Which book?

[SometimesKate]

Next month I'm hoping to be able to afford one of the rpg sourcebooks.  I know, there is the option of saving up to get both, but let me assure you that my ability to save hasn't improved since I was six years old and spent my allowance the same day.   So it is only an option for people with better impulse control. 

That being said, which book should I get first?  I don't have a tabletop group at all, and haven't for years      I still keep buying gaming books, and dice, just in case.  I have all my really old D&D books, the 3rd ed books, some WW stuff, old Gurps, and the sourcebook for Firefly/Serenity.    I'm not a gaming newbie by any stretch, but I am new at this game.  So I want opinions on which book is best to get right now, and why, please. 

Also, if you're in Central Illinois and need a player...

[MegaPuff75]

You should get Your Story first as Our World is only of any real use if you are GMing and is not worth much without Your Story.

[Howl]

Your Story has all the rules in it so you should get that. Our World has characters from the book and is very usefull if your GM-ing

[SometimesKate]

Yes, but Our World has "AAAA Wizardry" in it, and I don't know of any other way to read that tale.  However, the advice given is quite sound, and I thank you.

[Rubycon]

If you really want to have "Our World" but you don't really need it, buy it as a pdf. It's much cheaper than the books and as a gm-book as much as useful...

[Falar]

If you really want to have "Our World" but you don't really need it, buy it as a pdf. It's much cheaper than the books and as a gm-book as much as useful...

I second this recommendation. Since Our World is mainly useful as a sourcebook for figuring out just how to build a something or other, it's almost MORE useful as a PDF than as a real book for one major reason.

Searching.

The PDF is so much handier for just searching through and seeing, "Hey, how are the Knights of the Cross statted up? I think I'll make my Holy Swordsman of Islam more or less the same." Or setting up Fix as one of your antagonists and seeing exactly what kind of power he throws out in a throw down.

Definitely buy Your Story first though. You can't really understand Our World without Your Story.

[Richard_Chilton]

I don't have a tabletop group at all, and haven't for years      I still keep buying gaming books, and dice, just in case.  I have all my really old D&D books, the 3rd ed books, some WW stuff, old Gurps, and the sourcebook for Firefly/Serenity.    I'm not a gaming newbie by any stretch, but I am new at this game.  So I want opinions on which book is best to get right now, and why, please. 

Here's a question:
Do you want to learn about the game or do you want a book about the setting?

Your Story is about the game, plain and simple.  It gives you the rules you need.

Our World is the closest thing I've seen to a Guide To The Dresden Verse.  It lists people from all the short stories and novels - not only does it list them and stat them out it also (at times) speculates about them.

Could you understand the stuff in Our World without Your Story? Probably.  Here's a stat block for one of the PCs:

Ron Carmichael
High Concept: One Good Cop
Other Aspects: Special Investigations; Skeptical of Harry Dresden; Scruffy-Looking; Put The Pieces Together; Street Smarts
Skills
Alertness: Good (+3)
Burglary: Fair (+2)
Contacts: Good (+3)
Empathy: Fair (+2)
Guns: Fair (+2)
Intimidation: Fair (+2)
Investigation: Great (+4)
Rapport: Good (+3)
Most other skills default to Mediocre, with a few at Average.
Stunts
I Know Just the Guy (Contacts): When using the Gathering Information trapping for Contacts, his effor ts are at a +1, and are 1 time increment faster.
Quick Eye (Investigation): When examining a location for clues, Carmichael’s eye is quick to pick out the visual details. His first Investigation roll to determine deeper details about a scene is two time increments faster than usual.
Scene of the Crime (Investigation):
Carmichael has a practiced eye when combing over a crime scene. In such a circumstance, he gains +1 to his Investigation roll and arrives at his findings one step faster than usual on the time table.
Stress
Mental oo Physical oo Social oo
Notes
He could handle a gun (Weapon:2) pretty well (Fair attacks, Good initiative) but it was his investigative skills that really made him stand out.
Total Refresh Cost: –1 (Pure Mortal)
----
If you can make sense of that then you can make sense of Our World without Your Story.

Richard

[zenten]

I bought Our World first, because it's all they had at the store at the time.  It was quite frustrating to read on its own (even though it's probably easier to do so than most RPG sourcebooks without the corebook), and I'd strongly recommend that you get Your Story.

[Rubycon]

Even if you just want to read something about the dresdenverse, you shoud start with YS. You simply can't understand the powers and stunts and all the stuff in OW when you didn't read YS first...

[Richard_Chilton]

The powers are vague, but every stunt is explained in Our World.

Richard

[sinker]

I'm with Richard on this one. If you aren't using the book for play and just want world knowledge then Our World will probably give you the most story for your buck (especially if as he said that stat block doesn't intimidate you).

On the other hand Your Story does still have some story in it, and is a very pleasant read even if you have no interest in the practical uses. There's plenty of discussion on magical theory, and even an alternate city (Boston), with it's own interesting lore and supernatural politics.

I guess another question one could ask is how interested are you in game design? If analyzing different gaming systems is something you enjoy (as I do) then FATE, and DFRPG in particular are very interesting systems (in which case I'd go with Your Story).

[polkaneverdies]

Richard and sinker are right on target.

[SometimesKate]

Thank you all very much for your help.  I do appreciate it, and I'm going to wait to get Our World. 

[mstorer3772]

I second this recommendation. Since Our World is mainly useful as a sourcebook for figuring out just how to build a something or other, it's almost MORE useful as a PDF than as a real book for one major reason.

Searching.

The PDF is so much handier for just searching through and seeing, "Hey, how are the Knights of the Cross statted up? I think I'll make my Holy Swordsman of Islam more or less the same." Or setting up Fix as one of your antagonists and seeing exactly what kind of power he throws out in a throw down.

Definitely buy Your Story first though. You can't really understand Our World without Your Story.

If you buy a physical book from your Favorite Local Gaming Store, Evil Hat will give you the PDF.  For Free.  Send them a scan of your receipt, they send you a download link.

Yes, the PDF by itself is considerably cheaper (40$ vs 20$).  If that's a deciding factor, so be it.  But don't think that you have to forgo the PDF if you get a physical copy.

I'm really surprised there's not a "Evil Hat PDF Guarantee" page in YS.  Presumably there isn't one in OW either, but I don't own that one (yet).  Ditto for a thread here in the forums.  It's a Pretty Big Deal.  In my none too humble, PDF-programmer-for-15-years-so-I'm-more-than-a-tad-biased opinion...

PS:  Does anyone else think "Yes" when they see "YS" and "Ow(short for ouch)" when they see OW?  Given how high we all fly our [Fr|G]eek flags around here, I suspect not.

[The Mighty Buzzard]

In my none too humble, PDF-programmer-for-15-years-so-I'm-more-than-a-tad-biased opinion...

Conviction Great (+4)
Using Reads e-Manuals/Books Daily stunt for +2 to PDF related Conviction rolls
Dropping a fate point to invoke Grep FTW aspect for a further +2
Brandishing my holy ELF binary of vim at you
+1 on the fudge dice