So I've generally tried to avoid purchasing RPG games or supplements I don't intend to play or run, but I still find myself intrigued at times by games, supplements, or systems I know I'll likely never run or play.  Sometimes I'm interested in certain mechanics or setting info that I can crib for games I do play.  I also just like reading games sometimes for fun.  Right now I'm seriously considering forking over some serious cash for the behemoth Guide to Glorantha because the setting and details sound fascinating even though I'm not too keen on what I've seen of the Runequest system.  But I think it might just be fun to read for inspiration.

I have the sense that I'm far from alone in this.  So how much RPG stuff do you buy even though you don't intend to play or run it and why?

Back when (fill in shit old people say), I'd buy a 3rd ed. GURPS supplement book on a near weekly basis just because.  Never regretted these purchases as usually there was something to mine somewhere.

Personally, I'd say "you do you, boo," when it comes to buying additional rpg items, but I'd put in the caveat that really, really, really try to hew your purchases close to the game(s) that you are actually using/playing just in terms of saving money;  I blew cash on so much scattershot whatnot that it still kinda galls me to this day, so there's my bias.

Salud!

There are certainly a number of games I've bought with no intention to play, but I can't say that I bought any of them without some intent to use them in one way or another. Lots of games get mined for ideas or reworked into house rules in other games. A good example might be Stars Without Number. My current group doesn't care for space/sci-fi games, so there's a good chance I'll never run it. Yet I can still get a lot of use from the GM tools inside, and one of its supplements is basically a book of generating adventure outlines. I've used a number of them by changing them into fantasy adventures instead.

Basically I collect(ed) RPGs since I was first introduced to them in 7th grade science class. From that time onward, I bought probably everything that looked interesting, with Schick's Heroic Worlds being pretty much my bible. I didn't have much money as a kid, so whenever I saw cool ads at the comic book store for stuff I'd mentally add it to the list of things I wanted to own someday. Bree for MERP (saw an ad in Space Gamer circa 1988 or something) is STILL on the list! Looking for a copy under a billion dollars...anyway, I seriously collected tons and tons of stuff. However, what I played was vastly more limited in scope: D&D, AD&D when I could finally afford it, some GURPS, Palladium Fantasy, Robotech, TMNT, Rifts, DC Heroes, Marvel Super Heroes, Star Wars (my favorite RPG of all time), Champions, Villains and Vigilantes, Chivalry and Sorcery, MERP, Shadowrun, and a few other games, mostly obscure FGU titles (I'm a sucker for overcomplex games, probably due to my Starfleet Battles proclivities).

Fast forward a few years, I finally get all the Traveller books I've been wanting forever. Played it a ton, great game. But that was about it, honestly. Also played a massive amount of D&D 3.X when it came out, but that ship has sailed, done with those newer systems. Same with 5th edition. I play or have played regularly C&C, a variety of similar OSR-type games such as Labyrinth Lord, and other D&D clones, but that's all stuff close enough to the old games as to be indiscernible. FINALLY was able to get The Fantasy Trip, and even got the massive Kickstarter set...and it sat on a shelf. I will probably never play it; why would I when I can play GURPS which is close enough and arguably a more refined version. I kept getting stuff I wanted, like a coffee table Nobilis book, but it sat on a shelf. Multiple copies of DCC (I like it, played it a few times, done with it), Mutant Crawl Classics (Kickstarter, sold it a month later), countless other games. Last year I decided I was done collecting and decided to pare down my library to stuff I actually play or will play, or things that had some sentimental value for me. Well, I took about 30 boxes of stuff to NTRPGCon last summer and donated it all. Complete set of D&D 3.X outside of one or two books, stuff like that. Box after box. Everquest D20! Yeah that was badass when I bought it, and I literally browsed it, put it on a shelf. World of Warcraft D20! Same thing. Shadowrun 5th edition! Goodbye. Etc., etc. Just countless copies of stuff I had spent the better part of almost 30 years collecting I gave away because I literally do not give a fuck anymore. I just don't.

