(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best fantasy gaming books

Phew This'll be a long a post, but certainly reward to read by the end of it. Don't worry about 2E replacing anything, as that takes time to do and is at least two years aeay from being a thing, even if it's fulling released this year. Playing D&D/Pathfinder really is the Nerdiest, Nerd thing I've ever done, and it is a lot of fun! Watch +DawnforgedCast's Session 0 video and download his checklist here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0FmGxmJLiw That checklist will help you out greatly in starting out as a GameMaster/Dungeon Master or as a player to learn what you want in a game, for a new group, with or without veteran players. However, if you're one as the GM and you have a vivid imagination, or are good with thinking on the fly (believe me, it gets better with time) then you'll already have a headstart on the majority of GMs out there. A great beginning module that has a little bit of everything, adventure hook (i.e., reason why your players should be doing this), NPC interaction, wilderness adventuring, dungeon crawling, is the Hollow's Last Hope module for 1st Level Players as it works for both D&D and Pathfinder. You don't really need the print version, since you can download it for FREE at Paizo's website https://pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Hollow%27s_Last_Hope

I greatly recommend you get the Pathfinder RPG: Beginner Box ($25-$35) https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601256302 it is a different game, but the rule set is uber-simplified and honestly, superior to the D&D Starter Set ($15), and is worth the extra money. The Beginner Box literally has the all of the beginning needs for play. Pre-generated characters, blank character sheets for the four classes (Wizard, Rogue, Cleric, and Fighter) with either of the three races (Elf, Dwarf, and Human) that are easy to introduce new players to, a flip out map that you can use dry-erase- or wet-erase markers, and permanent markers on (all of which can be erased off, I use these wet-erase makers that are $9 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00006IFGW because I'll draw camp fires with brown, yellow, orange, and red colors, green helps with trees and shrubbery, blue for water, and black for everything else), a Hero's handbook, and really, really, good GM guide, plus thick, cardboard punch-out marker pawns of various Monsters, NPCs, Player characters, and other creatures, that amount to a wealth of miniatures that would take a lot of money and time to paint them all up, plus they're easier to store in the box. Unfortunately, it only comes with one set of dice, so it wouldn't hurt to get these on these 7 sets ($12) on the cheap https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MDJNE93 and pass them out to your players, or if they have their own, then you'll have plenty of extra multiples of dice, which will come in handy during combat with spellcasters and sneak attacks by Rogues. I handed them out to my players after they told me what their favorite colors were. =P

That'd would be all you'd really need to start, $30ish Beginner Box, plus $10 for markers, and $10 more if you or your players need dice. Now, what follows is what I used for my first GMing of a game, based on many different people's recommendations. In order to make combat work in a logical way that I could understand, I bought the Pathfinder Combat Pad $20 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601255470, along with those wet-erase markers from earlier. It's usefulness has been far better, and worth it's price in gold, to use than a cheap $1 store notebook, when I would have to erase or rewrite when players would defeat monsters or would hold their actions, or would tell them the wrong initiative bonus to start (lol!). Again, rather use a dollar store binder, I bought the Pathfinder GM Screen $16ish https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601252161, because it was short enough for me to look over rather than 3-ring binders or a paper folder at the actual game table. Speaking the table, I bought the Chessex Battlemats https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0015IQO2O this is a link to the smaller one ($20), since I bought the Megamat ($35), only because I had a large table, and players could use it as a coaster for drinks too (even though I did have coasters, to prevent spillage). As an added bonus, I recently discovered the Condition cards $10 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601252854, to use with Pathfinder, and they are great to hand out to players (as you would already know these conditions since it's written behind the GM Screen) so they know what condition they are in at a glance. Keep in mind though, you only get 4 or each, so if you are lucky enough to have more players, it wouldn't hurt to buy an extra set (however, it would be strange if all of your players had the same condition).

Now, let's say you enjoy Pathfinder, and you bought the Core Rulebook $20 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601258879 (if it's a hardcover, always look inside for the Sixth edition printing, the paperback will already be that edition) but are getting tired of looking up Monster stats online, then grab the Paperback version of the first Bestiary $16 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601258887 which has the great majority of all of the "regular" monsters in either D&D or Pathfinder. If you're not much of an artist, then there's the recently released Pathfinder Traps and Treasures Pawns Collection $25 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601259719 but be warned that you only want to place on the board AFTER the players find out what it is or after they trip it since it does have text explaining what it is as a trap, and if you're use the treasure ones, make sure you add whatever is actually printed on the tile is IN the list of treasure you give the players, because they can and will ask about, "can't I grab that cup or sword, it's on the tile?" ;)

Lastly, if you enjoy being the GameMaster/Dungeon Master, the storyteller, the world builder, then I'd recommend getting the Pathfinder Gamemastery Guide $15 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601259492, which again, can be applied to both RPG games. And if you what better weather effects to throw at your party than what is presented in the CRB and GMG, then Pathfinder Ultimate Wilderness $30 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601259867 has all that you need, and then some, plus some cool spells and tons of new animal companions and familiars for spellcasters alike, and a new shapeshifting melee-fighting class called the Shifter, which is pretty neat to use (albeit, you may want to check out Paizo's website for any official errata or clarifications, just in case). If you want to actually create a campaign and are having a hard time coming up with ideas, locations, groups/factions, kingdoms, races, then one more purchase, which is what +DawnforgedCast used for his Pathfinder games seen here is the Inner Sea World Guide $45 https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601252692 It is pricey, but again, very much worth it, to create your own world or to use the pre-made world, as well. Remember, the Beginner Box, Markers, and Dice is really all you need, the rest of this is to expand out. I hope this helps you and anyone else out as well. =P

roll20.net is a place you can play online, but I would suggest trying to get something together offline. With video game RPGs becoming more and more popular, it should be easy enough to get together a group that's interested in playing, whether or not anybody has any past experience.

The next step is choosing an edition of D&D. You can find a guide on /r/DnD. First and second editions are a bit old and not played as much anymore. My personal favorite is 3.5e, but it's got a lot of rules and can have a pretty steep learning curve. 4e is easier to get into, but lacks out of combat mechanisms. Next or 5e hasn't been released yet, but will be later this year. I haven't played any of the earlier playtest things they released, so I don't really have an opinion on it.

Learning to play comes next, and once again /r/DnD has a guide. Play differs with every edition, so I can't get too specific here, but the general idea is that you decide what you want to do, roll a d20 and add relevant modifiers to see if you succeed, then maybe roll other dice, then the DM tells you the outcome. Either learning the rules or actually writing the campaign is going to be the hardest part.

Next you need to get resources. You can make this as cheap or expensive as you'd like. You can get a set of dice for $5-$10 on Amazon, or you can get an app to roll dice on your phone for free. If you decide to play 3.5e, the core rules, treasure, and monsters are available for free on d20srd.org. You can probably find all the books for any edition by pirating them, but I'd encourage you to support Wizards of the Coast by actually purchasing them.
You'll need a grid. You can print out sheets of paper with 1 inch squares or buy a mat that you can draw on (and erase). Or you can get dungeon tiles which are probably the coolest but most expensive option.
You need something to represent your characters and NPCs. Miniatures are once again the coolest but most expensive option. You can use bottle caps or coins too.
There's lots of different resources out there, and you can choose whether to play D&D for almost completely free or for several hundred (or even thousand) dollars, or anywhere in between.

Finally, there's writing a campaign. Every DM does this differently, so nobody's advice is going to be perfect. You'll have to figure out what works for you. For me, I get an idea or character that I think would be cool and build out from there by asking questions like why is the big bad evil guy (BBEG) doing this? What does he hope to gain? How would a king respond to this? How would ordinary people? How can I get my players from level 1 to a point where they can make a difference? What sort of introduction do I need to get the story to this point?
I like to write out a few important plot points at the beginning of the campaign and fill in the details between sessions. A campaign can be a one-shot, that is, finish in a single session, or go on for session after session after session (I'm currently in week 12 of an approximately 30 session campaign). I think my method works well with longer campaigns (planning out 30 sessions would be way too much ahead of time).

Preparing for a session is also going to be hard at first because you won't find any perfect solution--it's more art than science. It's also going to be hard because players will do things that you don't expect and aren't prepared for, you could just declare what they do ineffective, but it's less fun for the players that way. They also won't find the solution that you think is completely obvious, so get ready to improv.
When preparing, I like to write a short description/history for important places or people and incorporate this into the game. I have a few bullet points on the hook for the session (if one is needed) and some notes on upcoming encounters or puzzles.

Finally, here's some other things that I haven't linked to yet:
/r/DnD
/r/Loremasters
New DM guide on /r/DnD

I like the post and I agree with most of it. Some comments:

Healing is described in "Numenera", p. 103:

> You can administer aid through bandaging and other succor, attempting to heal each patient once per day. This healing restores points to a stat Pool of your choice.

From a realism angle, I favor one heal per patient, not one heal per patient per user.

> If the GM has fully read the rule book, and fully understands how cyphers work, then you will probably have a healing cypher on someone in the party, at any given time [...] You probably should blow through these pretty quickly, too. Why? Again, you want to save your own first rest period for mid-combat, if needed

Disagree a bit here. From a GM perspective I think the allotment of cyphers to players can be personal taste. If, at all, it should be based on the current story arc.

I also think the most efficient timing of the cypher use depends on its properties, the player's tier and the situation (a D6 heal cypher screams 'use me now', a heal +10 is best saved for combat).

> In fact, there is a rule on page ___ of the main book, which states that players can declare they are scrounging up new cyphers at almost any time

Numenera, p. 280.


> One of the best ways to feel comfortable about allowing your ability scores to drop down and fill back up is to make sure that one of your first 2 physical stats is huge.

I think it very much depends on how the game is played. I just finished reading Robin's Laws of Good Game Mastering (ISBN 1-55634-629-8, recommended reading).

While you can certainly disagree a bit on his (or rather Glen Blacow's) player phenotypes, he makes a good point throughout the book that different rule systems appeal to different types.

Numenera is very much on the "Storyteller" side of his spectrum, while D&D, Pathfinder are on the "Tactician" / "Powergamer" side.

I think this sort of stat maxing is only needed if you come from a "Tactician" background and want that style to carry over to Numenera. However, if you (and the group) embrace Numenera for what it is, virtually any combination / stat pool can make sense.

In that respect, I would also vote for pinning [this great write-up]
(https://www.reddit.com/r/numenera/comments/58elpb/ive_played_this_system_for_quite_a_while_now_and/d902v4w/) from /u/OrangePhoenix which summarizes some of it in more detail.

> ...is that Numenera isn't about combat, and you shouldn't treat it that way.

Yes.


