Keeping Track of Rules Updates

DDI, as others have said.

However, I did want to keep my books updated so i bought a bunch of those punch-hole-sized red stickers and put them next to rules that have been updated. That way, when you see a red dot, you know to check the updates (should you be referencing a book instead of DDI).

Kind of like these (only smaller)...

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Great idea with the dots. What I've been doing is making a little mark in my books where errata applies. That way, I know when to look up an errata if needed.

I do hope we'll see some kind reprinting of the rules with the errata included (not all the books, just the core).

I've seen mention of some kind of 'Essentials' products that are supposed to include the errata, but I'm not up to date on it yet.
 

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Thanks for the tips! Not being able to afford DDI at this point, I like the dots idea. I'm also used to looking up stuff in a book, and am less concerned about general rules updates more than power/feat/monster updates.
 

Let's distinguish between three kinds of rules here:

- basic combat rules
- player options
- monster stats

The basic combat rules are the ones that everyone needs to know, things like what does dazed mean. There aren't that many, all in all that's the skill and combat chapter in the PHB. Except for the revised Stealth rules (where I never understood the necessity to revise them), there weren't that many changes anyway.

As for the player options, that's mainly powers, feats and items. Now, only a small percentage of that will show up at your game table at any time. And most of the player options that were revised gained notoriety before they were updated anyway, like Veteran's Armor. Unless one of your PCs has it, it just doesn't matter. If you don't know the current updates to Warden powers, who cares if there is no Warden around? It's only relevant to people who study D&D at college and have to write tests about the stuff.

As for the monsters, I print them out from DDI before the session anyway for easy reference, so I'm always updates.

Now where's the problem?
 


DDI is the only efficient way to keep up. The marking the erratad rules somehow should work if you don't do DDI.

For any individual game, no more than a bare handful of updates will have any effect. I think only like 4-5 apply for my own game.
I disagree that the number of updates that applies to a given group is small. If you have any powergamer in you and have characters that have a PHB class, odds are that the errata applies to several of their powers. Likewise, if you created a character that's above first level, you are likely to have chosen at least one item that got errata'd. Plus, the skill challenges have been erratad and stealth has been radically erratad, both of which constitute a big part of the game.

I find the process of creating a higher character to be extremely annoying if you just buy the books and don't subscribe to DDI. Comparing powers, feats and items among each other involves basically keeping an extra book open.
 

I have a DDI subscription.

Same here. I rely on the CB, MB and Compendium for pretty much all rules questions.

That way, when you see a red dot, you know to check the updates (should you be referencing a book instead of DDI).


I'm curious - why? Since the DDI gets its updates automatically every month and has pretty much everything in it now why bother with the books?

How much of the errata doesn't show up in DDI? I can only think of a few things (stealth, skill DCs, etc). Any errata of a power, item or monster is virtually invisible to me because it does show up in the DDI.

I thought stealth was in the Compendium now? Skill DCs won't be (they have to have some reason for people to get the core books don't they? ;) ). I have reached the point where books like PHB, MM and any of the *Power books are pretty much off the 'must buy' list. The CB MB and Compendium give me all the 'crunch' I'll ever need. I want adventures and setting books now!


Thanks for the tips! Not being able to afford DDI at this point, I like the dots idea. I'm also used to looking up stuff in a book, and am less concerned about general rules updates more than power/feat/monster updates.

One month of DDI is $15 (I think - it might be less than than) and you get everything released up to this point errata included (including about 20 issues of Dragon & Dungeon mag). That's 1/2 the price of a single hardcover. I have a yearly membership myself but have been tempted to go monthly and just update 2-3 times per year.
 

One month of DDI is $15 (I think - it might be less than than) and you get everything released up to this point errata included (including about 20 issues of Dragon & Dungeon mag). That's 1/2 the price of a single hardcover. I have a yearly membership myself but have been tempted to go monthly and just update 2-3 times per year.
Oh, I know. But, I don't buy very many books nowadays either. Can't afford either recently. Updating 2-3 times a year doesn't sound so bad, though, for the CB. I run Linux, though, so I might go in on it with a friend instead.

When I started the thread, I was more concerned about general rules updates, like Stealth and Skill Challenges. I had recently taken the Herald GM test and missed one question due to not knowing the errata.
 


Books are portable and don't require a power source or an internet connection.

And they're easier to stack up and set aside while in-game. And nobody's going to be sneaking peeks at their email during the game on their books -- if I start DMing a real live campaign again, instead of one-offs, I'm seriously considering a "no laptops at the table" rule. Even with the best of intentions, people get distracted by their computers. I'm happy to have the digital tools for prep, but less happy about using them in-game.

So I like the sticker-dots solution. When the first round or two of errata came out, I actually made the changes in my book -- taped in print-outs for big changes, pencilled in little changes. However, I wasn't expecting the sheer volume of errata, so I stopped trying to keep my books up-to-date. For now, we look things up in the books, and if what we find doesn't seem to make sense or work right, we make something up for the moment and then somebody goes off and looks it up online later so we know for next time.

For other games -- since the OP mentioned interest in what people do for other games -- I usually just print out the errata and keep it with the original ruleset, so it's there when somebody says "You're kidding, the rules say that? There *must* be errata for that, that's nonsensical!"
 

Books are portable and don't require a power source or an internet connection.

And they're easier to stack up and set aside while in-game. And nobody's going to be sneaking peeks at their email during the game on their books -- if I start DMing a real live campaign again, instead of one-offs, I'm seriously considering a "no laptops at the table" rule. Even with the best of intentions, people get distracted by their computers. I'm happy to have the digital tools for prep, but less happy about using them in-game.

Ah - I see. At the table only myself (as DM) and one player have a laptop (and that is pretty much all I allow). He helps by looking stuff up in the Compendium when a rules question surfaces usually during combat so it is really handy to have someone else ready to find answers while I keep the game moving. Yes he could just look it up in the books but it is a far easier thing, for us, to type in a few keywords to the Compendium than leaf through multiple books looking for the right one (and the rule could have been changed anyways!). That said the only rulebook I don't own yet is PHB 3 so I guess I still like my books.

And who doesn't have internet?
 

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