What are the best "fluff" PDFs or books?
- Thread starter philreed
- Start date
CarlZog
Explorer
Whether it's specific to a setting or general stuff isn't the criteria for me. I'm looking for creative, interesting, and inspiring -- preferably well written.philreed said:
One of my favorites is Alternity's Star Drive Campaign Setting, which could easily be adapted to d20 future. It's admittedly a broad brushstroke look at a huge setting, but I find it to be far more interesting and believable than settings like Traveller and Star Wars.
Streets of Silver from Living Imagination is another one I really like. It's a very detailed Italian-style fantasy city. It seems like nearly every house and building and resident was listed in detail.
I would have given this post a miss, Phil, except it's you; and I love the chance to influence a publisher whenever and however possible.
In answer your first question, I will add another vote for The Road of Kings. It immediately came to mind. That book was written by a true fan and will likely be the only book I ever buy in the Conan line. I hope to use it to convert an old 1985 Conan RPG module to a d20 D&D game without any of the horrid crunchiness of the Conan d20 OGL game. TRoK is more like a gazetteer, which is much more useful to me than a book of weird variant fantasy d20 rules.
Without going into as much detail, here are some examples of great fluffy books from my shelves (ones that I intend to keep): Mesopotamia, Mysteries of the Drow, Judge Dredd (all books), Gamemastering Secrets, Robin's Laws of Good Game Mastering, DragonStar Starfarer's Handbook, The Giant's Skull, Burning Shaolin, D&D Gazeteer, Alternity Gamma World, and about 70 issues of Dungeon--especially #94 with Omega World on the Polyhedron side.
Honorable mentions go to DragonStar Raw Recruits, Redline, Spellslinger, Grimm, Greyhawk the Adventure Begins, and Rifts.
The details are generally found in answer to your second question. A good fluff book for me is one that allows me to use my favorite game, d20 D&D, as easily as possible while enjoying the sword-and-sorcery core game or a neat alternative in another genre. It's a very difficult balance to achieve.
The single best example I can give you is Omega World (OW). That mini-game packs into about 40 pages what many games struggle to do or cannot do in several hundred pages. OW is full of new crunch, but it's concise and easy to use; and it's very portable. Also, the crunchy parts are chock full of fluffy bits that help explain and define the setting. Some of the one-liners are priceless. The (very) short descriptions of the Cryptic Alliances are gems. Most importantly, it has a toolkit for the DM to allow easy incorporation of NPCs & foes. It perfectly captures the feel of the classic Gamma Wordl game for me, and I think it's the best d20 game ever. I may even prefer it to D&D.
The runner-up for me is Judge Dredd. That game has a lot of fluff to draw upon: almost 30 years of comics; novels; video games; and a movie. I knew very little of it before I bought the game. I watched the movie and read about a dozen borrowed comics. I was hooked after reading the core rulebook. It has a good fluffy overview of the game world. The game then presents enough changes to d20 D&D to make it playable as a post-apocalypitc/science-fiction urban game but not so many so as to make it unplayably different. I can't describe it all, but I will give you an example of Defense Value. Instead of a complicated chart or class-based bonuses to calculate DV, JDd20 jus makes it 10 + total Reflex save for a simple & playable alternative to AC (and it's the only time I've seen players select Lightning Relfelxes for their characters!).
But as good as I found the game, the core book would have been the end for me had the publisher not printed several adventures shortly thereafter. With modules to run, I was motivated to pick up all the fluffy (& somewhat crunchy) sourcebooks, too. Now, I've got everything (except time and players, unfortunately). The publisher nicely avoided the all-too-common trap of just putting out a source or campaign book of new rules without adventures to play.
To sell me a book in this market, the idea has to be inspired (brilliant or off the hook, so to say), AND it has to be immediately and easily playable--usually with or as a pre-written adventure(s). Anything else I'll outright pass or just buy, read and resell. I simply don't have the time or the inclination, especially when I have enough material that gives me what I want to play indefinitely.