> you are doing it wrong at least in terms of what Monte Cook intended when he invented the game

To continue on the above, each rule system facilitates a certain play style. Numenera was, from the ground up, invented for story telling.

It is, in my mind, the "Agile Manifesto" of role playing:


> Interactions over processes.
>
> Story over 'documentation'.
>
> Collaboration over rules.
>
> Adaptation over plan.

It is a bit unfortunate that many RPGs couple rules and lore rather tightly (which, on a side note, makes the Cypher System Rulebook pretty refreshing).

However, regardless if they like the lore, I could only truly recommend Numenera to players who identify with the above.

If you are looking for comprehensive rules, maximizing stats, or 'predicting the outcome' rather than trusting your GM there are systems doing a much better job providing these.

Keith Baker, the original author of Eberron, has written his own 5E Eberron rules and posted them to his blog.

http://keith-baker.com/extra-life-hacking-the-warforged/

There is also a full 20 level Artificer class found in the UA.

https://media.wizards.com/2016/dnd/downloads/1_UA_Artificer_20170109.pdf

My party is currently playtesting a Dwarf Artificer. We're up to level 4, and so far it rocks. Next session is this weekend and we'll see if we can't advance to level 5. I really love that class. : )

The rest of the UA Eberron material, as you suggest, is sparse.

My party has playtested the UA version of the Changeling, and we love it. We haven't had a chance to try out the Shifter, but I really like what they've done with it here. The most disappointing thing in that article is obviously the Warforged, but I like Keith's proposal that I posted up there and if we ever have a Warforged in our game, I'll use that.

You will have to homebrew Kalashtar, if one of your players wants to go that route. I recommend giving them a stat increase to Intelligence, and letting them choose one of the Psionic Talents from the Mystic UA.

http://dnd.wizards.com/articles/unearthed-arcana/mystic-class

I also recommend investing in these books. The first is the essential guide to running Eberron, and using them as a guide you should easily be able to homebrew whatever you need:

Eberron Campaign Setting

Shadows of the Last War

Good luck! I love Eberron, easily my favorite published setting. What part of Khorvaire will the campaign be set in?

First off, I think this is the most elaborate contest I've ever participated in, so congratulations for that :P Fear cuts deeper than swords. I hope some of my items are awesome enough for some extra credit ;) Also I wasn't sure if duplicates are allowed. I will revise if necessary.

1.) Something grey and it's been on my wishlist.

2.) Rain, well not technically rain, she is a water bender :P Previously on my wishlist.

3.) Unusual, I think this is something I would use like twice a year. With ice cream or cereal.

4.) Someone else My sister and I want to start playing tabletop games. Previously on my wishlist.

5.) "Book" I took a little bit of liberty with this one because it's a graphic novel. But it's Batman, so...(Previously on my wishlist).

6.) Under a dollar.

7.) Cats There's a catbus in it, which is pretty much the best part of the movie. Previously on my wishlist.

8.) Beautiful As a Star Wars fan having the original trilogy on Blu Ray would be beautiful to me. I love high definition movies, especially ones that are aesthetically pleasing. Previously on my wishlist.

9.) Movie As a Browncoat, I would encourage anyone who has a remote interest in Sci-Fi to give this a chance. Previously on my wishlist.

10.) Zombie tool I don't think this needs explanation.

11.) (Updated) Useful for future. I have a desire to create meaningful video games. Previously on wish list.

12.) Add on I actually had this on my wishlist but removed it because add-on items are lame.

13.) Most expensive As previously stated, I want to be a game developer/designer so not only would it be fun to play with, I could create with it too. Previously on list.

14.) Bigger than breadbox Total in the box it is bigger than a breadbox. Previously on wishlist.

15.) Bigger than a golf ball It's a large book. Previously on wishlist.

16.) Smells good As a guy...I enjoy the scent of lavender.

17.) Safe for children toy I don't think this needs any introduction of why it's awesome.

18.) Back to school drawing helps keep me sane. Previously on my list.

19.) Current obsession I'm a noob to tabletop games. But have been wanting to get into it obsessively within the past month or so. And this also takes my love of A Song of Ice and Fire into the mix. Previously on list.

20.) [Amazing] (http://www.amazon.com/Sony-XBR-65X900A-65-Inch-120Hz-Ultra/dp/B00BSREQI6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1376281533&sr=8-4&keywords=4k+tv) I've seen one of these in person at the mall and it literally made me stop walking the resolution was so incredible. I know it's as expensive as dicks...but man...when these are affordable...

Bonus 2) Made in Oregon I would have put Tillamook Ice Cream, since it's pretty awesome...but alas not on Amazon.

Edit: Changed an item because I saw it won't count because it's a duplicate.

Basically you need the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, and the Monster Manual. There are also "premium" versions of these books printed in 2012 that include many years worth of errata, and you should try to get those if you can.

The three core books are enough to play, but of course Wizards of the Coast published a very large number of supplements to the game that add more rules, systems, and advice for DM's to use and more options, classes, and spells for players. One of these is the Dungeon Master's Guide II, which includes a large bit of advice for DM's, more magic items, and some new rules and systems, including a detailed system for building towns. It was a fine supplement, but is certainly not essential for running a campaign, and I wouldn't even describe it as the best 4th book for a new dungeon master to buy.

Actually, if you're just starting out DMing, the best 4th book to get would probably be a pre-published adventure, or even a mega-adventure or adventure path. The Sunless Citadel is an excellent adventure for 1st-level PC's, though you should check first whether anyone in your group has played through it before. As for mega-adventures, both The Red Hand of Doom and Age of Worms have excellent reputations, though the latter was published in Dungeon magazine which makes it hard to find a copy.

I have the Savage Worlds Customizable GM Screen, and it's awesome. If I have enough prep time, I can print any charts -- like random encounter tables -- I'll need for that session out. It's so much more useful than the standard GM screen, which is typically loaded with the charts you use most often and thus are most likely to have memorized. Plus it's landscape orientation, so it both spans further across the table, while being easier to see and reach over.

But my favorite feature is that I can put artwork reflective of my campaign on the player's side, instead of the sort of generic artwork most screens feature.

Some other really useful toys I've picked up over the years include:

• Alea Tools magnetic status tokens. These are basically just 1" plastic disks, maybe 1/8" tall, with a rare earth magnet inside so they stick together and can be stacked. You can glue magnetic film to the bottom of miniatures and then they'll stick to the tokens to, or you can just balance them on top of the tokens, or put the tokens next to the mini. They're very useful when you need to track who is on fire, invisible, or suffering a long-term status effect. They're also very useful as elevation markers -- I use the dark blue and light blue token to represent 25' and 5' respectively, so I can keep track of exactly how high flying characters are flying.
  
• The Pathfinder Combat Pad is super useful for keeping track of initiative and ongoing effects, regardless of the game you play.
  
• The GameMastery spell templates are very useful if you play a game system that uses a grid map. They're no longer available however.
  
• Litko makes Horse Character Mounts that are SUPER useful for dealing with the issue of mounted characters on a map. Litko actually makes an insane number of extremely useful products, and I've used their custom tokens service to produce token sets for a lot of my favorite games.

This, for me, depends on the campaign and the players. I really mainly rely on theater of the mind for most things unless there is a tactical need to see a map but sometimes there are other valid reasons for PCs needing a map. Some of the things I have done:

1. For dungeon crawls in particular if hand drawing by the players is bogging things down (and in one instance caused an adult mature female player to actually cry), I draw a rough version on quad paper for the areas they have already covered. I keep the original to add to as they go and give them a photocopy, updated at the start of each session. They can fill in details if they so choose.
   
2. And sometimes I create something from here: https://donjon.bin.sh/d20/dungeon/ I may print out two copies and turn one into a DM copy and one into a Player copy. I may cover up areas they have not been yet with construction paper held on with paper clips. I make the map my guide in creating the dungeon.
   
3. Sometimes I find maps off the internet to use as my base map and if it is an area they have been through or can see easily I just hand them the map.
   
4. I have various sizes of quad paper. If the area isnt' that complex, but a map is important sometimes I do either rough sketches or detailed drawings then photocopy them. One for me, one for the players. Mine has the DM version obviously. They may or may not be given the whole map or I may have some covered by construction paper or I may cut it up into rectangular sections and hand them sections as they get there.
   
5. If the structure is complex and meandering, I may make a copy of the map for the players but they only get the pieces of the map they have already covered. As they progress through the area I cut out those sections and hand the pieces to them. They can tape the pieces onto a large piece of construction paper. Faster than drawing but it doesn't reveal the whole map right away like just giving them the map would.
   
6. I also sometimes use these, either revealing as we go (adding tiles) or build it ahead of time and cover parts with construction paper until they can see that area: https://www.amazon.com/DUNGEON-TILES-REINCARNATED/dp/0786966300/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=dungeon+tiles&qid=1572966014&sr=8-5
   
7. With places that already exist in DnD (such as certain cities along the Swordcoast) that would be well known and actually have a physical map out of game, if it is available I might even buy that map out of game for the PCs to buy in game.
   
   So it really depends on the situation.

OK I'll be straight with you. Your best bet is to either go on eBay or a similar site and pick and choose what minis you want, or if you're OK with cardboard tokens, I'd pick up something like the Villain's Codex. I do hear that eBay has gotten more expensive since D&D has taken off in the last couple years, but it's still probably cheaper than buying a brick and hoping.

But as a person who owns way too many miniatures, I get it. Here's what I'd say:

Avoid:

Avoid Skulls and Shackles unless you want a lot of pirate themed minis (and SHARKS THAT WILL NEVER BE USEFUL FOR ANYTHING ELSE). Shattered Star is super elemental heavy, so avoid that one as well. Rusty Dragon Inn is a fantastic set but it mostly has NPCs and furniture.

Caveats:

If you're OK with possibly getting Rasputin or a Russian soldier with a grenade or machine gun, Reign of Winter is a really good set. I love [Wrath of the Righteous] (http://www.pathfinderminis.com/gallery11.htm) but a lot of their heroic minis are demonic.

Best Sets for hero minis:

Either Legends of Golarion or the brand new Crown of Fangs set. Have a look at the gallery and see what you think.

Nova Praxis

Yeah, it has a kick ass setting in its own right, but the mechanical bits are easy to pull out and use separately. It does all the transhuman stuff you would need and more, plus the FATE system is awesome. (There is also a Savage Worlds version if you really don't want to use fate)

I could also recommend the classic "Sufficiently Advanced"

http://suffadv.wikidot.com/srd

Its rules are a little old school but still work well, and push toward a really interesting style of game.

