While I once loved getting splat books, monster books, and various other supplements, with age and much more limited time to game I've come to appreciate the merits of streamlining and simplicity in my games.  I also really like having everything in just one book, if at all possible.  To me, that's the main appeal of something like Advanced Labyrinth Lord, despite its poor formatting, uneven artwork, low quality binding, and organizational problems.  I still have everything I need to play or design in just one book. The old BECMI Rules Compendium also fits the bill here.

I understand in many cases that the business model lends itself to spreading things out, but I find it annoying when new classes, weapons, monsters etc. are added in supplements as a way to encourage (force) players & GMs alike to keep buying more product.  The exception, of course, would be adventure modules.

So what are some of your favorite games/systems that keep everything together in one volume, however large, without all the splat books and bloat?

Tunnels & Trolls, either 5th edition or Deluxe (ie, the ones edited by Liz Danforth). Although Deluxe is a might bit heavier than 5th (due to being roughly 4x the length) it is still my favorite RPG in a single book, narrowly edging out RC and RQ2.

I wish I still had my 1980 printing of 5th. It is much thicker than the later printings due to very heavy paper (> 24lb I think).

I submit this one: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/124387/ It's an indie "vampire mythos" rpg that was funded through kickstarter. Although it wasn't able to produce any of the supplements offered as stretch goals such as expanded hunting rules or a new setting book, the rulebook itself has everything you need to play as well as detailed guidelines and examples for inventing your own settings. It's a true toolkit.

My other submission as of right now is Puppetland.

Unfortunately, single book games don't get much attention for reasons that completely escape me. There are tons of neat single book games out there that receive no attention and have no communities around them. It's frustrating.

Quote from: BoxCrayonTales on September 14, 2022, 09:38:25 AM
I submit this one: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/124387/ It's an indie "vampire mythos" rpg that was funded through kickstarter. Although it wasn't able to produce any of the supplements offered as stretch goals such as expanded hunting rules or a new setting book, the rulebook itself has everything you need to play as well as detailed guidelines and examples for inventing your own settings. It's a true toolkit.

That looks interesting.

Quote
My other submission as of right now is Puppetland.

I loved the original Hogshead version that I got in on the hardcover Kickstarter.

It is the one RPG I would love to run or play with an audience. I think its conceit that you have talk in character as though it was a puppet show would make it great for an audience.

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Unfortunately, single book games don't get much attention for reasons that completely escape me. There are tons of neat single book games out there that receive no attention and have no communities around them. It's frustrating.

Agreed, but that's the problem with hobbyists being replaced by companies.

BEMCI/RC is my favorite in that category.  Yeah, it's got some flaws.  Put for the amount of stuff fit into one book, I find it hard to beat.

Whilst I suppose the obvious one is the Rules Cyclopedia (Becmi) I got more use out of the boxed set books by far. They are easier on the eye.

In terms of all in one books I've used the most the DC Heroes 3rd edition book has had some hammer but more than any other book I've referenced I suppose it's been the Blood of Heroes 2nd Edition. It's the DC Heroes 3e rules added to and comes complete with eye shredding artwork and a game world I'll never use but in terms of a reference book I use it all the time.

Honourable mention to the Corgi T&T book, though I self printed/bound the Deluxe T&T book into five smaller tomes and one of them (Combat & Magic I think I called it) gets referred to a lot.

The original Star Wars D6 game was pretty good for a one book solution but really needs the splatbooks or you'll do a lot of statting up yourself. Champions 3rd edition was pretty good and saw some use, later editions got fatter, not better.

 

Talislanta 4e Big Blue.

Savage Worlds Adventurer Edtion (Core Rules)

If I had to pick only one book from my collection it would probably be the Rules Cyclopedia, even though I haven't played B/X in decades. The reason for my choice is that it has everything I would need to run a D&D game in one somewhat thin volume.

Others have mentioned 5E T&T and that's a decent choice, but I like D&D better than T&T.

If I could take one "item" instead of one book it would probably be my OD&D white box stuffed with supplements.

Quote from: PulpHerb on September 14, 2022, 09:27:12 AM

I wish I still had my 1980 printing of 5th. It is much thicker than the later printings due to very heavy paper (> 24lb I think).