It really wasn't an issue of space (last summer I spent $10k to redo the downstairs with built-ins so plenty of bookshelves now), but more like looking at stuff thinking, why did I even buy this in the first place? Will I EVER play 4th edition D&D? Nope. In fact, that game annoyed me to no end, so good riddance. Now there are a few things that I will never play but sort of just NEED, like my complete set of Thieves Guild. I remember seeing those ads way back when and when I look on the shelf and see all those books, it reminds me of why I got into this hobby in the first place, so they stay forever. But Hackmaster 4th edition is starting to look like it takes up a bit too much space. Same with HERO 6th. And countless other games. The purge part deux might happen again this summer, and I'll eliminate another couple hundred books, but every time it feels good. Yes, I actually was thinking about the Everquest game a few months ago, then I looked at the PDF I have and said, yeah...no thanks.

Sorry for this rambling post, but your question made me reflect on the past year and getting rid of what has been a major part of my life for some time. It's somewhat cathartic to remember WHY I decided to get rid of so much stuff instead of hoarding it and never playing it. I honestly don't think there is any value of having toys or games or things of that nature and never using them. In fact, I am becoming to realize it's actually bad. I bought Magic Realm a few years ago because I always thought it looked neat and it's sat on my shelf ever since. When I look at it I get angry because I WANT to play it, and yet I don't. If I didn't own it I would romanticize about it and probably think about buying it, but now I am just resentful of being lazy and not using the game, if that makes sense. Expunging so many games has actually made me play a lot more than I have in years simply because I have less options and thus can focus on the game and not the fantasy in my head of playing alleged games. I'm going to run Palladium FRP soon simply because I have so many less fantasy options on my shelf, and I actually like that game a lot compared to some crap like Numenera (adios!)

So yeah, I am done collecting outside of a few things. Mostly crap from the 70s.

Quote from: Persimmon on February 04, 2023, 08:12:18 PM
So I've generally tried to avoid purchasing RPG games or supplements I don't intend to play or run, but I still find myself intrigued at times by games, supplements, or systems I know I'll likely never run or play.  Sometimes I'm interested in certain mechanics or setting info that I can crib for games I do play.  I also just like reading games sometimes for fun.  Right now I'm seriously considering forking over some serious cash for the behemoth Guide to Glorantha because the setting and details sound fascinating even though I'm not too keen on what I've seen of the Runequest system.  But I think it might just be fun to read for inspiration.

I have the sense that I'm far from alone in this.  So how much RPG stuff do you buy even though you don't intend to play or run it and why?

I've been better at avoiding impulse buys lately, but of the thousands of RPGs in my HD, I've browsed about 10% for more than a few minutes (which I use for inspriation), read about 1% from cover to cover, and actually played about 0.1%.

Even stuff I own in print - I bought half a dozen 5e campaigns, played one and a half, and no longer play 5e.

I have enough books at this point I don't need books, I've got too many - if there is such a thing  - as it is. These days I don't buy books "just because".

In the past...

I've got a copy of In Nomine, the Big White Book, that I bought basically because EVERYONE WOULDN'T SHUT UP ABOUT IT for a while.  In no way is it even remotely my 'jam', I'll never use it, but I just hate to get rid of it, for... some reason. I've got a copy of the REIGN: Enchiridion that I backed on Kickstarter for about the same reason.

I've got a copy of Burning Wheel: Gold Edition that I bought because I was feeling very pretentious at the time.

Quote from: Bruwulf on February 04, 2023, 09:24:47 PMIn Nomine

That's one of the few books I have on the shelf I won't get rid of, regardless if I play it or not. Just so many good ideas...and it's originally a French game, so I have to keep it. I was obsessed with French RPGs for a while, going so far as to ask some dudes on the internet who lived in Paris to send me a copy of Scales. Never worked out, still looking for that.

Fantasy battles and armies splatbooks. I'm never gonna play Warhammer Fantasy Battles but the fluff they write for the different factions is great stuff. I also found a ton of the splat books in the $1 sale pile at my local, so that was a factor.

Fun hearing these various responses. 