Beyond that I would have to say Smallville. Yes, it is built for Super Hero Soap Opera, but that actually works perfectly and has amazing narrative mechanics. https://www.amazon.com/Smallville-Roleplaying-Game-Cam-Banks/dp/1931567891/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469625897&sr=8-1&keywords=smallville+game

For initiative tracking, Improved Initiative and Kobold Fight Club are great resources. They do initative, round number, HP, AC, everything at a quick glance. They work on mobile, though I would suggest using either a tablet or laptop.

Another thing I did was simply have all the characters and monsters written on small pieces of paper and I would hand those on my DM screen. The page on the left is whose turn it is, after they go I just move it to the right.

It's really good to have something physical and simple. For something really nice and useful, you could pick up the Paizo Combat Pad is fantastic, or you can be cheap like me and get a magnetic whiteboard and some permanent markers to make the lines.

For your questions, it all comes down to how the other guy put it. How detailed do you want to be. In Q2 you mentioned not being able to carry a loaded crossbow, but loading isn't part of the action, its part of the attack, meaning that it doesn't really matter in gameplay terms, just in terms of how descriptive you want to be.

As for loot. LMoP is where I started as well, and it's great. I do suggest to try and not use it like "This is how the adventure is" and rather as a guide for how you could run the adventure. Add your own flare to it. The book might not be saying that the goblins have loot on them, but if you want them to have a couple coppers, or maybe they kept some gold when they ambushed Gundren and Sildar, there's nothing wrong with that. At the same time, if you don't think these guys would have anything on them, then they don't.

I am also a relatively new DM who's gone through many of the things I'm sure you will, and quite recently. If you have any questions about LMoP, basic rules, or just looking for suggestions, feel free to send me a DM. Good luck!

Anima Prime and Anima Beyond Fantasy are not related in the slightest.

Anima Prime (the core rules are free and there is an awesome pre-packaged demo). The game is freaking awesome, but remember you are supposed to play BAMF's from the start so "advancement" is kinda minimal, which can annoy some players.

http://www.animaprimerpg.com/main/

Anima Beyond Fantasy RPG

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/anima-beyond-fantasy-rpg/

Also, if you like the idea of Exalted, but not a fan of rules. There is an AWESOME complete rules hack of the original Quickstart Rules they launched the game with that fix everything, and run smooth. http://aakin.net/wiki/doku.php?id=qwixalted_-_jarvisified

There is also a great Exalted hack for Cortex Plus. http://blackwingedheaven.deviantart.com/art/Exalted-Blood-and-Fire-Version-1-3-442414903

Cortex Plus (smallville) also is perfect for any sort of "drama" based anime. It is also just an amazing game all around. http://www.amazon.com/Smallville-Roleplaying-Game-Cam-Banks/dp/1931567891/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1457704346&sr=8-1&keywords=smallville+rpg

I'm pretty sure WotC came out of the gate with the affirmation that they wouldn't release more than a few books a year (most of which are adventures). I get the business decisions, they don't want to flood the market.

For those who want more, there are tuns of fantastic third party books and top-tier homebrew to be had. Check out dmsguild.com and it's parent, DriveThruRPG.com. Some of my favorite third party books (and PDF's) include:

• Kobold Press' Tome of Beasts and it's followup Creature Codex, two fantastic and huge Monster Manual type books. The monsters within tend to be a little over-tuned, but highly original and IMHO most the MM creatures are too weak as it is. Wish you had more fey & celestials, or crazy demon lords and dragons? These are the books for you. Kobold Press also has their own setting called Midguard though I don't own the books.
  
  
• The Heroes of the Orient & Monsters of the Orient by Mark A has some very cool new material, including two new classes, new feats, and stuff for existing classes. Very popular on dmsguild.com
  
  
• Matt Colville's Strongholds & Followers has great rules for player's constructing their own strongholds or coming together to build/repair a castle, raise an army and go to war with your campaign's villain!
  
  
• I am particularly fond of Onyx Path Publishing, known for fantastic writers, and RPG heavy games, like 20th Anniversary World of Darkness (V20, etc), Chronicles of darkness (my group's favorite game series), Exalted, Pugmire, and more. They also have a 5e setting called Scarred Lands. It's based on a somewhat lesser known 3e setting of the same name Set in a world like classical Greece, only an age later, after the world was scarred by the war between the gods & the titans.

I'd recommend asking /r/rpg since that's more a question for them. There are a couple board games that are kind of similar (Descent 2E and Mice and Mystics) if you wanted board game suggestions.

My personal suggestion as a table top RPG player is to either go to a FLGS and see if they have weekly D&D games and join in if they do (it's very common among stores to have these events) OR, if the themes appeal to you, try out some of the White Wolf books and the World of Darkness setting. You need the core rulebook to run any of the settings. The rules are pretty simple for character creation and the game itself. You only use 10-sided dice (d10s) for skill checks. You roll the d10s and any 8+ is considered a success and a 10 is a success and a re-roll for another potential success. The books themselves also do a great job of getting new players into the setting by giving a lot of examples and lots of backstory.

Once you have the core set, you can pick one or more of the books to introduce one or more "classes" to the game. There are old and new versions as you'll see on the wiki link I gave you. I've both tried only playing one "class" (Vampires and Hunters both) and mixing them together (I've had a game of 2 Vampires, a Werewolf, and a Mage and similar mixes multiple times). One of my GMs threw my group for a loop: We played a game of Vampires, Werewolves, and Mages and then, a month or so after finishing that campaign, we played all Hunters and we ended up hunting our previous characters as part of the story.

Edit: fixed typos.

Thanks for posting this. I will definitely be trying this in my next game. Currently I use one of these to track the combat in my games. It works okay, but I love the player view that you have here.

A few thoughts that I have after playing with it:

1. Could you add some kind of spell tracking for spells that last multiple rounds? I have several spellcasters in my party right now and I find that nearly every combat I am tracking the duration of some spell.
   
   
2. Maybe make a place to take quick notes so the DM can have a few reminders about the encounter on the same screen.
   
   
3. Maybe hard to do with the account-less setup you have here (which is nice as it lowers the friction of getting your players on it) but I would like the ability to send messages to a single player through the app. Not a huge thing, but it would be nice to send them a message on a screen they are already looking at.
   
   Anyways, I love the idea of this and I can't wait to give it a try at the table soon. Thanks for making this and sharing it with us!

First and foremost, it might help to establish whether you are Old WoD or New WoD (old: Vampire the Mascarade, Werewolf the Apocolypse, Demon the Fallen / new: Vampire the Requiem, Werewolf the Forsaken, Demon the Descent)

There's some serious deviation between the various games, and I'd hate to think you picked up one book from oWoD and one from nWoD, because then your head will explode and you will die.

Secondly, yeah. Assuming you can talk your players back from the ledge, the best thing to do is pick up the New WoD core materials book (either World of Darkness or God Machine Chronicle) and start them out as plan vanilla mortals. Play, say, a three-game story arc. Run it like a Call of Cthulhu or other pulp horror game. Go for a proper Halloween vibe. Feel free to kill everyone in the final game. They should even have a few out-of-the-box adventures you can run. This can be a prelude or just an intro-to kind of thing, but don't make anyone feel too bad about "losing" or dying or whatever.

That should establish everyone on the ground rules of the game and also give them a taste for the grittery modern setting, the less hack-and-slash friendly environment, and a bit of proper social investigation-style role playing. WoD, generally speaking, runs like a pulpy supernatural murder mystery or survival horror. You shouldn't be marching your players through dungeons or leading armies into glorious battle, but gum-shoeing it on the mean streets and eating beans out of a can between confrontations with mind-melting horrors and underground masterminds.

Finally, once everyone's on an even footing, I recommend picking ONE of the setting books - Vampire, Werewolf, Demon - and spend a week or two soaking it in. Then let your players role up some proper supernatural characters and start the campaign. If you want to rotate through the settings, maybe do another couple of three-game arcs. Run a short Vamp game. Then run a short Werewolf game. Then run a short Demon game. Then if you are still feeling absolutely crazy, try and merge the settings. But by that time, you should have run this game for the better part of a year, and feel a lot more confident in what you're doing.

I wish you the best of luck. WoD is probably my favorite RP setting. Feel free to bug us for hints or hooks or to express the inevitable "WTF, overpowered!" gripes. We're always happy to take in a little... ahem fresh blood. :-)

List of Influential RPG Titles

Dungeons and Dragons - By TSR and WotC

Dungeons and Dragons 1st Edition - TSR

• Core Rulebooks
  
• Adventures (Keep on the Boarderlands, The Tomb of Horrors, The Temple of Elemental Evil)
  
  Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition - TSR
  
  
• Core Books (PHB, DMG, MM)
  
• Unearthed Arcana
  
• Campaign Settings (Dragonlance, Ravenloft, Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun)
  
• Arms and Equipment Guide
  
  Dungeons and Dragons 3.0 - WotC
  
  
• Savage Species
  
• Deities and Demigods
  
• Stronghold Builder's Guidebook
  
  Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 - WotC
  
  
• Core Rulebooks (PHB, DMG, & MM)
  
• Expanded Core (PHB2, DMG2, MM2, 3, 4, 5)
  
• Psionics Handbook
  
• Unearthed Arcana
  
• Complete Series (Arcane, Adventurer, Warrior, Divine, Champion, Scoundrel, Mage, Psionics)
  
• Campaign Settings (Ebberon, Forgotten Realms)
  
• Adventures (Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil)
  
  Dungeons and Dragons 4e - WotC
  
  
• Core Rulebooks (PHB, PHB2, PHB3, DMG, DMG2, MM, MM2, MM3)
  
• Essentials (Heroes of Forgotten Kingdoms and Heroes of Fallen Lands, Rules Compendium)
  
• Settings (Forgotten Realms, Dark Sun)
  
• Adventures (Tomb of Horrors)
  
  Pathfinder - Paizo Publishing
  
  
• Core Rulebook
  
• Advanced Player's Guide
  
• Advanced Race Guide
  
• Ultimate Magic
  
• Ultimate Combat
  
• Ultimate Equipment
  
• Game Mastery Guide
  
• Ultimate Campaign
  
• Mythic Adventures
  
• NPC Codex
  
• Bestiaries 1-4
  
  Not Dungeons and Dragons
  
  World of Darkness - by White Wolf
  
  
• Vampire the Masquerade - Vampires are so mainstream now...
  
• Werewolf the Apocylypse - Where there are vampires there are werewolves.
  
• Mage the Ascention - and witches and wizards.
  
• Hunter the Reckoning - and someone to hunt them.
  
• Changeling the Dreaming
  
  "New" World of Darkness
  
  
• Core Book
  
• Expanded Core (Vampire, Mage, Werewolf)
  
  AEG
  
  
• Legend of the Five Rings 4th Edition Core Rulebook
  
• Legend of the Five Rings 1st Edition Core Rulebook
  
• 7th Sea
  
• Deadlands
  
  Other
  
  
• Shadowrun
  
• Savage Worlds
  
• Dungeon World
  
• FATE Core
  
• Call of Cthulhu
  
• RIFTS
  
• GURPS
  
• Paranoia - Super expensive on Amazon, not sure why.
  
