What is your favorite RPG book of all time?

[aramis erak]

There will never be another rpg as magnificent as this:

Just kiddin'

It's one of the best licensed games of the mid 80's. But it's not one book... it's two, a map, and a box...
That all the art is by Wendy Pini is a definite plus. I've suggested to Richard once that they should cut a deal with Chaosium to get it available in PDF... that was in 2006 or so...

Covering all the various tribes, including some not yet encountered, was brilliance. Adding the Wave Dancers? Another bit of brilliance. The game was, at a time when issues 21-40 were not yet out, was really a powerful draw for fans.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

Covering all the various tribes, including some not yet encountered, was brilliance. Adding the Wave Dancers? Another bit of brilliance. The game was, at a time when issues 21-40 were not yet out, was really a powerful draw for fans.

That's a good point, and easily forgotten here in the future where all that's old hat now. Not only was Elfquest at the peak of its popularity around the RPG release, the game was also a major tease of things to come. Palladium's TMNT game did well - imagine how much better it would have sold if it had effectively teased a few years worth of future comic issues inside it. That's part of what EQ had going on.

 

[wighair]

While I like the Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition rulebook, I still regard my Games Workshop printing of Call of Cthulhu 3rd Edition as my favourite. I know the book was like most of the GW editions a compilation of several books into one volume but it was darned useful to have the 1920s sourcebook right there to refer to. Something that I still use when I run CoC for people.

Plus the included colour plates really set the atmosphere for the game.

i came to write exactly this. i still love those pictures - the vampire and the ghoul especially, and the secret of castronegro is probably my most run scenario. i even remember you could cut out a page in the back to request a free scenario - the bleeding stone of iphtah - which i did.

 

[billd91]

While I like the Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition rulebook, I still regard my Games Workshop printing of Call of Cthulhu 3rd Edition as my favourite. I know the book was like most of the GW editions a compilation of several books into one volume but it was darned useful to have the 1920s sourcebook right there to refer to. Something that I still use when I run CoC for people.

Plus the included colour plates really set the atmosphere for the game.

The 3rd edition CoC hardcover was the first edition I owned. I have since picked up a couple more versions and have 7th ed now.

 

[DragonLancer]

Under 2nd edition AD&D, the Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog. A well stocked equipment guide disguised as a in-game mail order catalog. Where as players rarely added to their mundane gear, everyone bought stuff from this.

 

[jdrakeh]

The second edition of Elfquest was offered as a single softcover book.

 

[General_Tangent]

i came to write exactly this. i still love those pictures - the vampire and the ghoul especially, and the secret of castronegro is probably my most run scenario. i even remember you could cut out a page in the back to request a free scenario - the bleeding stone of iphtah - which i did.

I did that as well and I still have the scenario plus the free set of cheap dice that came with it.

 

[Arakhor]

When I was a teenager, my favourite RPG books (all AD&D 2nd Edition) were Chronomancer, The Illithiad and Drow of the Underdark. They even came all the way to university and back, just so I could enjoy their presence in my room.

In my 20s, I got into reading 3rd/4th edition GURPS splatbooks, especially Biotech, Ultratech and Infinite Worlds, simply because they were so much fun to read and so full of interesting ideas.

Much more recently, I got hold of a copy of Mutants & Masterminds Deluxe Player's Handbook (3rd Edition) and its ability to run an entire campaign out of that single book, as well as being a similarly deep source of fun ideas, have made it one of my favourite purchases of the last few years.

 

[Crusadius]

Hmmmmm. Shadowrun 2nd Edition.

It tidied up issues with damage staging from 1st Edition. And had the ABCDE system with character creation making it quick and easy to create characters (unless you choose money as A). I played once a week for a couple of years in my Uni days, and still have find memories of that time. I purchased many of the supplements as they came out, and also the novels because I absolutely loved the game.