Do you just use the corebooks for your games?

[Mencelus]

I've thought about this mostly with HERO and GURPS recently. Basically, I have only the HERO 5th Edition Revised and that's it. For GURPS, I have the Basic Set (two books), GURPS Powers, and Infinte Worlds. For the few other games I have, I have corebooks and not much more.

So, my question is, do you find yourself using only the corebook, or do you always end up using more? I'm a corebook fan myself - this is one reason why HERO is starting to win over GURPS in my mind. I like GURPS, and I have a lot of experience with it, but when thinking about a Star Wars campaign recently, I wanted to use GURPS but to do the setting justice required that I use stuff from GURPS Powers, which meant that I'd be carrying three not small books to the game. Same thing happened when I tried out M&M 1st edition - to getthe cool vehicles and stuff typical of Star Wars, plus some rules tweaks, I needed GGtG and the Annual to make it work out. With HERO, all I needed was the corebook (on a side note, I eventually choose Burning Wheel, using only the corebooks and the Monster Burner, which are all that exist for the game anyway).

What do you do?

[Curufea]

Mostly. Occasionally I look up something in one of the monster books or fantasy hero.

[TheQuestionMan]

Mostly I use the Core Books, but I reference everything else till they fall apart ;)

Some more some less, but always there to read.

QM

[Vondy]

In terms of systems: yes. I only use rules from Hero System 5th and Silcore. I don't use rules from other books. Further, I tend to avoid games that are designed (or errored through editorial incompetance) in such a way that I need more than one book to use the system.

In terms of settings: no. If I buy a game because I want the setting, then I buy whatever setting material that will be relevent to my game. But, I seldom buy setting material. Only one or two companies have ever produced settings I care for. I prefer to build my own.

[Rapier]

The corebook has always answered whatever in-game questions I have. The other books are mostly used during creation.

[OddHat]

I like all my rules under one cover. Despite the optional rules introduced in the Ultimate books, HERO 5thER has been good about that, and it's part of the reason I like the system.

That said, I love a good setting or enemies book, and find them very useful when looking for game ideas.

[Edsel]

In my Dark Champions campaign I routinely use 5ER, Dark Champions, Hudson City, Predators, The Ultimate Martial Artist, and now The Ultimate Skill. I occasionally used Dark Champions the Animated Series and the Gadgets & Gear book. Once or twice I have pulled something from another book, for instance Pulp Hero and the Bestiarly come to mind.

[Eosin]

Strange, I game with Edsel and my answer would be...

We don't use the core books except for rare occassions when a wild rule comes into play. The books that do get pulled out tend to be things like Hudson City. Edsel has referenced The Ultimate Skill frequently during the last few games (he is running right now, not me) and we have had to pull out the Ultimate Vehicle once or twice but that is about it.

[John Desmarais]

So, my question is, do you find yourself using only the corebook, or do you always end up using more?

My current Champions campaign is set firmly in the published Champions setting, so I refer to Champions Universe, Millenium City, and CK&C frequently (other books not so often).

When running games in my own settings, the core rule book is really the only book I use.

[copeab]

So, my question is, do you find yourself using only the corebook, or do you always end up using more?

More. But, then with some 145 GURPS books, I try to use as many as possible ;)

OTOH, for each campaign I do, generally, have a small group of "core" books. For example, for my weird WWII campaign, about 90% of the time I can get by with G:WWII, G:Spirits and G:Cliffhangers. For my 2049 police campaign, I normally just need the Basic Set (3e, R) and Magic, but Cops, SWAT, Covert Ops, Ultra-Tech, Cthulhupunk and Dreamlands (for CoC) make their way into the rotation depending on the adventure.


I'm a corebook fan myself - this is one reason why HERO is starting to win over GURPS in my mind. I like GURPS, and I have a lot of experience with it, but when thinking about a Star Wars campaign recently, I wanted to use GURPS but to do the setting justice required that I use stuff from GURPS Powers, which meant that I'd be carrying three not small books to the game.


