What "rare" or hard-to-find book/books have you been searching for?

K Peterson · July 17, 2016, 08:31:55 AM

Quote from: Claudius;908590I am currently searching for BRP Merrie England and BRP Wind on the Steppes, of Alephtar Games, for an acceptable price. If any of the fine lads who frequent this place has a copy in very good condition that he would like to get rid of, I'm all ears.

I could part with my copy of Merrie England, though I don't know what the shipping cost, and time, are like to Spain from the US. Drop me a PM and we can chat further.

Tetsubo · July 17, 2016, 11:16:47 AM

Quote from: Omega;908605Remember what year or general era of Dragon it was from? Was it on the actual back cover or one of the inside ads?

Did though find an ad for WEG's Price of Freedom and some other oddities never seen in stores or cons.

It was definitely an inside ad. Might have only been a quarter page at that. As for era I'm going to guess within the first hundred issues.

Tetsubo · July 17, 2016, 11:18:26 AM

Quote from: Claudius;908589Wow!! These prices are absolutely ridiculous!!! :eek:

I owned both Aria books twice, and twice I resold them, the first ones for €10 (they were in bad shape), and the second ones for €50 (in almost new condition). The idea that I could have gotten more money than that is ludicrous.

Those prices have very little to do with reality or how much those books are actually valued by gamers. They are an artifact of pricing algorithms.

TheHistorian · July 17, 2016, 06:04:36 PM

Here are the top contenders from my want list. Any leads appreciated! (But I'm not holding my breath. :rolleyes:)

Format: SYSTEM - Title (Publisher)

ARS MAGICA - Jump Start Kit - Bats Of Mercille first edition (Lion Rampant)
BEHIND ENEMY LINES - Squad Leader's Pocket Guide (The Companions)
CALL OF CTHULHU - Weapons Compendium (Pagan Pubilshing)
CALL OF CTHULHU - Lurking Fears Handout Kit (Triad)
CALL OF CTHULHU d20 - Core Book - signed by seven creators (WotC)
GENERIC - The Journeys Of Father Daniel: Red Stag Inn (Eric Hotz)
GENERIC - CDM2 Lost Shrine Of Kasar-Khan - boxed version (Integrated Games)
GENERIC - Wyrd World 2: Wordeseley (Strange Acorn)
GENERIC - Tapestry (White Rose)
GENERIC - Medieval France (White Rose)
HARN - Harnic Tarot - version 1.1 (N. Robin Crossby)
HARN - On Divinity (N. Robin Crossby)
RUNEQUEST (MRQ I) - Slaine - limited edition (Mongoose)
WARHAMMER FRP - Private War and other items (Tim Eccles)

And then there are the magazines... anyone have a connection for oddball 80s and 90s UK titles?

Spike · July 18, 2016, 02:06:49 AM

Dune!

Okay. Its not exactly rare or hard to find. I've never seen it NOT for sale on Amazon. Its just... its three hundred fucking dollars. Has been for at least ten years now. I think I managed to buy it once for less than a c-note, and the fucking seller pulled it and reposted it for five hundred.

I swear, one day I will get a copy, that day I will upload it to ALL THE SITES so no one else has to cry about an overpriced under-quality item like I have for ten years now...

Omega · July 18, 2016, 03:18:16 AM

Quote from: Spike;908719Dune!

The board game from Avalon Hill?

Spike · July 18, 2016, 03:25:03 AM

No, the infamous RPG released by Wizards of the Coast for, like one day due to contractual obligations, and then buried. I'm pretty sure I know what they system is (the same as the Star Trek RPGs released by Unicorn... something, press?), which I for some reason don't own (oh yeah... something about licensed properties being almost, but not quite, anathema!).

I managed to choke down half a dozen Kevin J. Anderson* penned books out of my love of Dune, but damned if I can ever remember to pony up the bucks when I've got 'em for the damn game.

* In case it is not readily apparent, I find KJA to be among the very worst of hacks in modern authordom. I might put Scalzi above him, but I only managed to read Scalzi's mangled attempt at H Beam Piper before deciding 'Never Again!', so my sample size is small. I will admit Anderson has one advantage over Scalzi, he at least has his own ideas. Always in someone else's universe, but they are his ideas all the same.

