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Would/do you continue to buy RPG books even when you have no one to play with?
- Thread starter moldyderp
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Hyper-Man
First Post
pickin_grinnin
Explorer
It has been many years since I have been able to find a halfway decent gaming group. I still buy RPGs and supplements, though, mainly just to read and enjoy. I have cut down on that in recent years, but still buy a few a year.
Savage Worlds is a purchase that I do not regret. I still buy many supplements for it. I don't keep them all, but it is one game that remains on my shelf.
...a well written sourcebook or module is like a fantasy book anyways. plus great idea mine for illustrations and concepts -as well as mechanics etc.
Alzrius
The EN World kitten
Yes I buy books even when I'm absolutely sure I'm not going to use them in an actual game. I did for years before I found a regular group, and still do.
Part of it is that I look at "playing" (by which I mean being knowledgable in the mechanical, and setting, underpinnings of a game system) as being a skill; it's something I want to develop and be able to do more effectively, and that means absorbing new material that comes out so that I have expanded knowledge of a subject and greater material to work with.
That said, I did regard developing said skill as having a practical context - I presumed that at some point in the future I'd find a group where I could put all of these resources into play. Well, I found a group and...they didn't really care that much that I knew of hundreds of different options across as many third-party books. They were not only happy with the basic rules and a few first-party supplements, but viewed third-party offerings with deep suspicion (about how "balanced" they were).
Worse, even when it was my turn to GM, I found that knowing all these different rules and actually devoting the time and energy to building characters and scenarios that used them were two very different things. Circumstances in my life were such (and still are) that I can't really run a campaign unless it's a published one.
Both of these limitations meant that I underwent supplement burnout pretty hard, and it's taken my RPG buying down a notch in the last few years (also, finding a great class-less character builder for my system of choice - 3.5/Pathfinder - which eliminated the need for a lot of supplements, didn't help).
I still buy a lot of books, but at this point they're much more focused on either what I can use in my current game, or are old and out-of-print materials that I want for a combination of nostalgia and collector's enjoyment.
Part of it is that I look at "playing" (by which I mean being knowledgable in the mechanical, and setting, underpinnings of a game system) as being a skill; it's something I want to develop and be able to do more effectively, and that means absorbing new material that comes out so that I have expanded knowledge of a subject and greater material to work with.
That said, I did regard developing said skill as having a practical context - I presumed that at some point in the future I'd find a group where I could put all of these resources into play. Well, I found a group and...they didn't really care that much that I knew of hundreds of different options across as many third-party books. They were not only happy with the basic rules and a few first-party supplements, but viewed third-party offerings with deep suspicion (about how "balanced" they were).
Worse, even when it was my turn to GM, I found that knowing all these different rules and actually devoting the time and energy to building characters and scenarios that used them were two very different things. Circumstances in my life were such (and still are) that I can't really run a campaign unless it's a published one.
Both of these limitations meant that I underwent supplement burnout pretty hard, and it's taken my RPG buying down a notch in the last few years (also, finding a great class-less character builder for my system of choice - 3.5/Pathfinder - which eliminated the need for a lot of supplements, didn't help).
I still buy a lot of books, but at this point they're much more focused on either what I can use in my current game, or are old and out-of-print materials that I want for a combination of nostalgia and collector's enjoyment.
Last edited:
Olaf the Stout
Hero
Yep. I went several years without a gaming group when I was in my final year of high school and my first few years of university (oddly the opposite to many people who seemed to game the most in that period).
That certainly didn't stop me from buying RPG books though. Despite having no gaming group I still regularly purchased Dungeon and Dragon magazines as well as a number of D&D rulebooks.
If such a situation happened again in the future, I could see myself buying books still.
That certainly didn't stop me from buying RPG books though. Despite having no gaming group I still regularly purchased Dungeon and Dragon magazines as well as a number of D&D rulebooks.
If such a situation happened again in the future, I could see myself buying books still.
Centisteed
First Post
I've bought many as well without ever really playing them. I got a few GURPS Basic set last year plus Banestorm, also the Shadowrun 20th anniversary edition, & 3 Premium 1st AD&D hardbacks. But then I went on a break. Before I went on my break, what I decided to do was use the Mythic system to setup a solo game using each system. Sadly it was taking so long to get through these books that I eventually had to put them away to do other things & now only recently getting back into the hardback collecting aspect of the hobby.
