Is it just me? Tired of huge books

[Thomas Shey]

I also find PDFs and digital books difficult to use at the table, since it takes much longer to look things up in them. YMMV, of course.

It works both ways with PDFs in my experience; for core books I tend to like to have a physical book if I'm GMing because I quickly develop a sense of where important parts are in the book.

That said, for other material, the ability to do a text search in a PDF outweighs any of that benefit, let alone having to sort through a bunch of physical books.

 

[Hand of Evil]

I like books with some weight to them, their impact is better when I throw them at a player. S

 

[Ath-kethin]

It works both ways with PDFs in my experience; for core books I tend to like to have a physical book if I'm GMing because I quickly develop a sense of where important parts are in the book.

That said, for other material, the ability to do a text search in a PDF outweighs any of that benefit, let alone having to sort through a bunch of physical books.

I still find it more cumbersome to bring up a search, type in a word, and weed through the results than to flip to an index or ToC and then flip to a page number.

But again, that might just be me.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I still find it more cumbersome to bring up a search, type in a word, and weed through the results than to flip to an index or ToC and then flip to a page number.

But again, that might just be me.

Some people are more comfortable with things than others. My background is a mix of information sciences and document editing, so using a search is second nature to me; its not always as fast as flipping to a familiar part of a book, but its vasty faster than finding something in an index or a TOC and then the page (even assuming those are actually helpful for what I'm looking for, not by any means a given).

 

[Lord Mhoram]

I used both PDF and physical books about evenly. Some are useful in one circumstance, but not in another... however when I buy actual physical books, I go for the larger ones (I find 128 pages to be at the very minimum end of a book I will physically buy). Partially because I am something of a collector, so my books, when I am not using them are on a shelf in my living room to display my love of the hobby. Smaller books just don't look all that aesthetically pleasing while on a shelf of solid hardcover (at least to me). So I'm happy to go PDF on the smaller books, if a publisher wants me to buy their book, it better be on the bigger side. I have quite a number in the 400-500 page range, and the physical Ptolus book for Cypher.

Edit to add - I do find the Ptolus book to be big enough to be unwieldy. But I had no issues with my HERO 5th or 6th edition hardcover, or the Pathfinder 1st ed core rules.

 

[Hex08]

Edit to add - I do find the Ptolus book to be big enough to be unwieldy. But I had no issues with my HERO 5th or 6th edition hardcover, or the Pathfinder 1st ed core rules.

I got Ptolus back when it first came out for 3.0 and that was a gigantic book. Definitely too big to carry around.

 

[Thomas Shey]

As has been commented, the PF2e core book is definitely sizable, but that's because its most of a traditional GM's book and the necessary player material all in one. With D&D style exception-based games, that's inevitably gonna leave you pretty big.

 

[aramis erak]

I still find it more cumbersome to bring up a search, type in a word, and weed through the results than to flip to an index or ToC and then flip to a page number.

But again, that might just be me.

It's incredibly hardware dependent.
If you're using an android tablet or cheap dual-core laptop, the speed sucks.
A mid-range notebook? Or a high end tablet? if you know the book well, book is faster... but if you know it well, you don't need the search.
high end notebooks? Even if you know the book, it's usually faster.

Also note: if you search backwards from the cover page, it usually takes you straight to the index...

 

[Mordhau]

It's not just you. I'd like more games to come in a smaller size and be paperback.

 

[schneeland]

I have definitely come to prefer digest-size books and smaller page counts (<350p). But I also prefer lighter systems these days, so for my preferred systems less pages are needed for explanation.
It's not about physical book size, though - I do most of my RPG reading on an iPad (Pro).