What kind of RPG books/manuals do you like?

[shadow]

Rule Books! I really prefer crunch to fluff. Since I prefer to create my own settings I don't care for setting specific stuff that much. I like books on feats, classes, and monsters that I can import into my own setting. Above all I enjoy books on new and variant rules. Mass combat systems, rules for situations not covered in the PHB and DMG, variant magic systems. I wish there were more of those types of books.

 

[Darrin Drader]

Magic books

Then probably character option books

Then well described monster books

Then DM tools

Then settings

Then adventures, preferably mega campaigns or collections of drop in scenarios to pick and choose from.

So you pretty much like every category of book and in the order of the standard RPG buyer right now.



I'm a DM most of the time and not a player, so I like the campaign books because I may use them as they are, or I can get all kinds of ideas out of them. I like monster books to add some variation to the monsters the characters get to kill and loot. Those two I like pretty evenly, and then after that I like adventures.

As a designer, I prefer to create player oriented books. New rules (including spells, feats, and prestige classes) aren't as difficult to design as adventures or campaign setting material. Monsters are just plain tedious to design unless there's something completely whacked out about them.