I would have pulled out my d6 Star Wars books ;)

EDIT: I'll note that almost all of my gaming these days is online and all of my gaming books are within 10' of my computer, so access isn't a problem.

[Lord Mhoram]

During actual play, usually only 5er, combat handbook, UMA or the approriate villian/moster book. With TUSk out, that will likely be a used reference.

In character creation/world creation - just about anything goes.

When I played D&D 3.x I used as many books as necessary, and that usually meant about 10. :)
If the idea was good, I'd use it.

I prefer HERO where pretty much all the rules are in the core book. :)

[Blue]

I typically pillage the other books for ideas, but only use the core books. The exception is the villain books (Because Steve's villains give my guys a better fight than mine do).

Of course that leads to me forgetting I have access to things.

From the Chat:

Me: "I'm thinking about using a Godzilla like encounter in my game and must do a little research."

Steve: "Chapter 4 of HSB."

Me: "Thanks! Yer better than an index!"

[Nolgroth]

I tend to use the Core Rulebooks for rules, while I tend to use any expanded material for write-ups and power examples.

[Mencelus]

Hmm...seems everyone does what I do - corebook for the game, other books for idea mining, which seems about right, really.

Even for this upcoming Star Wars game, I'm using GURPS Powers to flesh out stuff.

[Sketchpad]

I tend to use just core rule books, with occasionally using supplemental rule books. I rarely use more than a few characters from villain books these days, with the ones I used to use back in 3rd ed Champions :) The exception to this rule is when playing something like D&D ... the Monster Manual is your friend ;)

[Thia Halmades]

I'm not sure if I'm in the group, or outside the group. I use the core rules for just that, rules. However, for my Ravenloft campaign, I wanted to run as an authentic-as-possible Ravenloft game; I own all of the supplements for that reason. For my Flagship Fantasy Campaign, I wrote all that material myself & used the Monster Manuals for demons, etc.

For the sci-fi campaign I'm doing now, again, I've written the bulk of the material myself, but I've used Dark Champions extensively for power ideas, skill applications, and so on. And, more importantly, I use the Ultimate series religiously.

[Edsel]

Strange, I game with Edsel and my answer would be...

We don't use the core books except for rare occassions when a wild rule comes into play. The books that do get pulled out tend to be things like Hudson City. Edsel has referenced The Ultimate Skill frequently during the last few games (he is running right now, not me) and we have had to pull out the Ultimate Vehicle once or twice but that is about it.
I use fewer books at the table. When doing the campaign log and planning future games I use a lot of the books extensively.

[Matt Frisbee]

If it's in my library of game books, it gets used. I typically pack a gym bag full of books for quick reference to every game session. Typically, I will reference three or four books during a session, and more if we have some extra time at the end of the adventure to work on characters and settings issues.

Matt "The-mobile-game-library" Frisbee

[copeab]

If it's in my library of game books, it gets used. I typically pack a gym bag full of books for quick reference to every game session. Typically, I will reference three or four books during a session, and more if we have some extra time at the end of the adventure to work on characters and settings issues.

Reminds me that one thing I used to do was bring an oddball book ("Which one of these books doesn't belong?") to the table with me when I GMed. I would open it and flip through it a couple of times during the session, then put it back at the bottom of the stack. However, about every 4th or 5th adventure, I would actually use something from the oddball book. I believe in creating player paranoia ;)

[OddHat]

In actual play I almost never open a book. If I don't have it on a sheet, I make a judgement call and check after the game. Refferencing texts in play slows me down and puts me off my pace.

I do take notes during play, usually with a lot of abreviations.

[Mencelus]

Hmm...interesting responses so far, and I can see a variety of gaming preferences. Let me change the question a little:

Do you find yourself moving away from "Must have it all to play."? I mean, HERO seems darn complete - plenty of rules for most situations, a basic logic to follow for situations that don't fall under the explicit rules, things like this.

Or is it just me?

