Chuck Out

Over the last couple of days, I decided to chuck out part of my RPG collection. Ever since I had my kid (and frankly, before), we only play once a month. Of course, games are delayed because of COVID, family emergencies, and not having the fortitude to continue after [gestures vaguely at the last 4 years]. Life continues to happen, whether we need a break or not.

When we get together, we play 5e as it’s in everyone’s comfort zone. That is perfectly fine, 5e is a great game, but it means there is inertia preventing us from playing anything else. Even variations on the basic dungeon fantasy elfgame (think OSE, Dungeon World, Shadowdark, DCC, etc.) are a hard sell. We all have time and brain space limitations.

In a meta response to this, I just started tossing stuff. There are plenty of pristine books in the basement encroaching on my space that could be used by someone else. Most books heading out are system dressing where I bought into the hype (Kobold Presses Midgard), systems that are a little too dark for us (Shadow of the Demon Lord, WFRP), just mediocre (sorry Princes of the Apocalypse, it's you, not me), or despite owning physical copies, I never read (Pathfinder 2nd Ed., Torchbearer, Symbaroum). I don’t doubt these are quality materials, but it’s time for them to go.

I should clean out more. Are we really going to play Blades in the Dark or Trophy Gold? I doubt it. But they are digest-sized, and survive for now. Besides, not all is lost. I am still keeping Swords and Sorcery and the core books for all the editions of D&D because I am slut for rolling a d20 in a dungeon. My shrink-wrapped copy of Twilight 2000 stays because I haven’t given up the dream of playing it, and so does BattleTech… because I have a lingering hope to play out a Clan vs. Inner Sphere fight over some spec of space in 3050. (Mike, if you are reading this, text me, and let’s set it up).

There is so much paper that needs to go, too. Do I need a laser jet printed copy of Old School Essentials? Nah, they shortchange the fighter anyway. It’s great for reference, but I have a digital copy with a word search. Magical Medieval Society’s Manor Builder? Nope, no one cares how many bee hives your manor house has. Gone.

Finally, I have a couple of half-filled binders with procedural generation materials asking to be winnowed and organized. Yes, those sections in Worlds Without Number are wonderful, but so are those in the Freebooters on the Frontier playtest, Scarlet Heroes, and the Judge/Referee/Dungeon Master materials in a half dozen other books I kept. I need to, Pelor forbid, pick one and use it.

While this cleans up my physical space, the real reason is to open up my mental space. It allows me to focus on creation for the games I actually play. It’s a point between the consumption of a hobby vs. actually doing it. If I am always seeking perfection by looking at other materials and never using them, I am never going to actually create anything. Which is the point of a hobby that is a creative exercise.

Anyway, I have more cleaning to do. Time to get back to work.