So, I hate pdfs. Any advice on hating them less?

[Lanefan]

The batteries don't run out in a printed book.

 

[The Crimson Binome]

I got over my dislike of .pdf books by reading the Shadowrun 5E rulebook in hardcopy. After twenty pages, my arms were exhausted from just holding the book.

 

[Umbran]

The batteries don't run out in a printed book.

The batteries on my Nook last for something on the order of a month or more.

 

[Umbran]

You experience what I would call a kind of nostalgia.

I wouldn't say it is just nostalgia. Like many of us, I read a whole lot of fiction, and I grew up with paperback novels as the mainstay of my reading. These days, almost all of my fiction-reading is on an e-reader (I use a Nook, with an e-ink screen). I have no problem reading fiction in this format.

But the tiny nook is not good for full-color, large format pages of gaming book pdfs. And, as many here, I am not a fan of reading long term on the led screen of my tablet, and I dont' find the tablet nearly as good for reference (see notes about mental maps, above).

So, I will read electronic formats just fine. I don't need a paper book - unless we are talking about large-format, color pages, and stuff that I am apt to use not just as reading, but as a reference later. Thisisn't about nostalgia, but about subtle bits of usability of electronic formats for human eyes and brain.

 

[Fenris-77]

Having a monitor that rotates can be a big help if you read 2 column PDFs at a desktop. I hate having to scroll up and down the page to read columns. Most monitors do a great job when rotated 90 degrees.

I also use blue light filters pretty much constantly to help reduce eyestrain. I tend to buy the core books in hard, the ones I'll use all the time, but more peripheral or just for interest books as PDFs. Part of that is the immense cost of shipping anything to where I live, but I also only have so much physical room for gaming books.

 

[dragoner]

The batteries don't run out in a printed book.

Also you can loan it out or sell it without cries of piracy! I look at pdf's as more of a full size electronic preview of a book I might like to buy

 

[Voadam]

My advice, leverage the useful aspects of the PDFs as RPG tools.

For example the $1 level of the deal includes the massive swords and wizardry Monstrosities book. I used to copy and paste statblocks I expected to use in upcoming game nights from the srd and a ton of PDFs and found it useful. Having the statblocks on a single printed out page is a lot more convenient than flipping around in monster books, especially if you have a couple different monsters in a single encounter that are not on the same page in the monster manual or are from a number of sourcebooks.

As a DM I would regularly search things like NPC names in sourcebooks or modules so I could read up on them comprehensively or go back for information on them I only half remembered after the first read through.

Printing out maps or handouts from modules or emailing them to the group so they can reference them is useful.

Same for relevant art from the PDFs.

 

[darjr]

So this is where I admit to buying the book and PDF. Or DnDBeyond. Cause I gotta have the book.

 

[BookBarbarian]

I'm not a big fan of PDFs either, and I read ebooks all the time.

I think I'm angry that electronics versions of RPG books haven't gone far enough.

What I want is a wiki. Hyperlinks so when I click on a spell name I get the spell.

DnD Beyond has spoiled me.

 

[darjr]

I do wish DnDBeyond would take on more of the PDFs for D&D