• Elf Quest - Also a very popular graphic novel.
  
  Authors to Look for
  
  
• Gary Gygax - Role Playing Mastery and Master of the Game
  
• Monte Cook
  
• John Wick
  
• Dave Arneston
  
  RPG Related Non-Fiction
  
  
• Confessions of a Part Time Sorceress - Shelley Mazzinoble
  
• Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It
  
  RPG Fiction, also essential
  
  
• Dragonlance - Chronicles Triligy by Weise and Hickman - Set in a D&D campaign Setting
  
• Drizzit's Series - By R. A. Salvatore. Icewind Dale Trilogy and The Dark Elf Trilogy
  
• The Riftwar Saga by Raymond Feist - It's allegedly the story of the author's long running D&D game.
  
  Other Lists
  
  
• Good Reads Popular RPG titles.
  
• Wikipedia timeline of RPGs
  
  Honorable Mentions
  
  
• Star Wars - d6 Edition, d20 Edition, SAGA Edition, Star Wars RPG (Fantsy Flight)
  
• Star Trek - Various Incarnations
  
• Serenity the RPG
  
• D&D Comic Books
  
• Buffy the RPG
  
• Whatever the heck "Demon" is...
  
  *Please add suggestions below, I'll add to the list as I revisit this thread throughout the day. Adding Amazon links now.

Seconded.

The problem with DIY low-magic or no-magic campaign worlds for 3.X D&D is that the system is both delicate and interlocking. Change something in one place (like switching to a Wounds/Vitality system, or a spell points system, or trying to move combat into skills, etc.) and you'll find it has wide-ranging and drastic effects all throughout the system. Without extensive playtesting, you're bound to run into all kinds of issues you never imagined.

You can avoid this by going with a published game world and/or modified d20 system, because those companies have done playtesting, taking lots of work and brain acrobatics off your hands.

Look into these:

Iron Heroes

The Black Company

Midnight (The second edition is probably better, but also more expensive. You can find the first edition for pretty cheap.)

Someone else mentioned using d20 Modern, which is actually a good idea, but your players might balk at the different approach to classes (six base classes, one each based on a primary attribute -- Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, Constitution).

The Land is pretty ok, you just have to get past A.K.'s writing idiosyncrasies. Everybody Loves Large Chest is an online serial. It's very gory, weird, and weirdly sexual. Ascend online is a great fantasy mmorpg. Really well written. Awaken online is very good book from the perspective of the "villain". Dark. Survival quest is pretty good Russian translated litrpg. Patch 17 is from a guy stuck in a mmorpg hell. Dragon's wrath is kind of just a town building litrpg, but is enjoyable enough. Unbound deathlord is pretty good dark book about the underdark, or whatever he calls it in that book.

There's been some good advice and links to good resources posted here already. I don't want to make it seem like I'm pushing for you to spend more money, but there are some really good books/pdfs on the subject which should not be overlooked.

I highly recommend Robin's Laws of Good Game Mastering to any new GM who's looking for some well thought out advice on GMing and adventure planning. You can get it in PDF, print (or from Amazon). Another book to consider for GURPS is How to be a GURPS GM.

To be honest, 2nd edition Faerun was really good. We still play in that time period (as did we in 3rd ed, and 4th ed).

The best FR source book past 2nd ed was the 3rd edition book. I would try and find this book in PDF and go from there. It is not bad, but 4E realms was...well we did not like it (your results may vary).

A good all around book for everything is A Grand History of the Realms.

>What are the major 'world changing' books or series

3rd edition - books about the Shadow Weave and the return of the Netherese.

4th edition - The spell-plague.

Also there is also the best Realms Source on the internet (Ed Greenwood posts there): http://www.candlekeep.com/

There's a 2007 book called The Grand History of the Realms

I haven't seen it myself, but it sounds like it should be a pretty good primer on historical events in/around Faerun. It's not a direct sourcebook, but again sounds like it's full of well organized information for the entirety of the campaign setting through the years.

I bought this book years ago:

http://www.amazon.com/Gary-Gygaxs-Gygaxian-Fantasy-Worlds/dp/1931275564

It mostly helps if you're playing games set in the "real world" (like White Wolf, Call of Cthulhu, or Cyberpunk), though a lot of the names can easily apply to D&D universes as long as your DM isn't anal about not using "real" names (ie, you can have a character from Calimshan named or someone from Luskan named Otto). I've personally used names like Lysandra (an Elf Battle Master Fighter) or Vaughn (a Ffolk Dunken Master Monk) for D&D characters. And that book in particular has a chapter on "made up" names that are mostly just random syllables jammed together if you want something more exotic.

That book's probably not a realistic option for most players today, but you can get more or less the same thing by looking for baby name books (which you can probably check out for free from your local library), or just use online baby name sites (or even Wikipedia's "given names by culture" categories). Just pick a region that fits the feel of the character you're trying to make (ie, for Illuskans go Germanic, Calimshan tends towards Arabic names, the Ffolk are blatantly Irish/Welsh, etc), and pick a name that feels like it would fit someone from there.

As long as you're not naming your elf royal "John" or "Bob" or something, you're probably good.

It's pretty hard to find (and as a rsult a bit expensive) but the best resource for names of any type is Gary Gygax's Extraordinary Book of Names. It has thousand of names organized by region and time with detailed explanations of naming structures of different cultures and pronunciation. It also has a decent section in the back dedicated to "fantastical" names for inns, dragons, etc. I found a copy in the back of a Barns and Nobles on sale years ago and it remains one of my most prized RPG books.

chessex has cheap factory 2nd mats available - usually they have some wobbly lines in the corner or slight discoloration, not a big problem if you are trying to get the most for your money.
those arent dry-erase but are made of vinyl and meant for water-soluble pens. on the plus side a vinyl map will stay in good condition for a long time. on the negative side, if you are clumsy like me using a wet sponge to clear the map at your gaming table might get messy.

i use the [paizo basic mat](http://www.amazon.com/GameMastery-Flip- Mat-Basic-Paizo-Staff/dp/1601251556/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1319810922&sr=8-5) myself. it is basically laminated thick paper (so if you have someone who works at a place that does lamination for example, you might be able to make your own for even less money), works great using dry-erase markers to write and paper towels to remove writing. i love that its double-sided; on one side i draw the battlefield for the big setpiece fight of the adventure (usually those awesome fights involve more interesting terrain features etc so its good to take my time with it) and use the other side for all the other maps we might need during the session.

My biggest concern with converting 3/3.5/Pathfinder campaigns is that the reliance and distribution of magic items is much lower in 5th edition than in previous editions.

That being said, Red Hand of Doom is a pretty awesome campaign for 5th-12th level adventurers from 3.5. I converted the first three chapters for Pathfinder and ran it (I moved away before I could finish it, unfortunately), and my players had a pretty great time.

THIS IS WHY WE CAN HAVE NICE THINGS!

Well, /u/Halfkender reached out to me and tried to lift my spirits last week when I was in a deep funk after some people saying some less-than-pleasant things about me on another subreddit... he didn't know me, I didn't know him, but he was an emotional super trooper.

There's an RPG on his wish list I bet he would like to have.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1934547476?colid=3RV8VLH1Z1ZJK&coliid=IN4BB19QORDGB

Inner Sea World Guide - lore about Golarion in general, and a world history. Lots and lots of really cool info, the "go-to" book for lore in Golarion/Pathfinder

Inner Sea Gods - lore about the core deities in Golarion and their religions, as well as some info about some of the outlying, less-common deities/religions.

Pathfinder Player Companion: Varisia, Birthplace of Legends Quite a few adventure paths take place or start in Varisia, particularly the city of Sandpoint.

Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Magnimar, City of Monuments A major city in Varisia that also is involved in a number of adventure paths.

The Rise of the Runelords adventure path is a great introduction for new players and new GMs into Golarion and pathfinder in general.

Ninja edit: www.pathfinderwiki.com is another great resource, and is just lore-based as opposed to including things like stats for creatures and that sort of thing. More detail is in the books that are referenced for each page, but that site will get you started with things like the gods, various countries, and prominent events in Golarion history.

If you mean a vRPG, we already have one and it HEAVILY apes Dragon Age Origins. It doesn't have the polish or graphics and the UI is heavily unintuitive, but if you figure that out and turn the graphics to max you will find a pretty good story buried under there. http://www.gameofthrones-rpg.com/

if you mean a tabletop RPG, we have that too although it's out of print. Made by Guardians of Order, the guys who did Big Eyes, Small Mouth, it's every bit as political and unforgiving as the books it's based on. Definitely not a hack and slash RPG unless you want to go through characters like toilet paper. http://www.amazon.com/Game-Thrones-D20-Based-Open-Gaming/dp/1588469425

Welcome!

As long as you are all having fun, you are doing it right.
Other groups may play different, even every single player may prefer a different style of the game. Robin D. Laws elaborately wrote about that in this book: http://www.amazon.com/Robins-Laws-Good-Game-Mastering/dp/1556346298/ref=la_B0034PURKG_1_37?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1375252138&sr=1-37

Something I forgot to mention is the use of tension and relief. It depends a lot on how the story unfolds. You cannot completely plan it, but you should plan something interesting/exciting at the beginning to grasp your players attention. The end of the session should include a peak of tension, too. Especially if it is the great showdown of the adventure. There must be moments of relief, too. If you omit those, and go for a breathless 100% adrenaline rush, the players will lose it at some point. They will just produce relief at a random point where you don't want it.

You might like Unbound Deathlord - the MC is fairly amoral in that one.

Awaken Online might also be to your liking.

I also like to recommend Unsouled, which is basically a xianxia novel written by an American. IMO cultivation / xianxia novels are basically litrpgs, with weird names slapped on top of the numbers.

Another one that kinda sorta straddles the line of LitRPG is Super Sales on Super Heroes - it's a superhero novel, and the MC's power is that he can spend "points" to upgrade things.

If you are like me and prefer a physical book over pdfs, you can try and search "Pathfinder CRB softcover" on Amazon. It's pocket sized (if you wear cargo pants) and only costs $25 which is a pretty good deal compared to the hardcover. Note: I have the student Amazon prime for Pathfinder sales. A lot of their stuff goes on sale occasionally which is really nice.

What I do for my friends is show them the Core Rule Book and get them to know what their classes do, how combat works, etc. Then I allow them to use nearly any material they can find online from Paizo sources, or third party sources that I can approve. The beauty of Pathfinder is that the Core Rules are pretty sick, but there is a world of content outside of it too (like, over 40 classes or something like that, not counting prestige classes).

