RPG Rule/Sourcebook Reading Epiphany

Talk about back-to-back epiphanies! Yesterday, I blogged about my epiphany in accepting $3.99 comics. Well, earlier today I had another concerning reading table-top role-playing game rule books and source books.


Back during my Golden Age of Table-top RPG gaming, I would avidly buy and borrow tomes of gaming lore for a variety of game systems and settings to peruse the contents within. Didn't matter if was actively playing the game or not. If fact, not was more often the case, and like a gaming Prometheus I would, occasionally like Sisyphus try to, introduce those new games and settings to various gaming groups. Admittedly, much of my success hinged on how well I learned the rules and settings and whether or not it fit that particular group's tastes...


Then came the Dark Age when I barely gamed at all. My RPG purchases became more sporadic and impulsive not to mention, following the trend of the industry, more digital. While I have embraced digital, I am at heart a lover of physical books so I don't pore over the digital tomes as much as I did the ink-and-paper variety. Furthermore, as I gamed very infrequently, I read infrequently too.


Then I started gaming again.


First, it was Dungeons & Dragons 5E. I bought the three core books and the Ravenloft-related one. Other than quick glances at the DMG and Monstrous Manual and skimming Curse of Strahd, the only book I have read was the Player's Handbook. What reading I've done has been utilitarian at best. Reading only the most pertinent of subjects. My most recent play experience I decided to play my Cleric instead of my Paladin because my cleric was the one I was most up-to-date on! So yeah, I haven't read all of the 5E Player's Handbook. I read more of 4E's version...


Second, I LARP'd Werewolf: The Apocalypse again. Granted, it was only once. But once was enough to get me to not go 'oh larp is this weekend, oh, okay, I won't be there.' Unfortunately, I haven't had the opportunity to LARP again but it has been enough to get me to buy By Night Studios new MET: Werewolf The Apocalypse. Did a quick once over too. Alas, since I haven't actually made a firm commitment to play, I haven't perused the new rules further. Let alone created a character.


Third, Shadowrun entered my life once more. Shadowrun 5th edition core was a book I picked up on a whim. Did a quick once over yet didn't start reading it until I started play Shadowrun as part of Shadowrun Missions. Here's where the epiphany comes in...


Before each session I would read a little of the Shadowrun book and then read another section afterwards. Much of the time I'd peruse the same section in order to gain familiarity. Mostly, SR5 would receive the most usage, not counting at game, within the week after a game. Specific rule elements that cropped up during a session would induce interest such that I would seek greater familiarity and knowledge. Then, there was a period of about two months during which no Shadowrun was played. I barely cracked open the book. Going into the session, I couldn't even muster the desire to skim the book the freshen up my rule knowledge.


After the session, the Shadowrun 5th edition core rulebook practically became my favorite book. I found a little time each day to do a little reading. Whether it was fluff, simple mechanics, or areas of the rules that we hadn't encountered until then, I poured over said tome in search of answers to questions and immerse myself within the setting once more.


So I have come to the conclusion that what once I would do leisurely, I now do utilitarian. I realize now that only read what immediately relates to my gaming experience. Whether or not it's more of a symptom of my long gaming drought and such narrow focus will eventually be expanded to games and settings that I am currently not playing remains to be discovered. What I understand now is that in order read game rulebooks and settings, I must game.


Till next time, happy gaming.