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Message: <blockquote data-quote="aramis erak" data-source="post: 8560609" data-attributes="member: 6779310">see below...I used the stuff in Dragon from time to time.For Traveller, I used the random alien generator, the robots rules, and as exemplar, Exonidas Spaceport (by Jefferson Swycaffer)For AD&D, I did use some of the classes - Time Lord (but, never having seen Dr. Who, we just ignored the racial requirement), variant bards (from Best Of), the Ecology articles....For BX/BECMI, I used the Create Your Own Classes... some times silly, sometimes not.I ran several of the mini-rpgs in pre-3E era mags. I loved the Tom Wham games bound it. (I'm sorely tempted to reprint the Planet Busters game from the CDROMs..)While I didn't use it at the time, the game material from Voyage of the Princess Ark story & game notes was collated into a boxed set which I have since used.For many games, the first several supplements are really "core rules, part II-IV..."For others, they are ways to open up other elements of the setting.And there is a subset of games where the rules are serialized across multiple boxes... <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Core Rules part II examples: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">MegaTraveller's Referee's Companion. It adds a number of elements that are nifty<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Mass Combat Rules - which are what justifies the abstractions in the PM's combat mechanics.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Research Rules - one of the most interesting and useful expansions from the book; I've used it more than the mass combat, and I've used both a lot.]</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">expected force strengths for worlds... important to running the rebellion setting if one is doing that subsetting.</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">all the Old World of Darkness games' Players' Guides. <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Advantages and Disadvantages are in there, not the corebooks... but are explicitly part of the intended rules. </li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Unearthed Arcana for AD&D 1E. (really should have spawned a new edition, so fundamental are the changes<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Expansion of races</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">expansion of classes (Barbarian, Thief Acrobat)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">alteration of class/subclass relationships (Paladin becomes Cavalier subclass, rather than fighter)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Weapon Proficiency expansions</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">additional allowed multiclassing</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">increased maximum levels for high attributes</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Corporate Sourcebook for Justifiers.</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Star Frontiers Knight Hawks... the ships and space rules for Star Frontiers...</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Albedo Ship Sourcebook. </li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Serialized games: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">BX/BECMI D&D; </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Dragon Age Sets 1-3; </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Arduin Grimoire.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Basic Set (big black box), Cyclopedia, Wrath of the Immortals - the Alston & Denning edition of BX/BECMI....</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Mazes and Minotaurs (not Revised). </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">D&D Gazeteers - they really do serialize to create a wholly different game from stock BECMI/B-Cy D&D.</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Open Up other Elements: <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Dark Sun & Dragon Kings for AD&D 2.  <ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Dark Sun - the magic changes alone are a huge alteration. The alternate character gen also makes the game feel a lot different. Character Trees are a great idea, as well.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Dragon Kings: adds high level characters becoming dragons, 10th level spells, quest magic.</li> </ul></li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Colonial Marines handbook  for Alien. Gives a lot more support for a randomly driven campaign of martially focused games in the Alien setting. Not all of them involving bug hunts.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">The Rivendell book for The One RIng (which adds more magic items, and gives rules for Songs to have mechanical effects - really great expansions to make the game far superior.) </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Council of Wyrms for AD&D 2.  Dragons as PCs... </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">D&D Gazeteers - each not only adds setting materials, but several also add expansion rules that make entire new elements part of the available play experience. Two add merchanting rules, one adds sailing rules, 3 expand the racial magic items for settingling down at... and several add general skills. (Which are core in Cyclopedia.) One adds piecemeal armor. </li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Advanced Recon (opens up to Mercs and actious in the rest of SE Asia.) - has since been integrated in Deluxe Recon.</li> </ul></li> </ul>Not every expansion is bloat. Not every game is complete as initially released. For many, completion is only after a couple of sourcebooks. On the other hand, some games shouldn't have their expansions all used at once, and a few shouldn't have had certain expansions written. And sometimes, an expansion should have been a new edition...Examples of that last....<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">AD&D1's Unearthed Arcana</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Zebulon's Guide for Star Frontiers (Completely replaces the skill system, but lacks any integration to SFKH...)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Space Knights for Dark Realms (Takes it from a fantasy game to a sci-fi one.)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">AD&D 2 Skills & Powers + Combat & Tactics... </li> </ul></blockquote>

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