Link to softcover https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1601258879/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1491394704&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=pathfinder+core+rulebook&dpPl=1&dpID=518q5G6xFfL&ref=plSrch

Robin's Laws of Good Game Mastering https://www.amazon.com/dp/1556346298/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_boZFAbZ9NMS62 a great starting book. The teachers you would understand your players as you go about designing your game. It help shape your world into something that your players will enjoy spending time in.

I bought the campaign setting book for its background/detail on the BC world, and thought it was well worth the money. The Amazon reviews may be helpful: https://smile.amazon.com/Black-Company-Campaign-Setting/dp/1932442383/

If you do decide to buy it, I would recommend getting it direct from Green Ronin, as the copies on Amazon tend to be pretty pricey and GR has slightly-dinged copies still for sale at $30. https://greenroninstore.com/products/the-black-company-campaign-setting-scratch-dent

Sorry for the long links but I'm on mobile. I use these. Yes they are intended as dnd monsters but the creatures are very easily adaptable. I'm using these 2 books for inspiration in a dungeon world game at the moment.

Tome of Beasts https://www.amazon.com/dp/1936781565/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_wKGzCbCPJ9KQ8

Creature Codex https://www.amazon.com/dp/1936781921/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_6HGzCbN9F22K2

Depends on what races/creatures you have in your book. Different races behave differently in different universes, but I personally prefer the treatment given to races and monsters in DnD because of how thorough and fleshed out it is.

Dungeons and Dragons Monster Rulebook for monsters (Dragons, Beholders etc)

Complete Book of Humanoids for humanoid races (Centaurs, Dark elves, Ogres etc)

Dungeons and Dragons Players Handbook for more conventional races (Humans, Dwarves, Elves)

​

Even if you don't play DnD, those books are worth a read.

If you prefer an all-in-one read then the Pathfinder manual is pretty good- It's a compressed (slightly less detailed and not as comprehensive) tome containing all 3 of the above classes of information

Pathfinder RPG Rulebook

​

I am a new DM too (we've played maybe 5 sessions?)

I am using the 3 core rulebooks:

The Player's Handbook
http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Players-Handbook-Rulebook/dp/0786928867

The Dungeon Master's Guide
http://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Masters-Guide-Rulebook-Dungeons/dp/0786928891/

Monster Manual
http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Manual-Rulebook-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/078692893X/

The players themselves only need the Player's Handbook.

There is no reason to use other books when you're starting out. All they'll do is add complication to an already complicated system. When I was at school and joined a group for just a few sessions to learn what was going on, one guy had several other books he was pulling spells and items from and it only allowed him to make the rest of the party irrelevant. He was able to pull things from other books to circumvent most plot points that required other characters' skills and abilities, and it was just a bad time for everyone involved.

As everyone I'm playing with is new (me too) - we chose to do a premade series of dungeons to get the feel of it. I chose the Sunless Citadel and pretty much completely changed the story within a few sessions and nobody else knows or cares because we're all enjoying it.

I've heard a lot said about buying a premade adventure. If you are running 4e, might I suggest Dungeon Delve?

http://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Delve-4th-Supplement-Adventure/dp/0786951397/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1241077629&sr=8-1

It's a great way to get a bunch of basic encounters ready fast. Just jump in and play, and learn the rules as you go.

Pathfinder, aka D&D 3.75.

That said, I've really Pathfinder's native Golarion setting in Fate Accelerated. The setting is interesting and very D&D but Fate makes for very light and easy rules reducing everyone's cognitive load at the table and increasing the amount of fun we all have.

The Red Hand of Doom is a classic adventurer for parties of levels 5-12 that most people seem to really enjoy.

There is the pen and paper A Song of Ice and Fire RPG made by Green Ronin Publishing, which is a fantastic game with great supplements. I too would love a video game RPG in the style of Elder Scrolls or Witcher.

There is! Grand History of the Realms at least thats the historic stuff. Faiths and pantheons have all the deities. And theres elminster's forgotten realms for other random stuff.

Disclaimer i only own faiths and pantheons but ive heard good things about grand history.

It's my physical copy of 3.5 edition but I bet there's one online in PDF somewhere. If you just want shots of the two monsters here you go. If you can't find it online, I'll happily send you art from other monsters in my 3.5 or 4th edition Monster Manuals :)

FR Player's Guide is a good resource.

If you want detailed history, Grand History of the Realms is a beautifully rendered timeline of all the history of Faerun.

The Wiki is a good resource.

Menzoberranzan comes out next month.

There's a great book came out in 2007 called "Grand History of the Realms" but I'll be honest it reads like stereo instructions. I utilize that, the forgotten realms wiki, and general googling to patch together timelines.

https://www.amazon.com/Grand-History-Realms-Forgotten/dp/0786947314

Back in 2006 I ran a mercenary campaign using the D20 GoT system. I made a custom world and threw the party members in the middle of a civil war. Mercenaries can do quite well in that sort of environment.

It was a short-lived campaign due to scheduling, but was well received by the players!

One thing that I definitely remember about this campaign: No magic makes healing difficult. So choose your battles wisely.

My players were beset by a pack of wolves and though they survived, had to take several months rest (in game) to heal up to fighting strength again.

If you don't mind deviating from the D&D systems, you can always give this system a try. I played a campaign in it once, and found it highly rewarding. I ended up being a eunuch poisonmaster named Alexander Mason, and terrified everyone in the campaign because I could easily kill everyone. However, being truly loyal to my liege (though not entirely vocal about it), I meant the party no harm. Regardless, the system is quite fun, and takes a great spin on the RPG genre.

Esoteric choice ("you've probably never heard of it"): My favorite add-on module has always been Cityscape (3.5e, compatible with Pathdfinder and probably 5e)

Mainstream choice: I've also always loved original Eberron for 3.5e (again, Pathfinder compatible, possibly 5e compatible)

If you are not really concerned about the rules that might be tucked in there then you can go ahead and grab some of the older books instead. For example, you can snag the 3.5 D&D Dragonlance campaign setting for around $12.99 and have everything that you need to run a game in that setting. $20 would get you the 3.5 Eberron campaign setting as well.

Really what you need to know when looking for a setting is what settings are available. There is a pretty decent wiki of D&D Campaign Settings that you can go through to see what interests you. From there do a few searches for used books and you should be fine. Again, unless you really want those modern edition rules that apply to the setting of your choice.

I saw you like RPG's, World of Darkness is quite fun, it's a lot more RP heavy than D&D, I find.

I like Baoding balls.

GameMastery Flip-Mat is a great solution, and they have themed mats as well.

If you want to go a little more sturdy, I went to OfficeMax, got an 18x24 large format print of a 1" grid, then had it mounted on foam board and then laminated. You could potentially get prints on vinyl too.

Estou lendo:

How To Read a Book — Mortimer J. Adler, Charles Van Doren

>Originally published in 1940, this book is a rare phenomenon, a living classic that introduces and elucidates the various levels of reading and how to achieve them—from elementary reading, through systematic skimming and inspectional reading, to speed reading. Readers will learn when and how to “judge a book by its cover,” and also how to X-ray it, read critically, and extract the author’s message from the text.


Indicação de um bredditor. Valeu! Estou adorando. ]


It's the Way You Say It — Carol A. Fleming

>The best, most direct way to convey your intelligence, expertise, professionalism, and personality to other people is through talking to them. But most people have no idea what they sound like. And even if they do, they don’t think they can change it. It’s the Way You Say It is a thorough, nuts-and-bolts guide to becoming aware and taking control of how you communicate with others.

Sobre esse tenho pouco a dizer até agora porque não estou muito longe no livro. Na leitura rápida que fiz, vi que ele tem uma pegada bem prática, cheia de exercícios e casos reais que a Fleming teve que lidar em seu consultório. O livro lida com problemas que vão desde mais gerais até mais específicos. Porém, muitos dos exercícios, especialmente para os problemas mais específicos, tem o objetivo de resolver dificuldades que as pessoas encontram na fonética do Inglês. Então, para brasileiros querendo resolver dificuldades que encontram na sua fala em PTBR, o livro pode ter benefício limitado, ou requeira certa adaptação.

Se alguém conhecer algum livro bom sobre o assunto feito para brasileiros, me indiquem.

_____
Eu li:

Unbound Deathlord — Edward Castle

>When virtual reality becomes real enough that people feel as if they’re being transported to another world, Valia Online arrives.


Para quem gosta de LitRPG ou mesmo fantasia em geral, esse é viciante. É o tipo de livro que você não consegue parar de ler até chegar na última página. O melhor de tudo: foi escrito por um brasileiro. Edward Castle é um nome artístico que o autor está usando por motivos óbvios.

Se quiserem, leiam alguns dos reviews na Amazon. Apesar de ter algumas coisas que não me agradou, foi uma das melhores, se não a melhor, história de fantasia/sci-fi que eu li de um autor brasileiro. Realmente viciante. Estava pensando em fazer um post sobre isso para valorizar a escrita nacional, mas como autor meio que esconde a nacionalidade, não sei se valeria tanto a pena.


edit: formatação, erros gramaticais

There are lots of good online name generators out there; one of my favorites is [Rinkworks[(http://rinkworks.com/namegen/).

I also always suggest investing in Gary Gygax's Extraordinary Book of Names. I'm sure you if you cruised eBay and Amazon for a while, you could pick one up for cheaper than $100.

Pathfinder Pawns can be a great alternative to 3D minis

EDIT: better set https://www.amazon.com/Pathfinder-Pawns-Villain-Codex-Box/dp/1601259255/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=pathfinder+pawns&qid=1569859851&sr=8-1

Miniatures weren't sold in a set that covered you. Even when they work with WizKids and have a set of the same name... they're still random blind boosters that have SOME of the stuff in it. It isn't a kit you can just buy.

For the WizKids lines here are the galleries:

• D&D Brand: https://www.minisgallery.com/dnd/icons/index.html
  
• Pathfinder Brand: http://www.pathfinderminis.com/pfb/index.html
  
  There is NOTHING wrong with the Pathfinder ones. They're just extra variations (Pathfinder IS D&D 3e revised etc etc).
  
  Anyway, what I would do is look at those galleries and note the set and creature you want.
  
  Then go to eBay and check out sellers like Miniature Market, Noble Knight Games, etc etc and find the place that has what you want in the quantities you want. You're going to spend a pretty penny to get a workable set going.
  
  Another option that I suggest is get the Pathfinder Pawns. You can spend $30ish per box (so about $100 for like 1,000 miniatures).
  
  
• The Bestiary I box has representation for almost everything in the main Monster Manuals (like its the same basic guys for 3e, Pathfinder, 5e, etc).
  
