Who Buys the Books at Your Table

[Tallifer]

My friends and I are all digital now. Pdfs, on-line tools, Google+, Facebook, downloadable or on-line Character Builders, Twiddla, hyperlinked SRDs such as Pathfinder's. I do not even open my hard copies any more, too much effort carrying them or finding table space for them.

 

[Nikosandros]

In my two gaming groups, I'm the one who buys all the book. I have one player that buys some. For example, he as several books for both 4e and PF. Recently he's been buying mostly boardgames though. All the other players normally buy the core book (if they buy anything at all) and little else.

 

[Storminator]

All of the players in my game buy at least some of the books. Also, between the 8 of us we have at least 6 subscriptions to DDi (4e game, obviously). As long as that DDi supports 4e we'll be a cash cow for WotC.

We don't have a lot of interest in moving on, but we'll keep our DDi as long as we're playing 4e.

One of my players has a lot of books, and I have a smattering. All of us have some books, but since no one brings them to the table, I have no idea what people's collections are like.

PS

 

[Jester David]

I've always been curious about this.
Mostly because of the continued assumption that player books will sell better than DM books because there are 4 times as many players at the table. But in my experience there was only ever the one person who buys all the books and they were typically the one most dedicated to the game, and thus the one who became the DM. I've wondered how true this was.

 

[Ahnehnois]

It's an interesting question: how do DMs become DMs?

For me it was a variety of things, but I do realize in retrospect that acquiring my first "DM books" actually did play a role in it.

 

[BlackSeed_Vash]

My group of players (seven of us) all buy the core book(s). Afterwards, we try to divide all the rest among ourselves so we have all the books without placing the burden of paying for AND carrying all the books.

 

[Hussar]

In the groups I've been in, everyone has bought books. Then again, it's pretty rare for me to be in groups with a dedicated DM. We've always rotated DM/GM roles, so, everyone generally has a smattering of books. There have been the odd group where only one guy had the majority of books, but, for me, that's very, very rare.

It would seem to be really boring to me to play with only one DM all the time.

 

[Raith5]

My DM is the primary buyer of books. As 4th ed player I rarely open books at the table let alone buy them because the rules are simple and everything is on the PC sheet. When I level up I will look at relevant books and get the input of my fellow players - I love 4th ed but I must confess that I find leveling up overwhelming at times.

 

[pemerton]

I buy a lot of RPG books, with "Does this look interesting?" as my main criterion.

I have a big 4e collection, but it's not complete - the Dragonomicons don't grab me, nor the Eberron stuff, nor most of the adventures. I have a complete collection of 1st ed AD&D hardbacks (dating from the mid-to-late-80s when I ran that system) and a smattering of 2nd ed books (Tome of Magic, Book of Artefacts, some Players' Option stuff - again, with interest as the criterion).

I also have a lot of books for systems that I don't run - including 3E - but that was well-reviewed, or looked like it might have something worthwhile for me to adapt to a game I might run. For instance, I am hoping one day to run some of the Penumbra d20 modules in Burning Wheel - I think it would suit them well, probably better than 3E in many cases.

Needless to say, I am also the GM in my group!

 

[delericho]

My current group has some fairly hard-core gamers, so several of us buy books for various games.

If I'm running the game, I'll buy the books. Players are encouraged to play the PHB (or equivalent core rulebook) if it's one of my "big three" games that I'm liable to run several campaigns for, but aren't required. They're also welcome to buy and bring whatever other books they want... but I have a very clear table policy that if I don't own a copy of a book, it won't even be considered for inclusion in the game.

If I'm playing in a campaign, I'll pick up the core rulebook for the system unless the GM requests that we not do so.

These days, I won't pick up a new game unless I have a solid intention of running it soon. My shelves for RPG books reached their maximum carrying capacity at the weekend, so I'm going to have to be careful going forward.