When thinning down the collection, what to keep and why?

[Ghost2020]

I'm moving this fall, and also the collection has grown so large that some of the unused games have found some new and very happy homes. I'm trying to get down to the handful of core systems that I know and run, with a few 'I love it, but I'm never going to play it' books.

So the dilemma is always "What to keep and why?" mostly coming from book style and purpose.

I'm torn on the adventure path\module\scenario books. Most I have in PDF, so it's easy to run them from PDF when playing online. In person, I'd probably get it printed, mark it up with notes, and then recycle it when done.
But it's nice to have the original hardcopy.

Also, for the supplements - regional sourcebooks, misc setting information, etc.
Those are nice in hardcopy, but the reality is, that almost NEVER makes it to the table during play. I'll usually re-read the region prior to play. Also, it seems like PDFs could fill this role nicely.

Books that have a lot of rules, equipment, spells, etc tend to stick around in hardcopy for sure.

What have you done when it's time to slim down or streamline the collection? I know, 'I don't' is an answer!
That's where I've been for so long, but it's getting unwieldy.

What have you found that works well for your PDF\Hardcopy blend? What types of books are better in one format or another?

 

[overgeeked]

I'm not just an RPG nut, but a book nut, so I have many, many bookcases filled with books of all kinds. Moving is an absolute nightmare. I've downsized my library several times over the decades...and, honestly, I've regretted it every time. If I could go back and put in the time to box up, move, unpack, etc all the books I've given away, sold, or donated...I'd do it in a heartbeat to get all my books back. I've never regretted keeping a book. I've only ever regretted getting rid of books.

 

[Reynard]

I wish I had never purged a single book. It can be years later, but at some point I always reach for something that is no longer in my collection.

 

[Ghost2020]

I'm not just an RPG nut, but a book nut, so I have many, many bookcases filled with books of all kinds. Moving is an absolute nightmare. I've downsized my library several times over the decades...and, honestly, I've regretted it every time. If I could go back and put in the time to box up, move, unpack, etc all the books I've given away, sold, or donated...I'd do it in a heartbeat to get all my books back. I've never regretted keeping a book. I've only ever regretted getting rid of books.

Yeah, I hear ya! My reading books will get some shelf space, but otherwise I'm going to have to index them with a spreadsheet and put them in totes in the crawlspace. Not enough wall room for all the bookshelves.

Downsizing is happening. So far, any rpgs that I've sold, I've not had any regrets. Also, a large pile of those games were second and third time purchases for that line. I either couldn't get into them or felt that I could replicate enough of it with a different system, and just mined the lore from a PDF.

 

[overgeeked]

I wish I had never purged a single book. It can be years later, but at some point I always reach for something that is no longer in my collection.

Same. I hate that. I'll be talking about some game or some novel or some non-fiction thing I know I have and go to find it...only to remember I got rid of it, lost it, sold it, etc 20 years ago because I couldn't be bothered to put it in a box and lug it to the next place.

I wonder if there's a name for that. Like phantom limb, but for books...

 

[Jd Smith1]

Over the last 12 years, as I have transitioned to pdfs, I have thrown away a dumpster's worth of RPG products.

Earlier this year I threw away over 100 RPG books. I have kept only a few pieces of sentimental value, and my Harn stuff because Columbia Game's prices are insane.

 

[Reynard]

Over the last 12 years, as I have transitioned to pdfs, I have thrown away a dumpster's worth of RPG products.

Earlier this year I threw away over 100 RPG books. I have kept only a few pieces of sentimental value, and my Harn stuff because Columbia Game's prices are insane.

I can understand transitioning to PDFs but why in the world would you throw away books? Sell them to Noble Knight. Donate them. Give them away.

 

[Jd Smith1]

Reynard:
I can understand transitioning to PDFs but why in the world would you throw away books? Sell them to Noble Knight. Donate them. Give them away.

Packaging them up and hauling them to the PO is more work than it is worth.

I did give a complete set of Fading Suns material to a deserving recipient, but otherwise, I don't like the idea of my stuff falling into the hands of the unwashed masses. Far better a clean demise.

I just threw away 100+ RPG books

A full (probably) set of War Hammer FRPG 1e and 3e, a large amount of Rolemaster, and some odds and ends, plus several binders from campaigns long past. It represented about 60% of my remaining print RPG library. I quit buying hard copy a long time ago, with the exception of WH 3e, and have...

www.enworld.org

 

[Reynard]

Packaging them up and hauling them to the PO is more work than it is worth.

I did give a complete set of Fading Suns material to a deserving recipient, but otherwise, I don't like the idea of my stuff falling into the hands of the unwashed masses. Far better a clean demise.

Hoo boy I do hope you are joking.

 

[Mezuka]

• Give to charity stores. Some parent would make a kid happy.
• Sell: Impulsive buys you barely looked at or didn't like after reading.
• Trash: Not in a good condition or missing pieces for box sets. Or books which bring back hurtful memories.