Also: I know Anderson's not that bad. I mean, he IS that bad, but compared to the hacks working and publishing en mass today? He's a fucking one eyed man in the land of the blind. A pox on all their houses.

Omega · July 18, 2016, 07:44:15 AM

Quote from: Spike;908732No, the infamous RPG released by Wizards of the Coast for, like one day due to contractual obligations, and then buried. I'm pretty sure I know what they system is (the same as the Star Trek RPGs released by Unicorn... something, press?), which I for some reason don't own (oh yeah... something about licensed properties being almost, but not quite, anathema!).

Last Unicorn Games just as WOTC was laying them off. Uses the ICON system rather than d20 or d20m far as can tell.

Here is a review of it over on you know where.

https://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11518.phtml

kosmos1214 · July 18, 2016, 06:45:13 PM

Quote from: Spike;908719Dune!

Okay. Its not exactly rare or hard to find. I've never seen it NOT for sale on Amazon. Its just... its three hundred fucking dollars. Has been for at least ten years now. I think I managed to buy it once for less than a c-note, and the fucking seller pulled it and reposted it for five hundred.

I swear, one day I will get a copy, that day I will upload it to ALL THE SITES so no one else has to cry about an overpriced under-quality item like I have for ten years now...

All i can say after reading this is ow.
I have some expensive tastes but nothing quite that bad.

IskandarKebab · July 19, 2016, 06:04:42 AM

Does anyone have a PDF copy of "Cold Steel Reign"? I've heard a lot about it and have been wanting to mine some stuff from it for a deadlands campaign.

Omega · July 19, 2016, 08:47:12 PM

Another in the growing list of "took the money and (eventually) ran" stories in the gaming biz.

FaerieGodfather · July 20, 2016, 01:13:06 AM

I already found my "holy grail", almost a decade ago. It took me four years, but I finally put together a complete play-set of Street Fighter: the Storytelling Game. The Player's Guide set me back $130 alone, but it was the most expensive book. Challengers was the hardest to find, but reasonably priced when I finally landed a copy.

It's not rare or hard to find, but there's so many books involved I think it counts: I would like to re-assemble my AD&D 2e collection-- the black border core, all of the Player's Option and DM's Option and Campaign Option books, all of the PHBRS, and the Encyclopedias. Plus something I didn't get into until it was far too late-- a complete set of Spelljammer. One of these days, I'm going to write my heartbreaker.

I'd also like to get a Rules Cyclopedia with Wrath of the Immortals and a complete set of Gazetteers.

RPGPundit · July 22, 2016, 09:22:04 PM

Quote from: Claudius;908589Wow!! These prices are absolutely ridiculous!!! :eek:

I owned both Aria books twice, and twice I resold them, the first ones for €10 (they were in bad shape), and the second ones for €50 (in almost new condition). The idea that I could have gotten more money than that is ludicrous.

You almost certainly couldn't sell them for the Amazon price listed. Just because they're pricing it that way doesn't mean anyone will buy it. Then again, people are idiots.

Omega · July 23, 2016, 07:57:08 AM

Right. You'll see people trying to sell games just a few months OOP at 3 to four times their sale price. Whats really hilarious is when you see an old game or whatever for sale at 10x its sale price. When the item in question was mass produced.

Thornhammer · July 26, 2016, 08:07:46 PM

Quote from: Just Another Snake Cult;906585The rulebook looks incredibly crude for a 1990 game (I say that actually as a compliment)... what on earth were the miniatures like?

Several years ago at a small con I purchased this game for two bucks called Divine Battle Lust. It's an "Adult" fantasy miniatures skirmish system with rules for gang rape, prostitutes, etc. It seems to be trying to be to Warhammer what FATAL is to D&D. Not "Ironic" and not a parody. The rulebook encourages you to set up a lead workshop and make your own damn miniatures. On one hand it's embarrassing, but on the other it's got a weird "Roll up your sleeves" ethos to it that's sorta admirable. Really odd.

Waaaait wait wait wait...

Divine Battle Lust...

I was one of the playtesters on that. Good times! Can't say I remember any gang rape happening while I was playing.