Buying RPG books for entertainment

[Magnus]

Hmm, I think this is the right place to post.

A simple question, is it worth it buying the RPG books just to read them?

(I might be interested in trying out RPG but I don't know any people who would be interested too)

[Tallyrand]

Personally I would say yes, they have a lot of notes in there from the perspective of Harry, Bob and Billy.  In addition you can find a ton of back story of the various characters if that's the type of thing you are interested in.

[Magnus]

sounds good.

The reason I asking is due to one of the RPG books being about twice as expensive as a normal hardcover.


But I love details, one of the reason I liked Tolkien for example was due to all his details and backstory in his world.

[Tallyrand]

So if you're looking for details you should go with Our World, You're Story is much more dominated by mechanics.

[Magnus]

I know there was a short story in one of them too, which one had the short story?

And thanks for answering the questions Tallyrand

[Peteman]

I know there was a short story in one of them too, which one had the short story?

And thanks for answering the questions Tallyrand

There's a writeup of Harry telling some Wardens in training about how he almost botched a phobophage infestation in OW if that's what you mean.

[Magnus]

There's a writeup of Harry telling some Wardens in training about how he almost botched a phobophage infestation in OW if that's what you mean.

yes, AAA Wizardry or something like that is the title I think.

[Fyrchick]

(I might be interested in trying out RPG but I don't know any people who would be interested too)

I have the same issue where I live... not exactly a hotbed of ANYTHING literary. But I have been playing a chat/forum game which is a lot of fun. Keep your eye on the DFRPG threads because people are always looking for games and payers. Also check out the play-by-post area to see how some of the games are going.
Its a new game for everyone so you can learn with the rest of us.
I will warn you... I got Our World thinking I would just read it and keep it as a reference. Now I have been playing a game since oh...August?

Good luck!

[BumblingBear]

It's worth buying the books just to read them.

"Your Story" is mostly mechanics, but it's still an enjoyable read and is full to the brim of Dresden Files stuff.

However, if $$ is a concern OP, I suggest checking out "Our World" first.

The only downfall you may have is that without the understanding from YS, the stats in OW may not make much sense.

[arete]

First let me say NEVER PAY FULL PRICE FOR BOOKS.  That is true for the rpg books as well.

If you want to spend 70ish dollars for a the perspective on the universe it might be worth it.

[Seb Wiers]

Hmm, I think this is the right place to post.

A simple question, is it worth it buying the RPG books just to read them?

(I might be interested in trying out RPG but I don't know any people who would be interested too)

It certainly is worth reading if (like me) you simply enjoy reading RPG books to get an appreciation for a wide variety of game styles, mechanics, and plot hooks / settings.  The stuff in DFRPG can inspire a good GM who is running an entirely different RPG.  It might even be useful to some actors or fiction authors.
I can't say what its worth to your typical non-gamer fan Jim Butcher's fiction; pretty much all the folks I know who've read DFRPG are also RPG gamers of some stripe.

[Magnus]

Well, I always wanted to try a RPG sometimes.

The closest I come to that, is doing RP on a forum, with a game based on the real game mafia, with werewolves, instead of mobsters, medieval setting.

[Richard_Chilton]

One choice is physical book verse PDF (the PDF is much cheaper).  If you buy a physical book and send the publisher a picture of you with it, the publishers will send a copy of the PDF (which is a nice thing that Evil Hats does).

A word of warning - I had read all the books up until the end of Small Favor but missed some of the shorts (until Side Jobs came out) and Our World is full of spoilers for everything.  If a character appears in a short story you can expect those events to be touched on in the book.

While the specifics might be hard to understand, you can still get a general feel of the characters without Your Story.  For example, after giving a page or two of details about what Red Court Vampires are they give the game statistics (or game stats) for a typical Red Court Vampire.  Here are the generic Red Court Vampire game:
High Concept: Red Court Vampire
Skills
Alertness: Fair (+2)
Athletics: Fair (+2)
Deceit: Fair (+2)
Discipline: Fair (+2)
Fists: Good (+3)
Endurance: Fair (+2)
Intimidation: Fair (+2)
Stealth: Good (+3)
All other skills vary depending on the abilities and experience the vampire enjoyed in life.
Powers
Addictive Saliva [–1]
Blood Drinker [–1]
Claws [–1]
Echoes of the Beast [–1]
Flesh Mask [–1]
Feeding Dependency [+1] affecting the following powers:
Cloak of Shadows [–1]
Inhuman Strength [–2]
Inhuman Speed [–2]
Inhuman Recover y [–2]
Inhuman Toughness [–2]
The Catch [+2] to both is sunlight, holy stuff; no armor on belly.
Stress
Mental oo Social oo Hunger ooo
Physical ooo(oo), Armor:1
Notes
Fantastic initiative, Good attacks, Good to Great defense. Can do physical stress with Weapon:3 strength & claws, or set aside the weapon bonus to make it a mental stress attack with their narcotic saliva.
Total Refresh Cost: –11

Most of the things there make sense without YS.  The skill all have a description and number (with higher being better).  The powers more or less mean what they say they mean and the minus numbers beside them give you an idea how powerful a power is.  Total Refresh Cost is basically power level, so you can roughly compare power levels by looking at character's refresh costs.

But you won't buy it for the game stats - Our World is basically a reader's guide to the Dresdenverse and as such it is a great reference book.

Richard

[Magnus]

A word of warning - I had read all the books up until the end of Small Favor but missed some of the shorts (until Side Jobs came out) and Our World is full of spoilers for everything.  If a character appears in a short story you can expect those events to be touched on in the book.

Read all published shorts ^^ so no problem there.

[sinker]

Plus I don't think there are any references to Last Call, Even Hand, Love Hurts, or Aftermath so as long as you're semi-up to date you're fine.