Keep:
Long ago I thought I would keep my Basic, Expert, AD&D 1 and 2 books for ever. Turned out I slowly got rid of them. I have the memories and I can't play with those rules anymore. I haven't kept much. 80% of my current collection is stuff bought after 2010.

RPGs are like ex-girlfriends. When you want to go back, look at the list of reasons why you left them. Suddenly you might not regret letting them go after all.

 

[Dioltach]

I'm in the process of reducing my collection - mostly my boardgames, because there are so many I know I'll never get to play (Twilight Imperium - who has the time? War of the Ring - who has the table space? Captain Sonar - who has seven friends?). But just the other day I found someone who was willing to take over all my old 1e and 2e books and boxed sets: Greyhawk, FR, Darksun, Spelljammer, Planescape. I realised I was never going to use them again.

The only ones I've decided to hang on to (besides 3.X stuff) are BECMI (sentimental reasons, and takes up minimal space) and my boxed set of Time of the Dragon (sentimental value and a setting that I'd still love to explore).

 

[Ghost2020]

I'm mostly looking for advice about what supplements are better in hard copy vs PDF. What have you used at your table and prep that seem to fit your needs?

 

[Mezuka]

I'm mostly looking for advice about what supplements are better in hard copy vs PDF. What have you used at your table and prep that seem to fit your needs?

I would prioritize adventures over anything else. They can be ported to any system. I kept my old D&D aventures but not the rule books.

 

[innerdude]

Tier 1-- Anything that A) you're likely to play and B) is going to be used by players, you 100% keep.

Tier 2 -- Rules, settings, adventures that you are likely to use for reference, or regularly use for inspiration or adventure planning.

Everything else, truthfully, you can live without in hard copy. The past 5 years I've pared down my hard copy library to ~15 books, and if I'm being honest with myself, it's still probably 7 or 8 too many.

 

[John R Davis]

I have sold about £2000 of stuff recently.
Basically I have so much on the shelf of shame ( stuff I have never players but will ) that I have shifted stuff I will never use ( again).

 

[Dioltach]

I've found that anything I need during the game I prefer to have in hardcopy. Stuff I only use for prep I don't mind having as PDF. I just don't like looking up stuff on my tablet while I'm playing.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Same, for the most part. While I can't say I've regretted every book I've gotten rid of (good riddance to Lamentations of the Flame Princess; I didn't really still need a 20-year-old book on library classification systems; nor was I ever going to re-read The Crying of Lot 49, as much as I liked it the first time). That being said, there have been some notable instances of books I've regretted getting rid of, and for the most part reobtaining them has cost me significantly more the second time around.

I'm not just an RPG nut, but a book nut, so I have many, many bookcases filled with books of all kinds. Moving is an absolute nightmare. I've downsized my library several times over the decades...and, honestly, I've regretted it every time. If I could go back and put in the time to box up, move, unpack, etc all the books I've given away, sold, or donated...I'd do it in a heartbeat to get all my books back. I've never regretted keeping a book. I've only ever regretted getting rid of books.

My advice if you're getting rid of a book is to think about where your headspace is right now. If you want to get rid of a particularly book, ask yourself why? What is going on with you at the moment to make you want to toss it, and is it going to change in the future? RPG books in particular are only getting more expensive to get second-hand, so I'd advise thinking carefully about what you get rid of.

For example, you'll never pry my 2e Complete Book of Dwarves from me. But that third party, 3e Half-Orcs splatbook? I got rid of that years ago and all I can remember about it now is the cover.

It's okay to hold onto books for sentimental reasons, too. Sometimes a book is a monument to a time in our lives that we are unlikely to revisit, but that doesn't make them insignificant.

 

[Zaukrie]

I sold all my 2e books, as I never used them. If you haven't used a book in game, and want to reduce your collection, start there.

Adventures are the most reusable across time and systems. I kept about twenty of those. I got rid of hundreds of minis. I found I just didn't use most of them, and, frankly, realized I didn't need the perfect mini all the time.

Rules? I'd keep most of the rules books. But even those? If you play 5e, and have some money, DNDbeyond is much more useful.

This is influencing my purchases also. I buy most things on DNDbeyond now. And I buy a lot less things than I used to, because I know what I'll use or not.

I do find hard copy gets more reading time, but PDF and DNDbeyond get more in game use.

 

[Baron Opal II]

1- If you have used it for the current, last, or imminent future games, keep it.
2- If you have used it at some point in the last two years, campaigns, whatever, keep it.
3- If you have an adventure, sourcebook, whatever that has an idea or rules for a situation that is amazing and you just haven't had a specific need for this, but you quite like it, keep it.
4- If you have a particular emotional attachment to it (Christmas present from a passed friend, signed by the author, &c.), keep it.
5- If it has an heirloom quality to it (a first edition Little Wars), keep it.
6- Sell everything else.

 

[Malmuria]

Take an rpg book off the shelf, and ask yourself, does this ravenloft sourcebook spark joy? Does this delta green scenario spark joy? If not, thank it for its presence in your life, and move on.

But sell it to noble knight they’ll send you a box for shipping. Throwing books away is chaotic evil.