etc.

 

[payn]

Dont you see it yet?

 

[J.Quondam]

1. I very much prefer physical books. However, I use the electronic versions a lot more, because I create my own docs on a computer. Searching, moving, and editing information is just so much easier electronically.

2. * sigh *

3. I prefer dead tree stuff at the table for most things, but usually that means printouts of my own electronics docs.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Dont you see it yet?

 

[Scott Christian]

physical books really slow down the game. Best for just reading. Not that PDFs are much better...

Googling "5e [and whatever you need]" works the fastest for me.

PDF searches are done purely by string matching and not that useful to look something up. The DND beyond search doesn't do fuzzy matches. Nor do they index by popularity, etc.

I do find this to be a table-by-table experience. Most tables I have played at resort to DM adjudication, or they know the rules/spells/maneuvers/etc already (or at least have it on their character sheet), or know exactly where to look in the book. But not all tables are like this. It's just in my experience, technology wasn't any "faster."

 

[Yora]

This thread feels like the equivalent of walking into a party, climbing on the table, and while everyone is looking, pissing into the punch.

 

[payn]

This thread feels like the equivalent of walking into a party, climbing on the table, and while everyone is looking, pissing into the punch.

That already happened hours ago. Welcome to the party.

 

[DND_Reborn]

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

Sorry, I am a PDF lover. The only books I have for D&D are my original B/X, BECMI, and AD&D 1E materials. 2E, 5E, d20 SW, Vampire, Shadowrun are all PDFs 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. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost. Huey Lewis has been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Huey has a far more bitter, cynical sense of humor.

Yep, like Huey well enough.

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)?

Yes, I use my laptop to run the game and project maps, etc. to a 55" flat-screen for players. My laptop is used for tracking everything, NPCs, combat, XP, you name it.

You'll probably add me to your list of things you hate, but I actually cut off the bindings on all my 5E books and have them all scanned as PDFs now.

Here's the thing- I hate .pdfs. This isn't the type of pure and lovely hate I have for things that truly deserve it (Bards, Elves, Bards, people that refuse to acknowledge the John Wick trilogy as the greatest cinematic masterpiece of all time, Bards, people that think that superhero movies and anime are the greatest intellectual achievements of our time, and Bards). Instead, it's more of a, "Why isn't this a book? Books are awesome. This ... isn't awesome. It's the opposite of awesome. It sucks."

By the by, I love that you hate Bards so much--right there with you!

 

[Maxperson]

You read the title? You read it, right? Well, sometimes my titles are truthful (for absolute values of "sometimes," and varying values of "truthful").

Here's the thing- I hate .pdfs. This isn't the type of pure and lovely hate I have for things that truly deserve it (Bards, Elves, Bards, people that refuse to acknowledge the John Wick trilogy as the greatest cinematic masterpiece of all time, Bards, people that think that superhero movies and anime are the greatest intellectual achievements of our time, and Bards). Instead, it's more of a, "Why isn't this a book? Books are awesome. This ... isn't awesome. It's the opposite of awesome. It sucks."

So I should give a useful disclaimer- I use electronic documents all the time. ALL. THE. TIME. Seriously, it's almost like it's part of my job, or something. So it's not as simple as an aversion to reading stuff on a screen. And I completely understand that having a document in an electronic format can be useful- searching for a particular piece of text is oh-so-easy with an electronic document. "Look, there are 147 too many occurrences of the word 'bard' in the PHB!" Moreover, I'm constantly on a phone, or tablet, or computer reading websites ... like this one ... so it's not an instinctive Luddite reaction.

Well, not entirely a Luddite reaction. Admittedly, the youths with their TikTokking and Discords and Chatsnapping frighten and confuse me, but I can always soothe myself with the sounds of Jelly Roll Morton on the phonograph.

Instead, it's something particular to books, and by extension, I think, to RPG books. I just don't seem to enjoy long periods of reading a single thing on a screen. It's not the same as curling up with a book. Nor is it the same when you have to bring a tablet (or what have you) to the gaming table. Ugh, to me, that's the worst. To the extent that my table has banned electronic devices during gaming.

So I am throwing these questions out for general discussion-

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

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. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost. Huey Lewis has been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Huey has a far more bitter, cynical sense of humor.

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)?

1. Yes, I agree with you completely. I out and out refuse to buy something that doesn't come with a physical copy. I don't mind if I get a PDF with it, but if it's PDF only it's not getting my money.
2. I like Huey Lewis and the News. I didn't start listening to rock until the mid 80's(wasn't allowed as a child) and he was one of the first I really liked.
3. I do not use electronic devices for 99.99% of my in person games. About the only use, and it's still rare, is to send a group text to the group with an image that I feel fits the monster/NPC really well(and better than I can describe it). For my remote games I do sometimes have a PDF up with something I need for a specific encounter, but it still feels wrong, so I usually avoid doing even that much.