• The Monster Box has multiples for common enemies (goblins, orcs, undead, etc). And I highly recommend it. (It looks like it is out of print but they often bring them back)
  
• The NPC Codex Box has all kinds useable for PCs and NPCs alike.
  
• The Villain Codex Box has similar but more bad NPC types.
  
  They are the cheapest way to get into it. Far cheaper than the pre-painted miniatures or investing in paints, brushes, and metal figures.
  
  Then you can feel better splurging $30-50 on a cool dragon rare or go to Hero Forge and get a custom mini, etc.

I've collected names for years but have never had enough. I have an old baby name book around here somewhere, as well as Gary Gygax's Extraordinary Book of Names. I keep my own general lists but for my recent drow book I've generated names per chapter based on the sounds I want. (The part of GRRM's talk, when he mentioned knowing the kind of sound you want for groups of people spoke to me.) But I still try not to have repeating names when I run games to help players tell and keep NPCs apart.

You might be better off looking into something like this
http://www.amazon.com/Game-Thrones-D20-Based-Open-Gaming/dp/1588469425

I know how much fun it can be to convert D&D into different settings, but it is a HUGE amount of work. I spent weeks creating a Ghostbusters P&P RPG in the Shadowrun 4th edition system, and it was just to much work.

edit I just saw the price tag, IGNORE ME!

>As huge as Eberron is, surely there has to be somewhere one can read about various facets of the universe like the Planes, the history of the different Houses and factions, the deities and religions present in the game, etc. Anything at all.

If you don't want to buy the D&D books, there are wiki sources online with tons of stuff:

• http://forgottenrealms.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page
  
  
• http://eberron.wikia.com/wiki/Eberron_Wiki
  
  I got these two Eberron books at home:
  
  Eberron Campaign Setting
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Eberron-Campaign-Setting-Dungeons-Roleplaying/dp/0786932740
  
  Sharn City of Towers
  
  
• http://www.amazon.com/Sharn-City-Towers-Eberron-Supplement/dp/B000HWY5NY
  
  Plus a ton of AD&D 2 and D&D 3.5 books and novels.

It comes in a few different flavors already.

Firefly

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/128012/Firefly-RolePlaying-Game-Corebook

Hackers Guide (all the rules for the different incarnations in one book, misses the "flavor" though)

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/117419/Cortex-Plus-Hackers-Guide?filters=0_0_44283_0_0

Leverage (Con Job / Spy Thriller)

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/browse.php?keywords=leverage&x=0&y=0&author=&artist=&pfrom=&pto=

Marvel Heroic

http://www.amazon.com/Marvel-Heroic-Roleplay-Basic-Game/dp/1936685167/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396635239&sr=8-1&keywords=marvel+heroic

Smallville

http://www.amazon.com/Smallville-Roleplaying-Game-Cam-Banks/dp/1931567891/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1396635264&sr=8-1&keywords=smallville+rpg

Dragon Brigade

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/93882/Dragon-Brigade-Opening-Salvo

Con respecto a los mapas, si buscas versatilidad por precio, recomendaría comprarte un BattleMat, o busca el básic mat de Pathfinder, es lo mismo que tú hoja A3 pero más grande y podés usar marcadores para dibujar y después borrar tus dungeons o escenarios de combate, yo uso uno y me resulta más fácil para dibujar sobre la marcha pasadizos secretos recién descubiertos, etc. ( https://www.amazon.es/Chessex-Role-Playing-Play-Mat/dp/B0015IQO2O )
Ahora, si querés algo más lindo y elegante, compra tiles, son escenarios ya dibujados (de forma muy profesional y realista) que podés combinar para extenderlo, el único problema con este método es que llega un punto que reciclar lo vuelve monótono, aunque es más realista por las imágenes del mapa que el battlemat. ( https://www.amazon.es/Dungeon-Tiles-Reincarnated/dp/0786966300/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=dungeon+tiles&qid=1570868315&sr=8-1 )

Con las miniaturas, lo mejor que te puedo recomendar es que busques las cajas ICONS OF THE REALM de D&D, vienen 4 miniaturas por caja, al azar, 3 medianas o pequeñas y una grande, allí encontrarás más que nada enemigos, algunos muy interesantes, otros meh. ( https://www.amazon.es/dp/B0155L0OKO/ref=dp_cerb_1 )
De la misma línea hay unos basados en el starter set que vienen heroes básicos (un enano clérigo, un humano guerrero, un elfo mago, etc), quizás ahí veas una oportunidad para buscar algo más representativo a tu grupo. ( https://www.amazon.es/WizKids-72779-Realms-Miniatures-Starter/dp/B0722N48N2/ref=mp_s_a_1_15?keywords=d%26d+icons+of+the+realms&qid=1570868365&sprefix=d%26d+icons&sr=8-15 )

Espero te sirva :)

To your first point, I make up cheat sheets for my players and I have the rules distilled down to about 8 pages that are quick to reference. If your players aren't going to read the PHB, then you can control how they upgrade and what spells they have. (More power to the DM! Ah ha ha ha!)

Second, I demand that players stay off the phone at the table. As a GM, I know I can get players and you will too. Rather than making it a direct confrontation though, put tools in place that speed up the game and cause them to pay attention. I use a timer during combat and give 90 seconds per player per round to take their actions. (This is a good thing to do anyway for a good number of reasons. You'll find that once the players get used to it, it's way more time than they need anyway.)

If your player knows the tropes, it's on you to get creative and challenge him. This is one where I don't have any sympathy for you. (Ok, I really do, but it's your problem not the player's.) You're basically being challenged to step up your game. If it's combat, be more obscure with your monster choices and maybe use an alternative monster manual like the Creature Codex and Tome of Beasts by Kobold Press. (I had to do this because of the veteran players at my table.) If it's puzzles, you'll just have to dig up more obscure material. For politics and NPCs, read Roger Zelazny novels for non-tropish inspiration. As far as metagaming, watch this video by Seth Skorkowsky for an alternative view: Metagaming Isn't All Bad - RPG Philosophy.

Ah, well that's a whole nother issue, and really depends on what tools you have available to you.

If all you have is a single grid mat, I'd suggest either draw the map as you go or draw the whole thing in advance, and cover up unexplored rooms with paper.

Personally, I only draw/build the rooms where a fight may occur using these or these, but you could use them to create the entire dungeon and just lay out rooms when the party gets to them.

Do you mean videogames like Telltale Games series or even Crusader Kings mod?

Or do you mean more of a pen and paper or tabletop or card game?


Or any of the above as long as people liked them?

Never really counted, about 50 to 60 pieces that vary in size from a 1 square tile, to rooms about 12 squares across. They are placed in the packaging similar to model planes, so you break the tiles out of the packaging. Friendly warning, they wont go back into the original packaging easily once you do break them out. There are wilderness, urban, and dungeon tile sets.

Here is what I'm talking about through Amazon.
D&D DUNGEON TILES REINCARNATED: DUNGEON (Dungeons & Dragons) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0786966300/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_k62ADbD2GHTAK

I use the tracker on Roll20 but one of my friends has used the gamemastery combat pad before and he likes it.

Amazon Store Link

YouTube Review of it

I use the pathfinder initiative tracker, you can look it up in Amazon and it's cheap, it has magnetic pieces that are dry erase safe, so you just write the characters name on them and as people give you their initiative you put the pieces in decending order. It also let's you write anything you need on here like HP, A.C., any of that sort.

www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1601255470/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1495106512&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=pathfinder+initiative+tracker&dpPl=1&dpID=519vNFbpH7L&ref=plSrch

For RPGs, check out Reign which handles low fantasy really well.

The Black Company novels have relatively low fantasy feel (even if high fantasy elements are going in the background), and there's an RPG for it that's pretty snazzy.

As for movies, a lot of 70s/80s fantasy movies were low-fantasy on account of budget limitations. So, movies like Lady Hawke, Sword and the Sorcerer, Excalibur, Krull, and Beastmaster would all be worth checking out.

There is no purchase. Encounters material is not for sale. It's free to play for the players and DMs as a draw for people to come into their FLGS and play and buy D & D Products.

Also, here is an alternative: http://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Delve-Edition-Supplement-Adventure/dp/0786951397

If you want to go all out I'd recommend these books:

https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Monster-Rulebook-Roleplaying/dp/0786965614/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1549840456&sr=8-6&keywords=dungeons+and+dragons

https://www.amazon.com/Xanathars-Guide-Everything-Wizards-Team/dp/0786966114/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1549840456&sr=8-10&keywords=dungeons+and+dragons

https://www.amazon.com/Volos-Guide-Monsters-Wizards-Team/dp/0786966017/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1549840456&sr=8-14&keywords=dungeons+and+dragons

Enough dice for you and whoever you're playing with:

https://www.amazon.com/Wiz-Dice-Pack-Random-Polyhedral/dp/B01KN7REWQ/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1549840537&sr=8-4&keywords=1+pound+of+dice

If you want minis:

https://www.amazon.com/Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Codex-Pawns/dp/1601254725/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1549840982&sr=8-4&keywords=monster+codex+box

https://www.amazon.com/Paizo-Inc-Pathfinder-Pawns-Bestiary/dp/1601255616/ref=pd_sbs_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1601255616&pd_rd_r=d89745e3-2d8a-11e9-bc59-4fcf3b72f982&pd_rd_w=Ip8Jz&pd_rd_wg=d87AF&pf_rd_p=588939de-d3f8-42f1-a3d8-d556eae5797d&pf_rd_r=CQ2TM4MZQSVKFXX2GYRS&psc=1&refRID=CQ2TM4MZQSVKFXX2GYRS

https://www.amazon.com/Pathfinder-Pawns-Villain-Codex-Box/dp/1601259255/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1549840982&sr=8-3&keywords=monster+codex+box

This is $9, looks much nicer, and will hold up much better, plus, it's portable.

GameMastery Flip-Mat: Basic

http://www.amazon.com/GameMastery-Flip-Mat-Basic-Paizo-Staff/dp/1601251556/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1421776638&sr=8-3&keywords=Pathfinder+Flip-Mat%3A+Basic

You want the Monster Manual that [looks like this] (http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Manual-Rulebook-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/078692893X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1451094951&sr=8-2&keywords=3.5e+DnD+Monster+Manual) and the Dungeon Master's Guide that [looks like this] (http://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Masters-Guide-Rulebook-Dungeons/dp/0786928891/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1451095029&sr=8-2&keywords=3.5e+DnD+Dungeon+Master%27s+Guide).

Of course, they're out of print now, so you'll probably only find them used for various prices.

Just echoing what these guys are saying. Keep it simple for new players and the best way to do that is with a low level game.

