How Many Books do You Take to a Game?

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cczernia
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How Many Books do You Take to a Game?

Post by cczernia »

I bring this up because in another post Digital Boy mention bringing 20+ GURPS books to game. Also, JC brought all his Star Trek books (5 or 6) to a Star Trek con game he ran. So, my questions is when you run an rpg how many books do you bring to the game?

To answer my own question I usually bring 1-3. For something like a World of Darkness game I would need to bring the corebook, the setting book, and sometimes I'll bring a book with a lot of NPCs in it.
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Digital_Boy
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Post by Digital_Boy »

In my own case, since I generally play GURPS exclusively, I tend to bring only the applicable books that are needed for the game, i.e. if we're playing a Banestorm game, I'll bring the Basic books, Banestorm, Fantasy, Magic and whatever other sourcebooks happen to be applicable.

That is a downside to the flexibility of the GURPS system: you need a bazillion books. The other major downside to GURPS is the layout of some reference material, e.g. you read about a skill modifier and it refers you to a page in another book.
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Post by BlanchPrez »

In my current D&D game, I end up bringing a lot of books... all three core books, the "2" books (PHB2, MM2, etc) and some other books that I am using, such as Open Grave. Other players tend to bring other books (ones I don't have) such as the Adventurers Vault and the FRPG.

In addition, I bring the adventure and all my notes, tiles for miniture use, graph paper, dice, etc... it all makes for a pretty heavy backpack. :)

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Digital_Boy
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Post by Digital_Boy »

Then let us not forget the drinks/snacks that you generally bring with you, unless you're a mooch.:nono:

That's a lot of weight that's also very awkwardly distributed.
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Post by devlin1 »


[quote="cczernia"]So, my questions is when you run an rpg how many books do you bring to the game?[/quote]
These days, none.



If it's one of my own FATE-based games, I'll have my notes on my laptop. If it's D&D, I'm more likely to use the Compendium online.



Then again, this Sunday when I run Fantasy HERO, I'll likely bring FREd.

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jimmy corrigan
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Post by jimmy corrigan »

when i'm a player i usually bring none. as you mentioned, it's quite a different story when i'm the gm.
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cczernia
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Post by cczernia »


[quote="jimmy corrigan"]when i'm a player i usually bring none. as you mentioned, it's quite a different story when i'm the gm.[/quote]

Agreed. As a player I'll usually bring the corebook if I have it.

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Skyman
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Post by Skyman »

As a player none or one

As a GM...most likely CoC then one with maybe one or two supliments but I try to just do one
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opwunder
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Post by opwunder »

None....a lot of notes but no books...
A writer is congenitally unable to tell the truth and that is why we call what he writes fiction. – William Faulkner
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BlanchPrez
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Post by BlanchPrez »


[quote="opwunder"]None....a lot of notes but no books...[/quote]

You don't count, Mr. Home-brew systems only. :P



As a player, I've done everything from none to all the books I have. However, it's been so long since I was just a player, that I can't honestly answer that question. Probably the core rule book if I had it.



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opwunder
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Post by opwunder »


[quote="BlanchPrez"]You don't count, Mr. Home-brew systems only. :P
[/quote]


Just seeing if anyone was paying attention...shoulda known you'd remember... In all truth though, those notes take up over two file cabinet drawers these days...somehow something new always comes up...

A writer is congenitally unable to tell the truth and that is why we call what he writes fiction. – William Faulkner
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