Things other than rulebooks

[RyanD]

Originally Posted by RyanD
There are so many more valuable things that could be sold to players and GMs beyond new rules that I get greatly irritated by how many "rulebooks" I see in the marketplace.

What sorts of valuable things are you talking about? I'm very intrigued. I can certainly see gaming aids as one example (Fiery Dragon's Battle Box comes to mind).

I thought this topic deserved its own thread. (Wow - two threads from me in one day. Feels like 2000 all over again!)

Here's an example:

One of the biggest complaints with 3E is that stat blocks are a pain to create. Why doesn't someone make a great big old "book of stat blocks". Take every monster in the SRD, and stat it up by level to 20th level, in each class, with appropriate equipment. Index that thing right, and it becomes an invaluable reference for a DM.

Here's another:

There's a system for making a magic item in the DMG. You have to work your way through pages of dense, hard to read text to figure it out. And there is a lot of logic embedded in that text that is not explicitly written, so if you want to vary from the book, you have to reverse engineer the whole system to avoid breaking things.

Why doesn't someone make a book that becomes a "user's guide to the magic item" system? Flowcharts for simplicity. A ton of magic items built per the spec with stat blocks already derived and ready for use. A detailed look at the costing mechanism for effects for weapons & armor so that you could add new effects within the parameters of the system. Notice how there's no intelligent items in the DMG? That's a whole chapter of pre-built stuff right there.

This is the kind of stuff I'm talking about. Stuff that uses the rules as written, but gives the DM (and players) a whole new toolbox of stuff to easily integrate without worrying about "breaking the game".

 

[ColonelHardisson]

One of the biggest complaints with 3E is that stat blocks are a pain to create. Why doesn't someone make a great big old "book of stat blocks". Take every monster in the SRD, and stat it up by level to 20th level, in each class, with appropriate equipment. Index that thing right, and it becomes an invaluable reference for a DM.

I've asked for something like this since 3e was released. I guess it's just not as glamorous a project as yet another setting or class book.

 

[Gentlegamer]

Does the Mother of All Encounter Tables fit into this category?

 

[the Jester]

Excellent ideas, Ryan.

The Battle Box, which makes using tricky combat maneuvers easy as pie, is one of the best dming tools I've ever owned. (Thanks again, Brain!) A huge pile of stat blocks? Well, Jurgen Hubert recently started a Wikipedia for just that, but a printed version of hundreds or even a thousand npcs statted up would be great.

 

[Timeboxer]

Actually, I've always thought that a Magic Strategy Guide, sort of like Goodman Games' Power Gamers' 3.5 Wizard Strategy Guide but less on the power gaming and more on the casting-for-newbies and creative uses of spells, would be a very invaluable resource. I've seen enough of my players bewildered by spellcasting classes to want some sort of How-To resource.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Originally Posted by RyanD
Here's an example:

One of the biggest complaints with 3E is that stat blocks are a pain to create. Why doesn't someone make a great big old "book of stat blocks". Take every monster in the SRD, and stat it up by level to 20th level, in each class, with appropriate equipment. Index that thing right, and it becomes an invaluable reference for a DM.

Because that's the sort of thing that demands to be an electronic product, so it can't be done without WotC's blessing, can it? As a paper product, I wouldn't find it terribly useful, but give it to me in database form and I'd snap it up. Plus (and I believe this point was touched on earlier in the other thread), just the monsters in the SRD isn't going to cut it. You've got the SRD, the stuff thats in the MM thats not in the SRD, MMII and III, 3rd party monster books, etc.

Here's another:...

You see a ton of questions on 'How much should this cost...' around here, so there are some that might find that useful. It would have to be vetted a lot better than the item creation rules in the DMG though, otherwise you compound the problem. Plus, it would just encourage the (unfortunate, I think) magic shop phenomena.

You want to give the DMs some useful toolkits, let slip the programmers of war and give us good electronic tools. It's just stupid that in this day and age, I've got to comb through a half-dozen books and stat things long-hand when a decent computer program and the requisite data sets could do it better, faster and lighter. Stop thinking about electronic products as an additional way to extract money from the customer and start thinking of them as an integral part of the game.

 

[Poster Bard]

One of the biggest complaints with 3E is that stat blocks are a pain to create. Why doesn't someone make a great big old "book of stat blocks". Take every monster in the SRD, and stat it up

SRD 3.5 Stat Blocks & Standard Format Monsters

 

[diaglo]

I've asked for something like this since 3e was released. I guess it's just not as glamorous a project as yet another setting or class book.

me too.

the complete idiot's guide to d02 roleplaying.

i wasn't joking.

i brought it up to (T)Ed Stark online and in person.

a handy guide to help people who don't get the rules. understand them a little better.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

SRD 3.5 Stat Blocks & Standard Format Monsters

I wonder if RPGNow knows that the demo hyperlink isn't responding properly.

 

[Napftor]

Amen to this topic! There's enough rulebooks for d20 to choke several dozen stables full of horses. I've been wracking my brain of late to come up with innovative projects that just use the core rules or tweak them in interesting ways (see Substandard Magic Items in my sig).

However, new rulebooks seems to be what sell; even after 5 years of products.