"If you can't share, don't bring it..."

[Driddle]

Boy, if a player came to me with a book they bought themselves and said they really wanted something in it they read about, I'd get out of my chair and do a little dance of joy. And then I'd read it, and if its unbalanced, I'd nerf the heck out of it or disallow it. This whole process shouldn't take more than 5 minutes. Of course, you do have to share with the other players. But I certainly don't need to own it. How long does it take to figure out something is unbalanced, anyway? It normally jumps right out at you.

(Nod)
Very reasonable.

 

[Cor Azer]

Sometimes maybe...

(Nod)
Very reasonable.

That might work for a simple feat, or a spell, or something small.

But when an entire concept is taken from another book (for example, a Shaman using Green Ronin's book), it's quite difficult to skim it over in 5 minutes. And those rules are going to be constantly used. And the DM is going to (or at least should) design some adventures around the character's abilities - which is much harder to do without the appropriate source book.

And honestly, I am quite flexible on this. If it is a feat, a spell, or a minor magic item that doesn't really require the interaction of the rest of the book (For example, one of my players is considering taking the True Faith feat from Swashbuckling Adventures by AEG), then I'm usually pretty good to allow it.

Oh yeah, and as to the other topic being (sort of) discussed. As long as one player brings the appropriate book to the game, any player can use it (we all seem to share).

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I don't have a problem with only one book being in the group, as long as I get to read it before the player starts asking for PrCs and the like.

I usually only let a player use one non-core book. You can use the PsiH, or Complete Something or Other, but not both. Most "splat"books aren't tested together, so letting players or NPCs combine stuff from more than one book is just asking for balance problems.

And then I'd read it, and if its unbalanced, I'd nerf the heck out of it or disallow it.

If only life were so simple. Evalutating the balance of a PrC within 5 minutes is really difficult - you have to see it in play. Feel free to nerf it as soon as you see hints of imbalance you didn't notince before.

Well, to clarify, I've had too many players (intentionally or not) misread something from a book I didn't own, making their characters significantly more powerful than they should have been. Plus, a lot of books are balanced by the other things in the same book (ie, you generally only find psionic monsters in the psionic book; Draconomicon, I believe, had both dragon stuff and anti-dragon stuff),

1) Yeah, that's seen all over the messageboards. A lot of Dms get leery because their campaigns have so many books that they haven't memorized.

2) As for psionics, no you do not need to use psionic monsters to balance psions in your campaign. Some DMs think psionic combat is some kind of balancing tool, but it sucks too much to actually do it's job.

I've found core NPCs and core monsters are quite good at smacking down psions, as long as you use psionics-magic transparency.

 

[Dinkeldog]

i see......a grell monk in his future.

Shouldn't it be a Flumph monk?

 

[Talon5]

I tell all my players that if I haven't read it then the answer is no they can't use it or play it. If they push the subject then I barrow the book and read it (15 minute read or an all week barrow- doesn't matter), if they would rather not loan me the book then the answer is a solid no until I read it.