The Trollpak supplement for RuneQuest blew my mind back in the day. I haven't seen anything before or since that did so to quite the same degree. Taking a faceless "enemy race" and explaining in astounding depth "why they're this way, naughty word's way more complicated than is dreamt of in your philosophy." These are not faceless orcs for the slaughter like D&D, this is a rich (if brutal) culture than goes back way further than your own. It was eye-opening to 12-year-old me. It forever changed how I thought of RPGs, and in particular, species in RPGs.
What is your favorite RPG book of all time?
- Thread starter Reynard
- Start date
Divine2021
Adventurer
I doubt anyone will read this, but I like this thought experiment.
—Faiths and Avatars, 2nd Edition
—Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, 3rd Edition
—The Dungeon Alphabet, by Michael Curtis
—Midgard / Southlands campaign settings, by Kobold Press
—Slaves to Darkness / The Lost and the Damned, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay
—Faiths and Avatars, 2nd Edition
—Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, 3rd Edition
—The Dungeon Alphabet, by Michael Curtis
—Midgard / Southlands campaign settings, by Kobold Press
—Slaves to Darkness / The Lost and the Damned, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay
TheSword
Legend
Read and liked!
Lost and the Damned - I had that when I was about 14 - before I had even heard of the game it applied to! Cool books too, adding cross system mechanics and lore.
Bomberooski
Explorer
I'm seeing this "Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting" book a LOT in this thread.
What exactly is so great about it?? Super intrigued in it.
Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
It's a one and done book (and beautiful in a restrained way that 3E books rarely were) that covers all of the highlights of the setting in good detail without going to the laborious lengths that 2E Forgotten Realms supplements could.
It updated the setting a bit to make it a little more modern (orcs are treated as a true civilization of their own, not just a threat to others) and while there are plenty of points of immediate interest to drop a group into, it's not obviously the house of cards many other adventure settings are, where the status quo will be swept away in seconds, rendering the book obsolete.
I'm not a big Forgotten Realms fan and this was the first FR game product I ever bought and it just blew me away in a way that most settings books do not. If I were ever going to run the Forgotten Realms, I would kick myself for having sold it and find a new copy to use for my campaign. I know there's a lot of nostalgia for the gray box Forgotten Realms, but having looked through a friend's copy, it really doesn't measure up, either in quantity or quality, to the 3E white book.
Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
This is such a good book.
Divine2021
Adventurer
Really fantastic, in the sense that you can use it for a single dice roll to add spice to a room, or you can use it to design an entire mega dungeon. It’s a fun read too.
That and Monster Overhaul get a lot of use on my table. I forgot to add Monster Overhaul to my initial list, it definitely belongs there.
DarkCrisis
#1 couple in anime
Tough one.
AD&D 2E
Shadowrun 2E
Those 2 books lit such an RPG fire under me and the art was so full of character. Something modern RPGs lack imo.
AD&D 2E
Shadowrun 2E
Those 2 books lit such an RPG fire under me and the art was so full of character. Something modern RPGs lack imo.
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Micah Sweet
Level Up & OSR Enthusiast
I read the Monster Overhaul for fun when I'm bored. It is an absolutely amazing book!
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