What is your favorite RPG book of all time?

[aco175]

I think Under Illefarn came out at the right time for me and my becoming more the primary DM in my group. I like that it is set up a bit like a box set where it has a town and a few connected adventures that can bring a party from level 1 to 5ish. I was able to use it beyond the initial campaign, similar to LMoPhandelver.

 

[Ulfgeir]

My favourite RPG-book has to be The Troubleshooters. It is gorgeous, with an art that fits the very cool theme. A simple rule system that is quick to learn and it is fun.

As runnerup, I would say FATE Core.

Best RPG-Adjacent book as in Novel, would have to be either Black Madonna, or Worlds Without Ends for Shadowrun. The first show what a really really skilled decker can do, and the second has a nice tie-in with Earthdawn, and thus expanding the setting of the game.

 

[Wofano Wotanto]

...and the second hasa nice tie-in with Earthdawn, and thus expanding the setting of the game.

I really miss the days when that was still a thing. Later publishers have divorced the two games, to the benefit of neither IMO.

 

[aramis erak]

The Little Yellow Book was good too, and my copy of it outsurvived my BBB (because the binding of the latter was kind of dodgy). Its possible I still have my physical copy somewhere.

Edit: And of course you're technically correct in the distinction, but pretty much everything in the LYB was in the BBB too.

Not "pretty much" - it's all there.

My BBB is fine. I've also got 5th, which is the same rules with errata. I mentioned to some of my players the number of attributes, and they went, "Nope!"

 

[Zaukrie]

I'm guessing mine has been mentioned already. Not sure how to choose, but I sold most of my books a few years ago, and I kept Glantri, the 3e FR book, and a few others. But the fiend folio might be my most used book. I don't know how to choose!

 

[Thomas Shey]

Not "pretty much" - it's all there.

My BBB is fine. I've also got 5th, which is the same rules with errata. I mentioned to some of my players the number of attributes, and they went, "Nope!"

Its not a modern approach, but I'm too conflicted on lumping/splitting grounds to hate it even now.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Probably the Mentzer Basic red box for the incredible Elmore art and smooth introduction to the game, or the 3E PHB for the evocative layout design, Da Vinci style sketches and bold approach to a new edition.

Those are both great choices! The Mentzer Basic red box was my introduction to D&D, and the design asthetic of the 3e PHB really worked for me, even if the edition itself wasn't my favorite.

 

[Micah Sweet]

The AD&D 2nd Edition Monstrous Manual.

Johnathan

This is my choice too. As a monster lore junkie, sometimes I'll just pull it down from the shelf and read through it again. Any modern monster book that reminds me of it gets at least a second look from me.

 

[Micah Sweet]

This one helped me a ton when I first started running my own games. It's one of only two books I've kept since I played 2nd edition, and I still use it today.

The homebrew setting I've been working on for the last four years got started using this book's system. Definitely on my short list!

 

[Micah Sweet]

Honorable mentions:

1. The 1e DMG, for reasons detailed by others above. My best friend suggested reading it cover to cover as a rite of passage, and I've never regretted it, nor encountered a subsequent DMG I've liked even half as much.

2. The Ultimate Powers Book for Marvel FASERIP. The best supplement for a great system, formative for me in the genre. I still look to it whenever I consider a supers game.

3. While I'm sure it technically breaks the rules, Dragon magazine, particularly from the mid 80s to the mid 90s. That periodical defined the hobby for me, and there's nothing in gaming's past I miss more.

4. The Fourth edition corebook for Legend of the Five Rings (the last edition published by AEG). The ultimate, most comprehensive take on my favorite RPG franchise of the 90s-early oughts that isn't D&D.

5. Just to get a more recent book in there, the Level Up Adventurer's Guide. It keeps everything I like about 5e and adds so much more to suit my preferences, and acts as an excellent base for my own homebrew; I just love it.

There are other real favorites too, some mentioned above by other posters, some a little more controversial, but that's a good sampling.