Ten Random RPG Supplements from My Collection

NOTE: I wrote this back in 2008 and am posting it here as part of the “collect Phil’s random writings in one place” project.

I’ll admit it, I own a lot of RPG books; hundreds of books, many of which haven’t been opened in years. Last weekend, while Gina and I were adding more shelves to the game room and moving some games and books around, I started thinking about all of the books on the shelves and trying to remember when I had last looked at some of them.

Well, one thing led to another and the next thing I know I’m sitting down with a mission. I’m going to pull ten books at random and look at each of them, just to remind myself of what’s on those shelves. The only guidelines I set for myself were:

• No core books. If I pulled a core book down it went right back on the shelf.
• Not entirely random. I pulled books from different categories (my books are kinda organized).

And that’s it. Following those guidelines, the first ten books I pulled down would be the ten I would look at. Here’s a list (in alphabetical order) of what I pulled down as well as some thoughts on each book. In addition to thoughts, I decided to also note whether or not I wanted to keep the book or if I would be willing to trade it away. Not surprisingly, most turned out to be keepers (though not always because they were good books.)

• Arms & Equipment Guide, for Dark Matter – An okay sourcebook, this is exactly what it sounds like. This could be used in any X-Files*-inspired game session, but it’s not exactly a necessary tool for your kit. Keep. (But only because I have all of the other books in the series and I don’t want to break up the set.)

  

• The Belt, for Buck Rogers XXVc. – I absolutely loved this game when it was published and ran several sessions of it before dropping it for Mayfair’s edition of Chill. This is a fairly typical TSR supplement from the time – saddle-stitched booklet in a folio and packed with a poster map – and has some of the widest margins I’ve ever seen in an RPG book. Seriously, with a decent layout this 64-page supplement could have been knocked down to 40-pages. The content is okay, covering various locations in the space between Mars and Jupiter, but it’s so specifically tied to the game’s setting that it’s all but useless if you’re not running an XXVc*adventure. Keep.
• d20 Future Tech, for d20 Modern– I have never used this in a game session; this book was only purchased so that I could stay up on the latest in the d20 Future series (since, at the time, I was writing a lot of material for the game). There’s nothing really innovative here but it is all usable material and well-presented. Keep.
• DarkTek Sourcebook, for Dark Conspiracy – Another game I loved running in the early 90s, Dark Conspiracy* did the alien invasion thing before the X-Files* and, in my opinion, did it better. The Stackpole novels are still a fun read (I read the trilogy again a couple of years ago), and if I ever have the time and money Dark Conspiracy* is one of the games I would love to re-launch. This sourcebook is a combination of great and garbage, with material inside that will be useful in any session as well as material that you’ll never need (I really don’t need spaceships for a Dark Conspiracy*game). In my opinion, this was one of GDW’s best lines. Keep.
• Empires of the Sands, for Forgotten Realms – This book launched one of my longest-running AD&D* campaigns. With up to a dozen players in the largest sessions, we traveled across the deserts of the Realms and had a great time. This book is drastically different from The Belt(see above), in that its 64-pages are packed solid – the margins are so tiny that, if I were handling the layout, I would be worried about the printer cutting off some of the text. Keep.

  

• Imperial Sourcebook, for Star Wars – Easily my favorite Star Wars RPG* supplement from any edition of the game, the Imperial Sourcebookis filled with information on the Empire, Imperial equipment and personnel, and is loaded with more flavor than you see in supplements these days. Maybe it’s just nostalgia talking, but I love this book. Keep.
• Listen Up, You Primitive Screwheads!!!!, for Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0.– This book is a bunch of essays by different authors and is, overall, not nearly as good as I remember it. Filled with suggestions on planning and running games, dealing with players, and a selection of new rules, the book is a magazine-style grab bag of random material. I usually love those but in looking back at this particular example it just doesn’t work all that well. Trade.
• Raiders of the Lost Ark Sourcebook, for MasterBook– A hardcover book that covers exactly what the title implies – no misdirection in advertising here – this is actually a fun book. West End Games used to present some pretty fun books and this one, in my opinion, holds up. Sure, the layout is a bit dull, but the actual content is entertaining and loaded with maps and background information that a GM of a pulp campaign will find useful. (Looking to run an adventure in Cairo? Here you’ll find maps, a history, and suggestions for how to use various locations in the city.) Keep.

  

• Rifts Manhunter, for Rifts – I remember buying this when it came out. I had been running a Rifts* campaign (and loving it) and the idea of a Rifts book from someone other than Palladium was exciting. Plus, I remembered the setting from the old Manhunter RPG– I played in one session of it and then we never played it again – so it wasn’t a complete unknown to me. It’s actually a beautiful book, with a lot of great pen & ink work by R.K. Post, and skimming the book it’s still filled with some cool bits of information (the Manhunters themselves are still a fun set of villains). Not an amazing book, but a fun book. Keep.
• Weapons Locker, for Marvel Super Heroes – Looking back I can see how this was a product that was pumped out to support the line because it was easy to create and not because it was a useful addition to the game. Still, for anyone who loves comic book super-science and technology this is still a fun read (even if the material is horribly out-of-date). Keep.

So there they are, ten random books from my RPG collection. I’m not sure if there’s anything in the list that surprised you, but I can say that this little exercise was fun and definitely reminded me of some old games and friends.

If you’ve got the time over the holiday break I recommend that you try doing this same thing with your own RPG collection.

I should really try this with comics, but I’m scared to take a close look at exactly what is in some of those boxes.