[Serious] Help, I'm addicted to buying RPG books!

[Campbell]

As a college student myself, I'd like to chime in here. It's extremely tempting to go out and buy new things when you're in college and wrapped up in the financial situations that lifestyle entails. I'm going to bet that most of the people you go to school with are fufilling their wants with the same fervor that you purchase books at. It's not a good thing, but most likely not a mental illness situation.

What I would suggest is setting up a money market account with a financial broker and refusing to get a check book for that account. I did it, and it's worked fabulously. I set a limit on my *fun things* purchases, and if I wanted more of my savings, I was forced to consult my broker, and deal with the reality of how much money I was spending on fringe purchases. You're likely to have some debt after college is over and done with, but if you get financial advice now it should pay dividends down the road. YMMV of course.

 

[Particle_Man]

I call it a collector fetish. When I was a kid I wanted to get every single TSR product, including every module (this is back in the early 80's). Guess what, I ran out of disposable income pretty quickly and gave up on that dream.

One way to save money. a) If you DM, you are going to be spending more than a player would. Stick to one type of game, one genre, etc. Don't buy anything that is not that genre or rules set. If you are not running a game right now that uses it, you don't need it. And don't buy anymore minuratures or maps. You have enough. Use candies for monsters if you have to. Say this to yourself again and again "I have enough dice. I have enough dice. I have enough dice." b) If you are not a DM, then don't buy anything ever again. You must have a PHB by now, you have minuratures (you only need one), and you have dice. If you need anything else you can look at a friend's book. If no one else in your gaming group has the book, then the book isn't needed for your game. Again, focus on what your DM is doing. Do you have a player's guide for that game? Then you are done. Splat books are not needed.

If that doesn't work, set a personal budget. How much do you want to spend, maximum, per month, on games? Then keep all the receipts from everything you spend on games and if you are in danger of going over your limit, don't buy it that month. This also gives you a "cooling off" period to determine if you really need it.

Stop going to gaming stores every week. Go once a month, max. Ideally, only go once a year, but probably once/3 months is more realistic.

I am not saying I am perfect. I bought the Unearthed Arcana, and love it, but I am not a DM, so it is at best an interesting read. I will likely buy the extended psionics handbook, but no one I know uses or allows psionics. But I limit myself. Limited modern/future/non-fantasy. I do have some 7th Sea, Call of Chthulhu, Mutants and Masterminds, etc, but only when I was a player in those games, or when it was on sale.

I did buy Orkworld. Sigh. Nice, but I shouldn't have. No one plays Orkworld around here. So again, in the "interesting read" category. I bought Epic. No one does Epic around here. Another waste.

Oh, p.s.: Don't ever, *ever*, EVER get into any collectable card games. If you are in one now, sell all the cards and NEVER buy one again. I never bought a card in any such game and have never regretted that. That stuff sucks up your money faster than any other gaming product.

 

[Talath]

What I really meant to say was, man does this seem like a troll to anyone?

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Like someone else said - go rent library books on medieval history/warfare/etc. It's free, partially kills the fantasy fix and you'll learn interesting gaming material.

I used to spend a fair bit on books, there's an easy fix - don't go in the shop unless you have decided you need something. If you do, go in there with the right amount of cash...

 

[bubbalin]

What I really meant to say was, man does this seem like a troll to anyone?

I tihnk it's a legitimate post, considering that many here probably go through a similar thing...

Campbell,
Yeah, lots of other people do go and spend obscene amounts on things like drinking... I guess it just looks worse because we see the 'detritus' of our spending more and can tally how much these books cost us. You get wasted on Friday, by next Friday you've forgotten about it and the amount you spent in the pub... So you go and do it again.
We go out and spend $60 on books, and for the next month its staring at you.

 

[Mirth]

I'm purging right now, so whatever you do DON'T follow the links in my sig...

Mirth

 

[Buttercup]

Seriously, is this a serious post?

• Are you spending money you don't have? i.e., debt purchases on RPG material?
• Are you spending money you need for bills/food/tuition/etc.?
• Or are you just spending a lot of money on RPGs and occasionally you start to think, "Damn, that's a lot of money to spend on a hobby!"?

I'm not addicted to RPG spending, but I spend a lot, and I impulse buy. I don't consider it to be a problem, it's a part of the hobby that I like. It's nice to be able to do that, frankly. If d20 had come out while I was still in school, I'd be in a very different boat.

There you go. Spending disposable income on a hobby is not an addiction. So what if you never use the books? Did you get pleasure out of buying them and reading them? Could you afford it? Then no big deal. However, if you are spending money you don't have, then you've got a problem. It isn't a question of whether you will use the material or not. If you need the money for food/rent/tuition/utilities, and you spend it on your hobby, then head straight over to the campus health service and ask to see a counsellor.