D&D 4E What 4E Books to Get Rid Of

[Retreater]

Okay. A few factors have come up that are influencing my decision to get rid of some of my 4E books. I have a FLGS that will buy them off me, so I'm not on here to try to sell them. What I would like to know, what - in your opinion - are the titles that I can best get rid of if I want to still come back to 4E later or that would be useful in other editions of the game.

A general overview of my collection:
PHB1 (x2 copies), PHB2, PHB3, MM1, MM2, MM3, DMG1, DMG2, Adventurer's Vaults 1 and 2, Heroes of Shadow, Heroes of the Feywild, Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Neverwinter Campaign Setting, Dark Sun Campaign Setting, Dark Sun Creature Catalog, Madness at Gardmore Abbey, 3 Essentials Dungeon Tiles Sets, Heroes of the Fallen Lands, Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms, Rules Compendium, Monster Vault, Monster Vault: Nentir Vale, Tomb of Horrors, Dungeon Crawl Classics 4E adventures (a bunch of random ones), DM's Kit for Essentials.

My collector's instinct tells me to keep the Campaign Setting stuff for future edition reference and the basic "essentials" stuff for revisiting 4E later.

 

[frankthedm]

Keep the tiles and tokens, maybe Dark Sun, pawn the rest if the price is respectable or just give them to someone. I've found resale prices are usually so low one gets more 'value' giving them away to a cousin, nephew/niece or friend's kid.

 

[Neonchameleon]

First get rid of the MM1 and 2. You don't need them with the later monster books.

Next the dungeon tiles. Why keep?

The two DMGs - again if you've the DMs kit you don't need them although they were worth reading.

I'd get rid of the PHB1 (most of the good stuff is online anyway) and the PHB3 (the only good stuff there is the monk), Keep the two Heroes books and the PHB2 as your core PC books - and HoS and HotF for splats.

 

[frankthedm]

I'd get rid of the PHB1 (most of the good stuff is online anyway)

And not everyone is confident that wotc will keep their 4E material online after 5E goes live. Basing what to keep on what wotc will still have online in the future is a gamble.

 

[Mercurius]

Depends upon what you want to do, what you want the books for. If you're just thinking play and not reading enjoyment, you don't need much beyond the first couple PHBs or the two Heroes books, the two Monster Vaults, and the Rules Compendium.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I'd keep anything that contains a class, race or feat I couldn't find anywhere else.

 

[RangerWickett]

If I were a game store owner, I wonder if I'd be able to sell any old 4e stuff. I see my local gaming store's shelves full of chaff left over from the d20 boom (including some of my books!). But if he thinks it's a good business decision to take products that will be low-demand, . . . well, I'd say keep the Essentials books and Madness at Gardmore Abbey.

If you were in Atlanta, I'd say sell Madness, because I want a copy.

 

[C4]

Sell them all.

If you ever find yourself in a 4e group, I'll send you my Complete 4th Edition.

 

[S'mon]

Which books don't excite you when you pick them up? Get rid of those ones.

I find there are too many MM-MM2 monsters not reprinted in Monster Vault for me to get rid of those two, though they need their damage expressions upped. And I tend to find the 4e PHB still very useful at-table because it has the Rituals and a good selection of basic Magic Items. Plus it's the book most of my players used to make their PCs.

I would tend to think that the first thing to get rid of would be splatbooks, the Power books if you have any, and PHB 3 unless you like psionics.

The main things I would keep from my collection - PHB, DMG, MM, MM2, MM3, MV, MV: Nentir Vale, and FRCS + FRPG since I run a Realms campaign.

The only 4e book I've gotten rid of was Revenge of the Giants (to Neonchameleon) because I got a sinking feeling when I looked at it. I wouldn't mind losing Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress, either. PHB2's Primal stuff works well in my Realms campaign, but if I run a Sword & Sorcery campaign again I'd drop it.

 

[delericho]

My gut feeling is never to get rid of anything. But I'm a hoarder.

It seems very likely that most 4e stuff will remain easily available via eBay, and that prices will probably be quite reasonable. For that reason, I wouldn't worry too much about it - if you regret selling something, you'll probably be able to rebuy it later.

However, I would caution against basing a buy/sell decision on availability through DDI. WotC may or may not turn off the 4e DDI support soon, so it's probably unwise to assume you'll have access through that.

Now, for your list...

Classic 4e 'core': PHB1 (x2 copies), PHB2, PHB3, MM1, MM2, MM3, DMG1, DMG2, Adventurer's Vaults 1 and 2

Essentials 4e 'core': Heroes of the Fallen Lands, Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms, Rules Compendium, Monster Vault, Monster Vault: Nentir Vale, DM's Kit for Essentials

I say pick one of these to keep, and get rid of the other. Since Essentials is the newer of the two (and thus, I would assume, the better balanced), I would suggest keeping that one, unless you have a strong preference for 4e "Classic".

Forgotten Realms: Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Neverwinter Campaign Setting

Dark Sun: Dark Sun Campaign Setting, Dark Sun Creature Catalog

In each case, the questions I would ask are: are you currently playing/running a game set in these worlds? Are you currently planning to play/run a game set in these worlds (in the next year or so)? Are you a fan of either of these worlds for itself (or did you just get them because they were the new hotness)?

If the answer to any of these questions is "yes", then keep them. Otherwise, get rid. (That may mean you keep one, both, or neither, of course.)

General Splats: Heroes of Shadow, Heroes of the Feywild

I don't know much about either of these, but my inclination would be to get rid. Did you particularly enjoy either?

Adventures: Madness at Gardmore Abbey, Tomb of Horrors, Dungeon Crawl Classics 4E adventures

My advice is to get rid. Adventures aren't hard to come by.

Other: 3 Essentials Dungeon Tiles Sets

These aren't really 4e items, despite being sold as such. If you use minis (for 4e, Pathfinder, 5e, or any other game), then keep them. If you don't, then why did you buy them?