In 4e they [made a book] (https://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Delve-4th-Supplement-Adventure/dp/0786951397) entirely of one shots. I don't own it but my DM ran a few of it for us while he was working on his own campaign. Even though it's 4th edition, it's easily adaptable and at worst inspiration.

They typically following the rule of Backstory + 3 encounters.

For example: "You're here in Countryville after being hired by King SoandSo. His daughter, Princess Superimportant is traveling to a neighboring city to broker a new trading agreement between the two kingdoms. The road that will be traveled is dangerous and goes through the mountains where Goblins reside. You're tasked with ensuring her safe arrival." That paints the scene for the players and makes clear goals.

Roleplay meeting the princess, loading the carts and making necessary preparations from taking off.

Encounter 1: 4 goblins are keeping watch of the entrance to the mountain on makeshift watch towers. As the PC's approach a horn is blown alerting their kin. They knock arrows and begin to fire down through the canvas roof of the cart. Roll initiative.

Encounter 2. Along the way they see some fellow humans chained up near in an alcove near the side of the road fixing to be fed to a bugbear, perhaps from Princess Superimportant's kingdom or the Kingdom she is traveling to. Princess Superimportant urges that we stop to save them, even if it's super dangerous. She tasks the players with cutting through the couple goblins and then dealing with a large bugbear beast before he's able to have his meal.

Encounter 3: The players have made it through the mountains, saved some allies and everything looks good. Until the driver of the wagon notifies the princess something is tailing them. They look out of the wagon behind them and there's 3 goblins riding on wolves and one goblin chieftain riding a dire wolf chase after. Perhaps they shoot an flaming arrow to the back of the cart and set it ablaze. There's a hide speed battle while moving to the city which should make a memorable fight.

Bam - there's a one shot.

Just follow the formula of:

Backstory

Encounter

Encounter

Encounter

One of the encounters can be a roleplay encounter should you choose or roleplay between the encounters to mix it up.

There are several actually. This appears to be the most recent and best liked

Another from 2005

There may be more.

If the thing holding you back from being a GM is minis, I suggest looking to Pathfinder's Battle Pawn series. They have a series where they print their monsters on hard card stock and insert them into plastic bases. Much cheaper than miniatures.

If you buy the Bestiary 1 box you'll get most of the most commonly used monster in RPG games. You could pick up the NPC Codex pawns for a variety of NPC "minis" and minis for players to choose from as well. Round it out with their Villain Codex set and you'll have a wide variety of pawns that will be capable of handling the cast majority of situations. If you don't have just the right Pawn, you'll at least have one that can make for a suitable stand in.

All total it's about $120, which is a lot, but to get even half the equivalent in miniatures, you'd spend hundreds more.

Sure they're not quite as fun as minis, but the thing about minis is, unless you have a lot of disposable cash, getting a good collection isn't easy. Minis are expensive, and prepainted ones even more so. So building up your collection at an affordable rate takes a lot of time and there are some minis that you'll never be able to get without spending hundreds of dollars on, because they were a limited time item. For example, the Colossal Red Dragon costs One Thousand Dollars if you want to own one. To put in perspective as to how much this minis price has changed when it was first released, it was sold for $74.99... Quite a big difference, huh?

Your best bet is to combine Pathfinder Pawns with D&D Dungeon Tiles Reincarnated.

Oh cool. Thanks. I'll definitely check out Cortex Plus & Smallville.

Is this it? I didn't see anything about the cortex system and I'd had to shell out $30 on the wrong book.

I found a copy of the dungeon delve. It does not provide enough exp to get through the whole level.

Part of this campaign is to see how much time actually needs to be spent to get from level 1-30.

It is a great place to start. Do you have more recommendations?

i just picked up the Inner World Guide a few weeks ago and it's a great starting point. Lots and lots of information about Golarion and its workings.

Understood! THey have been adding more and more content that can be "Printed" each month; you might be able to find a used/new copy of dungeon delve by other legal means like through amazon stores https://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Delve-4th-Supplement-Adventure/dp/0786951397

You may want something to track initiative. This Pathfinder Combat Pad looks similar to the one my group uses, I'm not sure if it's the exact one.

You could use paper, but from watching my GMs it's much easier to be able to set the magnetic labels in order every time initiative is rolled, and you can write enemy status in the notes section, and save yourself a lot of scratch paper.

Alternatively, some people just fold index cards in half to make tents and put the tents on top of the GM screen, with the names on both sides. That way they can be rearranged as needed and everybody sees the order. So, you know, you can just add index cards to the order.

It's the Creature Codex by Kobold Press

It's fantastic, it also includes this thicc boi

https://www.amazon.com/Creature-Codex-Wolfgang-Baur/dp/1936781921/ref=sr_1_1?s=industrial&ie=UTF8&qid=1539907620&sr=8-1&keywords=creature+codex

It has been already mentioned before but MC from Unbound Deathlord is certainly a welcome exception from the endless list of meek MCs that are so common at LitRPG genre. Being rather non-confrontational myself I don't really have that big problem with that, but it is refreshing to read something different from time to time.

i'll just suggest the new World of Darkness because i think it's cool. pretty simple and adaptable system

http://www.amazon.com/World-Darkness-White-Wolf-Studio/dp/1588464849/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344394194&sr=8-1&keywords=world+of+darkness

Ahhhhhhh. Right, gotcha. No idea myself. Some pre-made ones out there though.

• Paizo
  
• Crystal Caste
  
• DIY
  
• Chessex
  
  
  Not to knock your chalkboard one. You did a great job and there's something to be said for non-conventional.

I have a (3/4 ft wide by 2.5ft long) metal lightweight metal thing that I got from Ikea a while back that I have attached to the wall and I usually just write on it with erasable marker and when players pass we erase their name. A friend of mine uses a magnetic pathfinder initiative tracker that has a little arrow that we move to the current players turn and when a player passes in that one, we just move their name to the other column on the board

This is a black company campaign setting book for dnd 3.5 that you would probably find extremely useful.

Have you checked out the Song of Ice and Fire rpg? I find it a very fun game for world builders. It has lots of good stuff on building and managing houses, large scale combat, and politicking.

http://www.pathfinderwiki.com/wiki/Golarion

Golarion is the official campaign setting. It has everything you can imagine. And I mean everything you could ever want in a fantasy setting.

Specifically, the Inner Sea Region is the focus of most adventure paths and campaigns. Get your hands on the Inner Sea World Guide...It's an incredible book.

I got mine from the previous Pathfinder Bundle, so I'm not sure other than keeping an eye out for a discount at your local game stores. Also, if you get emails from Barnes & Noble, you will get a 30% off one item sooner or later you can use on the physical copy. Buying used is also an option too.

Apparently, there is a Pocket Edition of the rules that goes for about $20. B&N has it too, if you want to wait for a 30% off coupon.

Well this got a lot more attention than I expected. Quick list of everything in use - 1) TV1 = GH Track Android App for monster health and conditions, 2) TV2 = Gloomy Companion for monster ability cards, both are cast via chrome cast, 3) [Duchess Gaming Table] (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1296268806/the-duchess-a-gaming-table-from-boardgametablescom), 4) painted minis from /u/PintsizedProdigies, 5) Uberstax for the card holders, 6) 3-ring binder with fully sleeved items and ability cards, 7) Boye Knit Tally Counters for health and exp tracking, 8)Pathfinder Combat Pad for tracking initiative and 9) expanding accordion folder for organizing and storing map tiles. Think that's it. And I bought this house somewhat for this room, sunroom with 7 sliding glass doors.

A fantastic book for this is _Gary Gygax's Extraordinary Book of Names_. Includes tons of names from various human cultures as inspiration, plus hundreds of fantasy names, and tables for randomly generating names.

Sadly, very expensive right now even used, but keep an eye on eBay.

I recommend that you pick up Dungeon Delve for getting started with pre-made encounters and Masterplan to keep it all together.

Take a look at the Dungeon Delve.

http://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Delve-4th-Supplement-Adventure/dp/0786951397

Also, if you have a subscription to DND Insider, there are tons of short adventures published in Dragon Magazine. All archives available online.

http://www.wizards.com/dnd/tools.aspx

I had the same problem. When my son was born, I had to change the game style.

In 4e, Wizards released a book called Dungeon Delve. The book brought back the idea of the mini adventure: the one-hour dungeon. It features a three-to-four encounter mini-dungeon for each level 1-30.

I adopted this style in my game. I've got about ten or twelve dungeon delves all written out for my players, levels 1-10. On top of that, I've got some non-combat mini-adventures, too. Mysteries the party can solve, that sort of thing.

All of these mini-adventures is based in a central quest hub. You can build it however you want, but I chose the Dwarven version of Key West. It's a campaign where you might have to charter a fishing boat, explore an ancient temple ruin, then finish off the night with peel-and-eat shrimp and a beer while listening to halflings playing pop-song covers where the lyrics are replaced with dick jokes.

On any given night, my party can start and finish an entire adventure. That was the whole idea.

I'm a 3.5 man myself. The 2e guys and I will have our disagreements but we're all pretty much unanimously agreed that 4e is not the way D&D was meant to be played.

Player's Handbook 3.5e

Dungeon Master's Guide 3.5e

Monster Manual 3.5e

However, every D&D group will play differently anyway. You will NEED the PHB and the DGM. You will also need a full set of poly-dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20, d%). Stories, additional material, models, boards, scenery is all optional. We tend to switch between zero physical assets, just talking (usually only if free-roaming and/or lack of confrontation, etc.), and a white-board where areas are drawn in erasable marker, with warhammer miniatures.

Well, there's also Gary Gygax's Extraordinary Book of Names.

The Paizo basic flip-mat is cheaper, two-sided, has fewer folds, so that it lays flatter at the table, has no gaps in the grid, and is better shaped for traditional tables (not so elongated).

We use this:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1601251556

Much cheaper and gets the job done. It's far from perfect (and if I had access to a lamination machine I would make a better version), but it's enough for us poor folks :-)

If you have the 4e Character Builder from WotC, then you don't need to read "a bunch of books for various benefits or character creation," because everything is in there.

Sadly, if you want to play D&D and have a long term campaign, someone's gonna have to suck it up and be the DM. With the DM, you could find the Dungeon Delve book which is just a series of adventures organized by level. You could just run through that with the same characters, and level up each game.

I think, in general, reading the settings books should give you enough background - since they usually incorporate much of the history.

One suggestion though is the Grand History of the Realms: https://www.amazon.com/Grand-History-Realms-Forgotten/dp/0786947314/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500408654&sr=8-1&keywords=grand+history+of+the+realms

It's pricey currently, but it it is basically a history book of the realms.

Perhaps you should get some funny shaped dice and some friends together around your dining room table and play some World of Darkness and make your own zombie story.