My recent purchase as of today is the Numenera Core book. Written by a master with incredible art and detail, the whole book is like looking at a work of art. I'm hoping I'll be able to read through it while working on a way to use Mystic to play it as well.
In fact, the goal is to sort of run in parallel multiple games, so I can switch between them. I'm doing character design for each setting I plan to use & will then move into starting each adventure & just sort of type it as I go. Last week I was setting up some Omega World characters for the Polyhedron/Dungeon PDF I purchased a few years ago. It'll take a long time to get through anything, but I'm not in a rush.
And it's hard to turn away from the other amazing campaign settings I've seen as well. Savage Worlds looks like fun (I was looking at Sundered Skies), Mongoose Traveller (I've found the main Mongoose Spinward Marches I'd love to buy is the most expensive one for some reason), also some of the old, beat-up GDW books could be nice to have. GURPS Infinite Worlds is another (it was default campaign for GURPS Basic). Eclipse Phase looks like a must-have as well. I recently got Stars Without Number the free PDF too. The DCC RPG and hopefully the Fallen Empires campaign setting will be available for it. I think that's all I need...lol.
One way I try to curb the collecting is by looking for books that are more expensive but desired (like Mongoose Spinward Marches or Infinite Worlds), so that their value will hold or increase. Next is how collectible it is (limited edition, anniversary, special, original...like Carcosa), and whether it was written by a master RPG designer and drawn with a master artist. And after that focusing on the non-D&D stuff. However, I'm interested in what the D&D Next official campaign setting will be & may pick it up. The last part of the collection is if it's just something that heavily peaks my interest such as GURPS Cthulhupunk, Planescape, or The Book of Vile Darkness, DCC RPG, etc. Overall though, I don't have that many books. I've got about 1 shelf of RPG hard/soft-backs from D&D from the 90s/early 2000s & a ton of GURPS 3E stuff, & a second shelf of old D&D modules. Though one of these days I should probably archive those D&D modules to increase shelf space for the newer set of hardbacks.
Aside from attempts at solo play, reading these types of books is basically an imagination stimulant. It really makes me think.
My recent purchase as of today is the Numenera Core book. Written by a master with incredible art and detail, the whole book is like looking at a work of art. I'm hoping I'll be able to read through it while working on a way to use Mystic to play it as well.
In fact, the goal is to sort of run in parallel multiple games, so I can switch between them. I'm doing character design for each setting I plan to use & will then move into starting each adventure & just sort of type it as I go. Last week I was setting up some Omega World characters for the Polyhedron/Dungeon PDF I purchased a few years ago. It'll take a long time to get through anything, but I'm not in a rush.
And it's hard to turn away from the other amazing campaign settings I've seen as well. Savage Worlds looks like fun (I was looking at Sundered Skies), Mongoose Traveller (I've found the main Mongoose Spinward Marches I'd love to buy is the most expensive one for some reason), also some of the old, beat-up GDW books could be nice to have. GURPS Infinite Worlds is another (it was default campaign for GURPS Basic). Eclipse Phase looks like a must-have as well. I recently got Stars Without Number the free PDF too. The DCC RPG and hopefully the Fallen Empires campaign setting will be available for it. I think that's all I need...lol.
One way I try to curb the collecting is by looking for books that are more expensive but desired (like Mongoose Spinward Marches or Infinite Worlds), so that their value will hold or increase. Next is how collectible it is (limited edition, anniversary, special, original...like Carcosa), and whether it was written by a master RPG designer and drawn with a master artist. And after that focusing on the non-D&D stuff. However, I'm interested in what the D&D Next official campaign setting will be & may pick it up. The last part of the collection is if it's just something that heavily peaks my interest such as GURPS Cthulhupunk, Planescape, or The Book of Vile Darkness, DCC RPG, etc. Overall though, I don't have that many books. I've got about 1 shelf of RPG hard/soft-backs from D&D from the 90s/early 2000s & a ton of GURPS 3E stuff, & a second shelf of old D&D modules. Though one of these days I should probably archive those D&D modules to increase shelf space for the newer set of hardbacks.
Aside from attempts at solo play, reading these types of books is basically an imagination stimulant. It really makes me think.
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