I've actually also done quite a bit or purging and swapping the past few years.  I had nearly the complete run of Warhammer FRP 2e and sold the whole collection to one guy on the Internet.  Also sold all my Cthulhu 5e-6e because I was no longer playing it.  More recently I've bought and flipped or traded a lot of stuff I either knew I wouldn't use or wouldn't use again, mostly due to lack of space.  Sometimes those damn Kickstarters take so long that I lose interest and/or am no longer playing the game by the time I get the stuff.  So I'm trying to be more selective in what I back as well.  Certainly no more unproven creators, not that I backed many of those anyhow.  I'm also leery of those KS that roll out too many add-ons because that usually just means delays.

The answer is, "Lots and lots of it."  FFG's Warhammer 40K RPG stuff is a perfect example.  I think those games are ridiculously over-complicated and I'd never run them, but they are very well done and I really enjoy reading them just for the background info, the excellent art, etc.  They take up pretty much an entire bookshelf.  If I get pleasure out of owning and reading a game that I never play, I still don't consider that money wasted.  Like,  I do intend to run "Beyond the Mountains of Madness" for Call of Cthulhu one day, but if I never get around to it I don't much care -- I've gotten so much enjoyment out of reading that supplement, it's paid for itself several times over AFAIC.  Of course, some things I've bought and never played,  but I keep them because they can be mined for resources to fuel other games.

Quote from: Bruwulf on February 04, 2023, 09:24:47 PMI've got a copy of In Nomine, the Big White Book, that I bought basically because EVERYONE WOULDN'T SHUT UP ABOUT IT for a while.  In no way is it even remotely my 'jam', I'll never use it, but I just hate to get rid of it, for... some reason.

I wish I'd never played In Nomine.

Not because it's a bad game, but one of my friend's had his own apartment, so we got to do gaming weekends. But his place, his rules, and he only ever wanted to cycle Star Wars D6, Vampire: Dark Ages, and In Nomine, every week, for years. I got so burned out on having to play and GM IN Nomine every week, it's mere name gives me 'nam flashbacks.

For me personally, I intend to play or run every book I buy.

I don't, obviously, but I always delude myself with honeyed whispers.

Genesys.

I will frequently read and mine RPG systems for parts which I have no intention of running as written in the book. I wouldn't say that this is unhealthy, but I also think that you should only have 2-3 reverse engineering reads at a time, and unless you have a very large bookshelf in your gaming room, consider going digital to save on clutter.

Much younger me used to buy things because I could get a deal on them, then try to find a way to use them.  This is probably a leftover from the even younger me that couldn't afford to buy some of the things I would most definitely have used.

For some time now, I seldom buy things unless there is a strong possibility that it will at least make the top 5 list for consideration of what to run next.  Some of those won't actually get run, or will even get pushed down the list later, but you can't learn everything you need to know about some games from reviews.  There's been a couple of instances where I had to lay out some cash to get something later when it made the cut, that would have been easier and cheaper if bought at launch, but I've saved a lot more money this way than I've lost.

The exceptions are the occasional game I buy to support the author, who has in the past or is likely in the future to produce something I will use, even if the current product isn't.

I now own less games than I did 15 years ago.  I have a set, sizable space for all the games that I own, still with some room to grow, but nothing gets bought without a space.  There is room to grow because of all the culling.  I do keep a handful of books that I don't particularly like as reminders and examples of how not to do things, when I'm writing my own rules.  Some games were more educational than fun in the long run, but that does have a kind of value.

I bought nearly every Jovian Chronicles book, every Heavy Gear book, a pile of GURPS books, a couple ShadowRun and Cyberpunk books, and many Star Wars D6 books including all three main books.

I even own the 3.5 D&D player handbook, Dragonlance, and Forgotten Realms books. 

This week my Dragon Warriors rulebook I had printed on demand arrived.  Previously, I bought Basic Fantasy, as well as it's gear book and combat options book in printed form.

And what do they all have in common?

They're all games I've never played.  With my current situation they will never get played. 

I am ok with this.  All of them have a reason I own them.  Some are because I love the setting, but not the rules.  Others are for adventure ideas.  And all of them are for fun. 

I think the term is called being a collector.