Parting with 3e
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The stack I put up on Craigslist the other day
Steadily, more and more, my collection of 3.0 D&D books is dwindling. I’ve been slowly taking them into the game store, knowing I’ll never be using some of them again. I just put a big collection of them up on Craigslist the other day. Why?
I’m finding, more and more, that 3e D&D just doesn’t have what I want out of an RPG. It’s needless complication and endless stream of feats, skills, and classes just doesn’t seem worth it.
I’m keeping the essentials: The three core books, stuff for Eberron and Forgotten Realms, Midnight, etc. But I’m getting rid of the fluffy books: The Races books, the Complete series. I just can’t find the use for them anymore, or ever again. I’d rather see the money I make from them go into new games, or additional books for other RPGs I’ll be playing in the future.
I’m actually thinking about putting the cash from the latest craigslist post (depending on how much I get for it) into some stuff for Savage Worlds.
Have any of you been doing this? Do you find yourself parting with old books to make way for new?
Like you, I’ve gotten rid of all of my 3rd edition stuff over the past two years with the exception of the Eberron books which I still like to mine for ideas (even if I don’t really like the collective sum of them that is Eberron). This past February I dragged the last of the books to a bring-&-buy at a local mini-con and put them up for 5 Euros per book – I went home with cash in my pocket and not a single book.
.-= MJ Harnish´s last blog ..Painting Miniatures: Brushes and brush care =-.
No. I keep everything and I mean everything. I have shelf after shelf of gaming material from the early 80s to today. I keep them for a number of reasons but mostly for research. Often I will get an idea and instead of reinventing something old I’ll just look it up.
Recently in my 4E game I wanted the party to cat-herd a village from an encroaching army. I remembered Dragonlance did something similar and dug out the module that did the same thing. Reading the old material helped solidy how I was going to do it.
I am working on a Drow campaign on the side and find background material from a variety of editions to be useful for building my setting.
I find I reuse material alot. I see my old books as a research library.
.-= callin´s last blog ..The Rest of the Turn =-.
I’ve held onto games for years, and then some more years. Only recently have I begun giving my old stuff away.
-Tourq
.-= Tourq´s last blog ..Clawspawn, a Demon – Steal this Monster =-.
I’ve been doing this exact same thing. I’ve sold a few of my 3e books and plan to sell more, and I completely dove into Savage Worlds. I find Savage Worlds not only fulfills my desire for a new RPG to replace D&D, but it also serves as a substitute for d20 Modern, too. Additionally, the Test Drive Rules and the price of the setting-neutral, rules-simple core book make it easy to get new player buy-in as they aren’t shelling out a significant amount of money for a book that’s dedicated to a single system and genre/setting. Consider, too, that many “player’s guides” for Savage Worlds settings include a site license to print copies for players freely.
If you’re a fan of Eberron, you might find Savage Worlds to be a better fit for the pulp action 3e Eberron tried to convey. Action Points don’t hold a candle to what Bennies can do for high-action adventuring.
Also, I highly recommend checking out Hellfrost as a more traditional D&D-like setting if that’s what you’re looking for. Note that the Hellfrost Player’s Guide does not include a site license as mentioned above.
Also, if you’re looking for that old-school D&D feel for Savage Worlds, Reality Blurs just released the first of its Old School Fantasy series.
I didn’t have much play experience with 3e, but I have to admit that if I owned any of it I’d be reluctant to throw it all away.
It’s ironic really, because even though I’m an ardent fan of 4e, I frequently turn to 3e modules to ground me in the basics of adventure design and inspire me. I think they’re better written than 4e adventures, and it’s fairly easy for me to just convert the non-combat challenges into 4e mechanics and swap out all the monsters for 4e equivalents.
.-= Matthew Arcilla´s last blog ..My Favorite Blogs: Points of Light =-.
Well, since I’m play Pathfinder more than 4th edition, I haven’t been selling my 3e and 3.5 stuff because I can still use it. However, even if I couldn’t use the books anymore, I’d still probably hold onto them.
I enjoy looking back at old books of games, even books for games I don’t play anymore (my Vampire: The Requirm is a good example of this), and mining ideas from them. I’m also something of a pack rat and i don’t like to get rid of things.