Name 3 sourcebooks for each rpg line that you find the best/most useful. Comment, if possible.
Shadowrun:
- Sprawl Sites: really usfeul (and stylish) tooolkit for generating runs and situations on the fly.
- Seattle Sourcebook: I admit the later editions of this book are better organized and useful overall (New Seattle specially), but this one was the pioneer. Besides it, it had the most stylish (again) art ever produced for Shadowrun: the Big Rhino Ork cuisine restaurant.
- Street Samurai Catalog: Ok, this one is just a weapons catalog. BUT it defined the pattern of gun-porn plus the (brilliant) shadowtalk that further supplements would follow.
3 sourcebooks
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rasmuswagner
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Gurps (4th edition)
-Martial Arts. No matter what part of hand-to-hand combat you're sperging out on, this book has your back.
-Thaumatology: Magical Styles. Making the magic system more than just a big-ass spell list.
-High Tech (which, amusingly, covers black powder weapons and no-anastethic surgery but stops around the early 2000's.)
-Martial Arts. No matter what part of hand-to-hand combat you're sperging out on, this book has your back.
-Thaumatology: Magical Styles. Making the magic system more than just a big-ass spell list.
-High Tech (which, amusingly, covers black powder weapons and no-anastethic surgery but stops around the early 2000's.)
Every time you play in a "low magic world" with D&D rules (or derivates), a unicorn steps on a kitten and an orphan drops his ice cream cone.
I'm assuming that Core Rules don't count? Nor do game systems that put out <4 sourcebooks?
(I'm sure that I'm gonna get massively shit on for this one)
D&D 3.5
- Spell Compendium. This kind of consolidation reduced the need to do quite so much dumpster diving just to find something you wanted (though the editing left much to be desired). The fact that it wasn't a full consolidation (irrespective of its premature production) was only a minor annoyance.
- Magic Item Compendium. See above. (of course, the organization was complete shit; but whatever)
- Rules Compendium ... no, that's too close to being Core Tomb of Battle. Made beatsticks "relevant".
(I'm sure that I'm gonna get massively shit on for this one)
D&D 3.5
- Spell Compendium. This kind of consolidation reduced the need to do quite so much dumpster diving just to find something you wanted (though the editing left much to be desired). The fact that it wasn't a full consolidation (irrespective of its premature production) was only a minor annoyance.
- Magic Item Compendium. See above. (of course, the organization was complete shit; but whatever)
- Rules Compendium ... no, that's too close to being Core Tomb of Battle. Made beatsticks "relevant".
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Citing only 3 is hugely unfair with Gurps. I remember Illuminati, Low-Tech and Bio-Tech being awesome supplements too. Oh, and Cyberpunk.
The traditional playstyle is, above all else, the style of playing all games the same way, supported by the ambiguity and lack of procedure in the traditional game text. - Eero Tuovinen
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darkmaster
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M&M 2e
Mecha and Manga: For all the really poorly thought out rules (I'm looking at you break caps and then summon atomic rape demons feat), it really did a good job of giving you the tools to run and anime game, plus it gives the rules for a mecha and pets, which it cool, even if one of my stupid acquaintances think all pokemon are on the same level as fucking Thor and Dr. Strange.
Ultimate power: An in depth look at the structure and construction of powers in a game tailor made for home brewing and turning the system to new uses? Why thank you.
Warriors and Warlocks: Same vein as Mecha and Manga, but with less of the breaking the system. Good for sword and sorcery kinds of stuff but with fewer of the headaches caused D&D.
Mecha and Manga: For all the really poorly thought out rules (I'm looking at you break caps and then summon atomic rape demons feat), it really did a good job of giving you the tools to run and anime game, plus it gives the rules for a mecha and pets, which it cool, even if one of my stupid acquaintances think all pokemon are on the same level as fucking Thor and Dr. Strange.
Ultimate power: An in depth look at the structure and construction of powers in a game tailor made for home brewing and turning the system to new uses? Why thank you.
Warriors and Warlocks: Same vein as Mecha and Manga, but with less of the breaking the system. Good for sword and sorcery kinds of stuff but with fewer of the headaches caused D&D.
Kaelik wrote:Fuck you Haruhi is clearly the best moe anime, and we will argue about how Haruhi and Nagato are OP and um... that girl with blond hair? is for shitters.darkmaster wrote:Tgdmb.moe, like the gaming den, but we all yell at eachother about wich lucky star character is the cutest.
If you like Lucky Star then I will explain in great detail why Lucky Star is the a shitty shitty anime for shitty shitty people, and how the characters have no interesting abilities at all, and everything is poorly designed especially the skill challenges.
Shadowrun:
Augmentation: Bioware, naniteware, cyberware, more dakka.
unwired: Yeah, the hacking rules suck, but there's way more fun detail and options than in the main book.
Arsenal: Customizable drones and vehicles. This is even better than the Rigger's Little Black Book.. though not by much.
It's basically the best that 4th edition has to offer.
Augmentation: Bioware, naniteware, cyberware, more dakka.
unwired: Yeah, the hacking rules suck, but there's way more fun detail and options than in the main book.
Arsenal: Customizable drones and vehicles. This is even better than the Rigger's Little Black Book.. though not by much.
It's basically the best that 4th edition has to offer.
