Less is More? Less books per setting equal more enjoyment?

[Alt F4]

I like a lot of detail in my settings, so "three and out" is about completely opposite of what I want in a setting. I don't necessarily need a constant stream of new mechanics, but I'm always thirsty for new places PCs can visit, new characters they can interact with, and new events that can have an impact on them. Luckily my setting of choice these days has a huge wiki devoted to it, so I'm seldom if ever short of material.

 

[Asmor]

There's no such thing as "less books."

Well, theoretically you could have "less book," using book here volumetrically... For example, if you bought PHB2 you got less book than PHB1 (or, equivalently, fewer pages).

But yeah, pretty much. I feel I should point out that in my own reply I bolded and italicized the word "fewer." Math majors can be grammar nazis too, y'know.

 

[Scribble]

Well, theoretically you could have "less book," using book here volumetrically... For example, if you bought PHB2 you got less book than PHB1 (or, equivalently, fewer pages).

But yeah, pretty much. I feel I should point out that in my own reply I bolded and italicized the word "fewer." Math majors can be grammar nazis too, y'know.

[nitpick tangent]

There's no such thing as "less books." It's fewer books. The two words are not interchangeable.

If you can count it, it's "fewer." If you can't, it's "less." You have less water, but fewer cups of water, because cups can be counted numerically but water cannot. If you have fewer friends, you experience less friendship. And so on.

This message has been brought to you by your Friendly Neighborhood Creative Writing Major. We now return you to you regularly scheduled thread.

[/nitpick tangent]

Why do we need two words to accomplish essentially the same sentence task? I only have so many brain points to spread around.

I say it's high time we start working on English 2nd Edition, and as a priority we condense the word list.

 

[amysrevenge]

I say it's high time we start working on English 2nd Edition, and as a priority we condense the word list.

Double plus ungood.

lol

 

[kitsune9]

I know when FR came out in 3.x, I really enjoyed having all those books, but I'm the kind of person who does like more.

 

[Jan van Leyden]

Why do we need two words to accomplish essentially the same sentence task? I only have so many brain points to spread around.

I say it's high time we start working on English 2nd Edition, and as a priority we condense the word list.

But only if you guarantee to publish English Handbook II, 2nd edition within a year. I want those words at least as "optional", but definitely as "official", not as 3rd party material.

 

[scourger]

Yes. It is one of the design characteristics that I like so much about Savage Worlds. A finite amount of information is better for me. I learned in 2e that I really don't want to run something beyond a core game. For 2e, that meant PHB for me & the players, and DMG + MM + Dungeon for me as DM. Luckily, I applied the same protocol to 3e. Even for other games that I've gotten into, I prefer to keep it to the core. So, yes, fewer books are my preference.

 

[Doug McCrae]

The best ideas are usually in the first book. It's a pattern one sees repeated over and over. As with movie sequels, first is best.

So yeah, less is more.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Does having less books per setting make for a more enjoyable setting?

I think it works fantastically, especially if you have a healthy fan community, and perhaps occasional "focus material," even if it's not in full-book form.

The "core three books": a player's guide, an DM's guide, perhaps a monster/threat manual, all work together very well to give a good impression of a setting without going into so much detail that it becomes a hassle to sort through. Gives you more wiggle room for the future, too -- less canon to invalidate.

It lets you get across the big points of your setting (why play there? what makes it different? what do the heroes do? what do the heroes face? what are the interesting locations?) while keeping it open enough to add new stuff.

 

[Henry]

Is "3 books and out" better? Better for the person who doesn't like the setting in preference to something different, yes. Better for WotC who can't withstand cannibalizing their market share for any one product line too much, yes. Better for the casual gamers who run a totally different kind of campaign every year, and who want something different consisently, then yes. Better for the people who want buttloads of detail on their favorite setting, then no.