In answer your first question, I will add another vote for The Road of Kings. It immediately came to mind. That book was written by a true fan and will likely be the only book I ever buy in the Conan line. I hope to use it to convert an old 1985 Conan RPG module to a d20 D&D game without any of the horrid crunchiness of the Conan d20 OGL game. TRoK is more like a gazetteer, which is much more useful to me than a book of weird variant fantasy d20 rules.
Without going into as much detail, here are some examples of great fluffy books from my shelves (ones that I intend to keep): Mesopotamia, Mysteries of the Drow, Judge Dredd (all books), Gamemastering Secrets, Robin's Laws of Good Game Mastering, DragonStar Starfarer's Handbook, The Giant's Skull, Burning Shaolin, D&D Gazeteer, Alternity Gamma World, and about 70 issues of Dungeon--especially #94 with Omega World on the Polyhedron side.
Honorable mentions go to DragonStar Raw Recruits, Redline, Spellslinger, Grimm, Greyhawk the Adventure Begins, and Rifts.
The details are generally found in answer to your second question. A good fluff book for me is one that allows me to use my favorite game, d20 D&D, as easily as possible while enjoying the sword-and-sorcery core game or a neat alternative in another genre. It's a very difficult balance to achieve.
The single best example I can give you is Omega World (OW). That mini-game packs into about 40 pages what many games struggle to do or cannot do in several hundred pages. OW is full of new crunch, but it's concise and easy to use; and it's very portable. Also, the crunchy parts are chock full of fluffy bits that help explain and define the setting. Some of the one-liners are priceless. The (very) short descriptions of the Cryptic Alliances are gems. Most importantly, it has a toolkit for the DM to allow easy incorporation of NPCs & foes. It perfectly captures the feel of the classic Gamma Wordl game for me, and I think it's the best d20 game ever. I may even prefer it to D&D.
The runner-up for me is Judge Dredd. That game has a lot of fluff to draw upon: almost 30 years of comics; novels; video games; and a movie. I knew very little of it before I bought the game. I watched the movie and read about a dozen borrowed comics. I was hooked after reading the core rulebook. It has a good fluffy overview of the game world. The game then presents enough changes to d20 D&D to make it playable as a post-apocalypitc/science-fiction urban game but not so many so as to make it unplayably different. I can't describe it all, but I will give you an example of Defense Value. Instead of a complicated chart or class-based bonuses to calculate DV, JDd20 jus makes it 10 + total Reflex save for a simple & playable alternative to AC (and it's the only time I've seen players select Lightning Relfelxes for their characters!).
But as good as I found the game, the core book would have been the end for me had the publisher not printed several adventures shortly thereafter. With modules to run, I was motivated to pick up all the fluffy (& somewhat crunchy) sourcebooks, too. Now, I've got everything (except time and players, unfortunately). The publisher nicely avoided the all-too-common trap of just putting out a source or campaign book of new rules without adventures to play.
To sell me a book in this market, the idea has to be inspired (brilliant or off the hook, so to say), AND it has to be immediately and easily playable--usually with or as a pre-written adventure(s). Anything else I'll outright pass or just buy, read and resell. I simply don't have the time or the inclination, especially when I have enough material that gives me what I want to play indefinitely.
MotoCaust
Incidentally, your MotoCaust game was a nice balance between fluff & crunch, Phil. It has some rough spots in the rules mechanics (especially for pedestrians), but it is a nice little game. The artwork is very inspiring. The rules concept is pretty elegant.
But, what's happening with it now? It's been several months with no updates to the web site. There are no new products--no adventures at all. Perhaps this development model works for a one-shot game; but it doesn't seem to be sustainable. There isn't much else for me to do with it besides a buy & try. I certainly don't want to see it overdeveloped with new rules books (like Deadlands), but a series of small, inexpensive, linked pdf adventures might go a long way.
Incidentally, your MotoCaust game was a nice balance between fluff & crunch, Phil. It has some rough spots in the rules mechanics (especially for pedestrians), but it is a nice little game. The artwork is very inspiring. The rules concept is pretty elegant.