[Vondy]

Hmm...interesting responses so far, and I can see a variety of gaming preferences. Let me change the question a little:

Do you find yourself moving away from "Must have it all to play."? I mean, HERO seems darn complete - plenty of rules for most situations, a basic logic to follow for situations that don't fall under the explicit rules, things like this.

Or is it just me?

I have seldom felt a need to have it all. At the same time, I frequently feel a need to do more with less. I want one rule-book and maybe one world book, but I want that world book to serve as a GUI for the rule DOS-Prompt. If it doesn't, then its useless. What has changed, however, is that I no longer have an inclination to do it all myself, and to streamline the mechanics I use. This has affected my design philosophy. I don't want clunky mechanical constructs, or laundry lists of things that could be condensced, or subsumed within a good background, or an elegant construct. As a result, I look for ways not to use all the rules in that fabulously thick Rule Book, or, if your prefer, to use it more efficiently. Its also led to a natural avoidance of supers, though I never held the genre above others in esteem, anyways. Its also affected my tendencies world design, and increased an already character and story centric mind-set.

[OddHat]

Hmm...interesting responses so far, and I can see a variety of gaming preferences. Let me change the question a little:

Do you find yourself moving away from "Must have it all to play."? I mean, HERO seems darn complete - plenty of rules for most situations, a basic logic to follow for situations that don't fall under the explicit rules, things like this.

Or is it just me?

I don't need or use the full line. I buy more than I need because I like reading characters and seeing other's takes on a given subject or setting. In play, I rarely use anything other than the core rules and maybe a foe or two from an enemies book.

[Lemurion]

The only book I normally open during play is Hudson City: The Urban Abyss, because that's where the setting is. Everything else is in my notes or on the laptop. I use the books extensively when creating things, but mostly wing the actual games. The majority of the rules that affect a character are on the character sheet anyway.

It works for me.

I own a ton of HERO (mostly 4E and 5E) but more to read for pleasure or use for research material, foes, interpretations and such rather than to use during a game.

[Seenar]

Hmm...seems everyone does what I do - corebook for the game, other books for idea mining, which seems about right, really.

.

This is me.

[bigdamnhero]

Everything else is in my notes or on the laptop. I use the books extensively when creating things, but mostly wing the actual games. The majority of the rules that affect a character are on the character sheet anyway.

It works for me.

I own a ton of HERO (mostly 4E and 5E) but more to read for pleasure or use for research material, foes, interpretations and such rather than to use during a game.
Same here.

[Mojo_Bones]

I would have to say for Hero, I use only the core book, and own very little else right now. This is mainly do to the infrequency in which I have played in the last 5 or so years. For 4e, I played and ran quite a bit, so I owned a lot more of the books. I still usually just used core books as far as powers/rules went, but used the others for ideas, and to see how others would do a character like the one I had in mind at the time.

[prodigyduck]

I tend to only use the Core Rulebooks for all the games I play. I don't play established settings or pre-written adventures; prefering my own settings and adventures. I may take ideas from other sources, but never the entire thing.

I do buy other game books, if it appears as though they have good resourse material. But otherwise, I tend not to use anything in them.

[CBikle]

We usually only use the main books.

On the two occasions we used rules/examples from outside the game, both were fairly unpleasant situations.

- We used Hidden Lands for its rules on "the Bends" (my character)

- The Ultimate Vehicle for an Apache helicopter. One of the PCs got caught off guard and killed by the 4d6+1 Armor-Piercing RKA Autofire with a +1 stun mult heavy machine gun the Apache is equipped with.

Pretty much proving that the average 4E character is no match for 5E firepower.

[ghost-angel]

I tend to assume that people only have access to the core book, which is the basics needed to play.

Everything else is simply there for ideas.

In actual game time recently I've started to use only the Combat Handbook.

[starblaze]

I have a good number of books but rarely if ever have ones with optional rules and such. Most of my books are enemies books and some setting type books like Pulp and Star Hero. I haven't gotten any of the other Ultimate books except for Martial Artist and Vehicle.

I have always preferred to have all my rules in one book.