Nah, the best 4ed has to offer dont compare with 1st/2nd.sabs wrote:It's basically the best that 4th edition has to offer.
By the way, I wish 5th edition returns to the simplicity of 2nd edition, with priority based creation, more generalized skills, etc. In fact, I wish the new edition make Shadowrun much more simple and agile than any edition so far.
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Ancient History
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that's so not true.silva wrote:Nah, the best 4ed has to offer dont compare with 1st/2nd.sabs wrote:It's basically the best that 4th edition has to offer.
By the way, I wish 5th edition returns to the simplicity of 2nd edition, with priority based creation, more generalized skills, etc. In fact, I wish the new edition make Shadowrun much more simple and agile than any edition so far.
First and Second edition have great fiction and theme. The mechanics kind of suck. The skill web sucked, the Matrix rules are horridbad. (To be fair the matrix rules are always horridbad). The priority was really frustrating. Being a Metahuman just wasn't worth the priority it cost.
German Post AH errata Karma Gen is actually /great/ in Shadowrun 4th.
The whole Mages cast spells, Shamans play with spirits was okay, though not great.
They're great Nostalgia games, but they hold up about as well as D&D 2nd Edition.
But the mechanics keep sucking, man.first and second edition shadowrun had great fiction and theme. The mechanics kind of suck
It continues to be a bloated and incoherent behemoth that do not fit the in-game themes and premises. (Leverage RPG managed to be more Shadowrun than Shadowrun ever was)
So the crux of the matter is: you want your crap system accompanied by great theme and style, or you want your crap system with crap thrme and style? The former is 2nd edition, the latter is 4th
The traditional playstyle is, above all else, the style of playing all games the same way, supported by the ambiguity and lack of procedure in the traditional game text. - Eero Tuovinen
AD&D 2nd edition. Straining the memories a bit.
The Complete Fighter's Handbook (or Combat & Tactics, a massively bloated version of the same rules). It made all the front-line classes able to destroy the monsters for all the game that anyone played, while still leaving people happy to play all the other classes which were not the Cleric. Should have been core, but the business model was to keep core slim and unexceptional and sell splatbooks and worldbooks for colour.
Tome of Magic. Dunno, despite not having anything particularly powerful (aside from Chromatic Orb) it got a lot of use. Source of the Wild Mage. Filled in the gaps in the spell system quite well for people wanting more themed casters. Cleric players didn't hate it, unlike everything else for the Cleric (aside from the FR speciality priests, whatever they were in, FR was verboten in my circles, uh, "Faiths and Avatars" and various other books).
Plus whatever boxed set you managed to get lost in for a year or two. Once I understood that printing those things was basically what ruined them, it makes me understand the value better. I mostly skipped them, but for most groups some box or another was the essence of their campaign. Pick any one, you'll only ever finish the slimmest of them, and they're full of fluff to entertain outside game time.
The Complete Fighter's Handbook (or Combat & Tactics, a massively bloated version of the same rules). It made all the front-line classes able to destroy the monsters for all the game that anyone played, while still leaving people happy to play all the other classes which were not the Cleric. Should have been core, but the business model was to keep core slim and unexceptional and sell splatbooks and worldbooks for colour.
Tome of Magic. Dunno, despite not having anything particularly powerful (aside from Chromatic Orb) it got a lot of use. Source of the Wild Mage. Filled in the gaps in the spell system quite well for people wanting more themed casters. Cleric players didn't hate it, unlike everything else for the Cleric (aside from the FR speciality priests, whatever they were in, FR was verboten in my circles, uh, "Faiths and Avatars" and various other books).
Plus whatever boxed set you managed to get lost in for a year or two. Once I understood that printing those things was basically what ruined them, it makes me understand the value better. I mostly skipped them, but for most groups some box or another was the essence of their campaign. Pick any one, you'll only ever finish the slimmest of them, and they're full of fluff to entertain outside game time.
PC, SJW, anti-fascist, not being a dick, or working on it, he/him.
Those books made me very happy. Especially if they're used together.Ancient History wrote:Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Guide to the Universe
Mutants Down Under
Transdimensional Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Man, I want to play an "all splats, same origins, break it as hard as you can" game of TMNT.
Count Arioch the 28th wrote:There is NOTHING better than lesbians. Lesbians make everything better.
3rd Edition
Races of War
Dungeonomicon
Book of Fiends
Races of War
Dungeonomicon
Book of Fiends
Simplified Tome Armor.
Tome item system and expanded Wish Economy rules.
Try our fantasy card game Clash of Nations! Available via Print on Demand.
“Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities, Can Make You Commit Atrocities” - Voltaire
Tome item system and expanded Wish Economy rules.
Try our fantasy card game Clash of Nations! Available via Print on Demand.
“Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities, Can Make You Commit Atrocities” - Voltaire
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darkmaster
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Ha! I wondered when someone else would notice the OP didn't say it needed to be officially published.
Kaelik wrote:Fuck you Haruhi is clearly the best moe anime, and we will argue about how Haruhi and Nagato are OP and um... that girl with blond hair? is for shitters.darkmaster wrote:Tgdmb.moe, like the gaming den, but we all yell at eachother about wich lucky star character is the cutest.
If you like Lucky Star then I will explain in great detail why Lucky Star is the a shitty shitty anime for shitty shitty people, and how the characters have no interesting abilities at all, and everything is poorly designed especially the skill challenges.