While its not in print, you can get the 5th edition in .pdf:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/210996/Tunnels--Trolls-Rules-5th-Editon?src=hottest_filtered&filters=44297_0_0_0_0

Quote from: GhostNinja on September 14, 2022, 11:06:56 AM

Quote from: PulpHerb on September 14, 2022, 09:27:12 AM

I wish I still had my 1980 printing of 5th. It is much thicker than the later printings due to very heavy paper (> 24lb I think).

While its not in print, you can get the 5th edition in .pdf:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/210996/Tunnels--Trolls-Rules-5th-Editon?src=hottest_filtered&filters=44297_0_0_0_0

Oh, I have the modern reprintings...well, modern in the sense of 1990s, as well as PDFs of 1st, 4th, 5th, both 7ths, and Deluxe, most thanks to the KS (except 7ths).

I even have Mythical 6th which was unauthorized.

It's sad T&T is so forgotten. I think it is a great game which deserved better recognition, although far from alone on that one.

System Failure from Palladium was always going to be one book. It's quirky, but you could get a lot of milage of it despite being relatively thin.

A lot of Palladium's games work quite well with just the core book but have splats that might disqualify them. Heros Unlimited and Splicers would be the best examples.

The Traveller Book, for Classic Traveller.

Quote from: Persimmon on September 14, 2022, 09:17:05 AM
While I once loved getting splat books, monster books, and various other supplements, with age and much more limited time to game I've come to appreciate the merits of streamlining and simplicity in my games.  I also really like having everything in just one book, if at all possible.  To me, that's the main appeal of something like Advanced Labyrinth Lord, despite its poor formatting, uneven artwork, low quality binding, and organizational problems.  I still have everything I need to play or design in just one book. The old BECMI Rules Compendium also fits the bill here.

I understand in many cases that the business model lends itself to spreading things out, but I find it annoying when new classes, weapons, monsters etc. are added in supplements as a way to encourage (force) players & GMs alike to keep buying more product.  The exception, of course, would be adventure modules.

So what are some of your favorite games/systems that keep everything together in one volume, however large, without all the splat books and bloat?

I think you meant Rules Cyclopedia?

In any case, yes, Rules Cyclopedia is the right answer.

EDIT: other than that, Shadow of the Demon Lord has a great combination of system + setting + GM advice + monsters (too few mosnters, but okay).

I'm still trying to write a more "complete" clone (with PHB + DMG + MM, using LL as basis), but alas, this is hard work. And when I do I hope it beats the Rc, not because I'm that good, but because I'm standing on the shoulders of storm giants!

Quote from: Eric Diaz on September 14, 2022, 11:50:24 AM

Quote from: Persimmon on September 14, 2022, 09:17:05 AM
While I once loved getting splat books, monster books, and various other supplements, with age and much more limited time to game I've come to appreciate the merits of streamlining and simplicity in my games.  I also really like having everything in just one book, if at all possible.  To me, that's the main appeal of something like Advanced Labyrinth Lord, despite its poor formatting, uneven artwork, low quality binding, and organizational problems.  I still have everything I need to play or design in just one book. The old BECMI Rules Compendium also fits the bill here.

I understand in many cases that the business model lends itself to spreading things out, but I find it annoying when new classes, weapons, monsters etc. are added in supplements as a way to encourage (force) players & GMs alike to keep buying more product.  The exception, of course, would be adventure modules.

So what are some of your favorite games/systems that keep everything together in one volume, however large, without all the splat books and bloat?

I think you meant Rules Cyclopedia?

In any case, yes, Rules Cyclopedia is the right answer.

EDIT: other than that, Shadow of the Demon Lord has a great combination of system + setting + GM advice + monsters (too few mosnters, but okay).

I'm still trying to write a more "complete" clone (with PHB + DMG + MM, using LL as basis), but alas, this is hard work. And when I do I hope it beats the Rc, not because I'm that good, but because I'm standing on the shoulders of storm giants!

Rules Cyclopedia is the epitome.  However, older generation RPG boxed sets also fit this bill.

Warhammer Fantasy Role Play, 1st Edition.

The collective GMs in my group made many a meal out of this before anything else was released for it.