But, what's happening with it now? It's been several months with no updates to the web site. There are no new products--no adventures at all. Perhaps this development model works for a one-shot game; but it doesn't seem to be sustainable. There isn't much else for me to do with it besides a buy & try. I certainly don't want to see it overdeveloped with new rules books (like Deadlands), but a series of small, inexpensive, linked pdf adventures might go a long way.
scourger said:
Thanks. I've been working off and on with an expanded/revised version of the game (that will be free to those that already bought it). Most of our efforts with MotoCaust have been on the licensing and graphic novel end of things. The MotoCaust trailer is done and should be loaded to the web soon -- that will be neat -- and more is in the works.
philreed said:
Both! Heh. Honestly, i don't mind either. I like good fluff in whatever form. Fluff for a setting is easier to come by though. Excellent generic fluff is a much tougher beast to track!
My list:
3E/3.5 (i'll leave off settings since they are usually fluff heavy and start flame wars anyway)
-Manual of the Planes. I still take this book out and read it every once in a while. Beautiful.
Non D20
-Dc Heroes Atlas - a bit outdated, but still shines.
-Night City Sourcebook Cyberpunk - Haven't read any other city book that felt so damned lived in and busy.
Most of my pdf stuff is crunch, but i have recently bought something that was awesome for fluff.
The 101 compilation PDF (sp?) - this is the 101 treasures, 101 spellbooks, and 101 spell components. Way better than i expected them to be. mostly because i figured that after 20 years of gaming i didn't need such stuff. Oops. The 101 Treasures i like the best. Almost everyone of them either gave me an adventure hook or a vivid image flash of a scene in which the treasure could be involved. What more can you ask for? For a dollar no less!!! Truth be told, it was worth more than a buck to me. shhhhh.
GlassJaw
Hero
I don't like books with fluff to read like history textbooks, which I think a lot of campaign settings suffer from. Again, I compare it to the Shadowrun books. They describe the setting and timeline but also have an "in-game" commentary that really gives you a feel for the setting. I also want my fluff to be oozing with adventure and campaign ideas. It's not use to me if it's just boring narrative. I need to be able to translate it into game terms.
PJ-Mason said:
Thanks! The Ronin Arts/SkeletonKey Games Holiday Coupon Book (see my sig) has a coupon to get this for $1.95.
If you liked that you'll enjoy most of the PDFs in the "A Dozen . . . " series. Those take the ideas behind 101 Mundane Treasures and have really refined the process (the 101 Collection represents my first 3 PDFs . . . I've learned a lot since then).
I, personally, love a lot of fluff. I get most of my best ideas from novels but books like Silver Marches are extremely valuable to me.
Gothmog
First Post
For D&D/d20:
Anything Midnight- its simply the most vivid and amazing campaign setting out there
Iron Kingdoms Players Guide
Anything from the Arcanis campaign setting
Book of the Righteous
Testament
Darwin's World 2nd edition- post-apocalyptic done right
Gygax's Living Fantasy
Freeport setting book
Masque of the Red Death CS
Non-D&D:
Any non-d20 Deadlands book- still the best written and captivating read in any RPG book I've ever seen
Dark Ages: Inquisitor
Fading Suns
Dark Matter CS
The Book of Nod and The Ercyies Fragments- I challenge you to read these and not get tons of cool campaign ideas
Anything for the Kult RPG- this one is just overflowing with cool ideas, many of which I incorporated into my homebrew D&D world
The new WOD/Vampire line- I wasn't a big fan of the old line (it had its moments), but the new line is very good
Anything Midnight- its simply the most vivid and amazing campaign setting out there
Iron Kingdoms Players Guide
Anything from the Arcanis campaign setting
Book of the Righteous
Testament
Darwin's World 2nd edition- post-apocalyptic done right
Gygax's Living Fantasy
Freeport setting book
Masque of the Red Death CS
Non-D&D:
Any non-d20 Deadlands book- still the best written and captivating read in any RPG book I've ever seen
Dark Ages: Inquisitor
Fading Suns
Dark Matter CS
The Book of Nod and The Ercyies Fragments- I challenge you to read these and not get tons of cool campaign ideas
Anything for the Kult RPG- this one is just overflowing with cool ideas, many of which I incorporated into my homebrew D&D world
The new WOD/Vampire line- I wasn't a big fan of the old line (it had its moments), but the new line is very good