The corebook is a little under 30 dollars on Amazon, and you can generally get enough ten sided dice for 5 bucks in any card or hobby shop. Other than that, you only need a couple pieces of paper and some moderate to decent narrating skills and a little creativity. Although these printable character sheets in one, two, and four page versions are useful. And if you're not sure about trying out something new and different from the video gaming you're used to based on the word of some randie off the internet, well, there's this free quickstart campaign.

I would almost, almost be willing to run a game, but I've realized that when I run games over IRC, I tend to ignore real life and become a reclusive hermit, and I'm trying to avoid doing that.

In the Firefly implementation of Cortex Plus, the closest "health equivalent" would be Complications. When bad things happen to your character, a Complication is created (or increased in severity).

The Complication can be anything from "Stabbed in the Gut" to "Angry at Michelle" to "Hunted by the Police" to "Afraid of Political Implications." When the Complication is relevant, the GM adds the value of the Complication (between d4 and d12) to rolls against the player when the complication is relevant. When a Complication escalates above a d12, the character is taken out of the scene.

In all versions of Cortex Plus, the characters can gang up on the big baddie.

I would highly recommend looking into the Smallville RPG, which is the implementation of Cortex Plus Dramatic, the flavor of Cortex Plus most focused on the interpersonal relationships of the PCs. Just because Clark Kent can shoot laser beams out of his eyes doesn't mean he's more capable of dealing with the complex social dramas of his life than Lois Lane or Lex Luthor.

RHoD is a collectable, apparently. But I haven't done any digging past checking amazon. Those prices could be malarkey

First, hey, look at this. I really like this book. It does some stuff to handle things in 3.5 that I don't like, is well flavored, and worth your time.

I used it to run a 3.5 variant, even though I'm really not a fan of 3.5. It works, at least at the level and scale that I ran it, although I essentially used the world post-glittering stone, so my players that hadn't read it wouldn't be left out.

As far as command, the players were largely in the employ of a crimelord in a faction-ridden city, mostly acting as his officers to a certain degree. Running the command structure as the GM, especially in the beginning, I find to be in keeping with the feel of The Black Company.

I never really made full use of the mass combat rules in the system, as I prefered to focus on the small unit engagements, in the midst of an abstracted conflict. YMMV.

"Gary Gygax's Extraordinary Book of Names."

https://www.amazon.com/Gygaxs-Extraordinary-Gygaxian-Fantasy-Worlds/dp/1931275564

The Dungeon Masters Guide, which is coming out in a few months, should have a LOT of information about that kind of stuff. You could try looking at the Dungeon Masters Guide from previous editions for some general advice (but don't try to use the specific rules/numbers in them).

Also check out http://www.amazon.com/Robin-D.-Laws/e/B0034PURKG and http://www.amazon.com/Robins-Laws-Good-Game-Mastering/dp/1556346298/ref=pd_sim_b_10?ie=UTF8&refRID=0K4ECMWA3SBAW0K5KW0D

Just so you're aware, Cortex Prime is still in development. If you can find a copy of the Smallville RPG or the Cortex Plus Hackers Guide, you'll have the basis for Cortex Plus Drama. (I'd have to check my files on the Hackers Guide -- that book's last half was all SRD for at least two flavors of Cortex Plus. I think Drama was in there, but it's been years since I've looked that those files.) Right now, I'd go with Smallville and hack from there until Cortex Prime is completed.

That already exists dude, buy it on Amazon

Try http://smile.amazon.com/dp/0786947314 or p266 of the 3E FR book.

I use one of these: https://smile.amazon.com/Pathfinder-Combat-Pad-Paizo-Staff/dp/1601255470/

$19. That gets you both the board and a bunch of dry-erase magnets.

Have you checked out the 4E book Dungeon Delve?

Just pick up one of these. Only 576 pages.

I use this.

I have the non-Pathfinder version but it doesn't really matter...
https://www.amazon.com/Pathfinder-Combat-Pad-Paizo-Staff/dp/1601255470/ref=pd_bxgy_21_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1601255470&pd_rd_r=PKVNP9XPR69H957M4BY7&pd_rd_w=CU5UX&pd_rd_wg=J6K5T&psc=1&refRID=PKVNP9XPR69H957M4BY7

Tome of Beasts https://www.amazon.com/dp/1936781565/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_7KO-BbY8B7JKV

Creature Codex https://www.amazon.com/dp/1936781921/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_.JO-BbR81DXRG

Here you go

https://www.amazon.com/Pathfinder-Combat-Pad-Paizo-Staff/dp/1601255470

have you checked this book out?

BOOK

You can order it from [Amazon.com.] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/1932442383/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_Wte9ybF1W5RM4)

I always have at least a small pocket notebook and something to write with. I can doodle, make notes about stuff I need to bring next time, stuff I need to do etc.

For a larger group, some sort of paper or notebooks and colored pens/pencils/markers. Also, coloring books.

Also, pocket sized Pathfinder (paper role-playing game) books and some dice.

Also, a Kindle with a shit-ton of books.

http://www.amazon.com/Mythic-Vistas-Company-Campaign-Setting/dp/1932442383

Amazon or the Wiki. /r/Eberron also exists.

https://www.amazon.com/Gygaxs-Extraordinary-Gygaxian-Fantasy-Worlds/dp/1931275564

I use this one.

I'm not sure it addresses all of them directly, but the magic system in The Black Company RPG from Green Ronin is really incredibly detailed, complex and a lot more fluid than D&D style "I memorize X spells" kind of stuff.

The last time I did this, I drew the entire map out ahead of time on one of the Paizo flip maps (linked below). Then, for the entire dungeon, I places pieces of printer paper over it and used a little scotch tape to keep it taped down to the mat. This required cutting a lot of the pieces of paper to different sizes to be the exact size of each specific room. It didn't take very long though.

http://www.amazon.com/GameMastery-Flip-Mat-Basic-Paizo-Staff/dp/1601251556/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1371140848&sr=8-2&keywords=gamemastery+flip+map

Grand History of the Realms. You can also find a digital version on DMsGuild or DriveThruRPG, I forget which! But it is a full timeline up to 1384 DR I believe.

New world or Old? I'd say start by reading the core book for nWod: The World of Darkness and one of the core splats that strikes your fancy: Vampire, Geist, Werewolf, Mage, Changeling, Hunter, etc. Between those two books you'll be ready to run a game. You can also find some SAS (stand alone stories) for your chosen game if you prefer published stories to writing your own.

A Song of Ice and Fire RPG cover by artist Michael Komarck.

Pathfinder Combat Pad https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601255470/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_1YqDAbVNZ6FKP

Pathfinder Combat Pad (Works for D&D)

https://www.amazon.com/Pathfinder-Combat-Pad-Paizo-Staff/dp/1601255470/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1483556431&sr=8-1&keywords=pathfinder+combat+pad

Group your participants. If you've got 5 goblins of the same type then they all go on one initiative. Or you could just roll the lowest initiative modifier for all your monsters and they all go on that roll. (I typically go lowest if I'm doing this because it'll be way more monsters than players and dogpiling can be un fun.)

Pathfinder made a magnetic combat pad and it's the single best thing i've ever purchased as a DM.

• Chessex Pound of Dice
  
• Artisan Dice
  
• Game Mastery Combat Pad
  
• Nice quality wet or dry erase markers, whichever your GM's battle mat uses
  
• Pathfinder Pawns Bestiary and/or NPC Codex
  
• Tact Tiles gaming map
  
• Tinkered Tactics Combat Tiers
  
• Commissioned artwork
  
  Could give better suggestions if I knew your budget

Just to clarify, you're referring to the now-defunct A Game of Thrones RPG, put out by... White Wolf? Maybe?

They're referring to A Song of Ice And Fire Roleplaying, by Green Ronin.

Make up your own story with these mechanics.

A Game of Thrones: D20-Based Open Gaming RPG

A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE ROLEPLAYING
The Game of Thrones RPG

nods

And if 5-player becomes a thing, there are accessories out there that we swear by:

Pathfinder magnetic board: Incredible for tracking initiative and monster health/status effects

Service that lets you print 5th and 6th player attack modifier decks

Well, one way to cut back on how much you spend is to not buy mini's in the first place. I tried to go that route a while back, even found a fairly decent size grab bag of Wizards of the Coast minis on Amazon for an okay price. The problem is, if you want to use them, you're stuck with the limited amount you have on hand. Which means you tend to re-use the same types of monsters over and over again and that just gets stale after a while.

I have had tremendous success using dice for my monsters. You clearly have enough. And quite frankly, it makes it SO much easier to DM. d6's for Minions, then choose a different sided die for each additional type of monster. It really helps you keep track of combat by numbering each bad guy by dice value. "Okay, I'm going to attack that elf. Yeah, number 7."

Really, there's no shame in using things like dice containers to simulate monsters. Hell, the other day we used an Oreo cookie for a Large Orrium Dragon. Added bonus? Whoever got the final hit got to eat the cookie.

Personally, I suggest this mat. It's 720 square inches and double sided. It has its problems but it's a dry/wet erase board that folds up to about the size of a single sheet of paper. That's the main problem, though. When you unfold it, you have to set some books or something on it for a few minutes to flatten it out. But for $10, it's not a bad price when you get some spare cash.

Just build up to buying stuff slowly.

If you got 34$ . Or make all the players chip in... Get one of these Pathfinder boxes. It's what we used to start for our minis and for the bad guys until we could afford custom minis

https://www.amazon.com/Pathfinder-Pawns-Villain-Codex-Box/dp/1601259255/ref=pd_aw_fbt_21_img_2/145-6248616-2512338?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1601259255&pd_rd_r=91edd721-f847-46b9-b08c-88d953c8405e&pd_rd_w=YWR6B&pd_rd_wg=FxX23&pf_rd_p=3ecc74bd-d08f-44bd-96f3-d0c2b89f563a&pf_rd_r=2YWZSVXZZMDP76J2H1ZQ&psc=1&refRID=2YWZSVXZZMDP76J2H1ZQ

Combat pad or bust


Pathfinder Combat Pad https://www.amazon.com/dp/1601255470/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_4MK3BbCZA912M

Gary Gygax wrote an entire book on the subject. Rumor has it he wrote it when he hiding from the CIA for possibly colluding with demons and starting a death cult as a means to show that his primary focus is on humans and human culture.

http://www.amazon.com/Pathfinder-Roleplaying-Game-Paizo-Combat/dp/1601255470/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1397558469&sr=8-1&keywords=combat+pad

It's for pathfinder but in reality you can use it for literally any game you choose.

I feel your pain. I joined this subreddit recently because I had been lurking and because I had been reading threads and picked up Star Wars: Edge of Empires, Numenera, Eclipse Phase, and Delta Green.