D&D 5E Is it time for a Printed copy of the playtest?

[darjr]

I'm about to run Encounters using the Next playtest and I wanted to have printed copies of documents for at the table, especially for character creation, and it's 400+ pages single sided.

I'd consider a print on demand copy of the playtest rules. Heck, if the price is right I might buy a few iterations.

Is it to early? The playtest doesn't seem to be at a beta stage yet, but I'd still consider buying a printed copy.

I'm fairly certain that Paizo's Beta was a success, and I think that the new Star Wars rpg printed beta did OK.

 

[Piratecat]

I'm guessing that there'll be a new iteration of character class rules in the next few months.

Personally, I print stuff out landscape 2 pages/page, and doublesided. Saves space.

 

[darjr]

That's a great idea. duh... why didn't I just do that??

I do however have a couple of players that don't have the best vision. Plus my copy of the docs are on my tablet.

Still I'd love to have a printed copy. It'd be something I could get signed as well.....

 

[GX.Sigma]

If you're willing to pay for a printed copy... why don't you pay to have it printed (e.g., at Staples)?

 

[Danzauker]

I'm guessing that there'll be a new iteration of character class rules in the next few months.

Personally, I print stuff out landscape 2 pages/page, and doublesided. Saves space.

This. Don't have tablet or eBook reader. Plus I only print files whose last modified date is more recent than that of the last packet.

 

[darjr]

does staples do the layflat binding?

 

[Li Shenron]

I'm about to run Encounters using the Next playtest and I wanted to have printed copies of documents for at the table...

Is it a public event of your own home group?

When I run a playtest game during xmas, I also wanted something printed at the table, but I also wanted to save as much paper as possible. I thought hard about what the players really needed to know, and considered that I was going to run the game in "narrative mode", plus I removed some elements for simple gameplay (no races, no feats/specialties, no alignment) and finally I was absolutely sure the game would not have had time to develop past level 2... so I copy-pasted only text that I was going to need to show the players or that I was going to need myself during the game. No need to print spells beyond 2nd level (I had some 3rd level NPC) or monsters that weren't in the adventure for instance. I think I managed with less than 20 pages although most were double-sided and some were also shrunk to half size (e.g. monsters pages are very readable even at half size).

 

[GX.Sigma]

does staples do the layflat binding?

You mean like a hardback book? You might have to get a bit more advanced for that. If you Google "print on demand," you'll find several services at various price ranges.

Note that the more extravagant you get, the more flagrantly you're breaking the playtest agreement. I'm sure nobody will care if you go down to Staples and run off a few sheets (which is what I did for a con), but you might raise a few eyebrows if you try to order a 300-page book that says "Confidential Information of Wizards of the Coast LLC, Do Not Distribute" on every page.

 

[darjr]

layflat like the essentials books or many of the print on demand books.

Though there are some great ideas here.

 

[GX.Sigma]

layflat like the essentials books or many of the print on demand books.

When I look up "layflat binding" I get results like this and this. Do you mean like a normal paperback? Something like this? Or this?

This?