Just wondering what everyone else's style of rules reading is, strictly for conversational purposes.
Do you read the books from cover to cover? Do you read the main game rules and then only the rules that apply specifically to you as a DM, or specifically to your class/race as a player? As a DM, do you read everything in the MM, or just the usage rules and then monsters as you need them?
For me, I start with the PHB and read all of the game rules that aren't specific to race, class, or spell specifics. Then I read the MM monster usage rules. Then all of the game rules in the DMG. Then I read any class and race features for my most played classes and races.
Once I'm done with that, I go back and start reading everything else casually just for fun. After having a grasp on the game itself, I love reading through various class features, monster backstories, and magic items and everything else along those lines.
What's your approach?
If I already get what kind of stories the game is meant to create through playing (such as that D&D is about fantastic adventures of some kind, or that Shadowrun is about criminals in a distopic future), I dive right in to the character creation section, otherwise I read the introduction and then the character creation section.
Once I've got a general sense of what the options for characters are and how a player puts one together, I move on to the general rules sections.
Most books I bounce from one chapter to another back and forth through the book, rather than reading cover to cover - 5th edition (especially the DMG) is the closest I've ever come to reading cover to cover on anything rule-book wise that isn't 32 pages or less.
I usually go back and read in more detail once I've got a general grasp of how to get the game up and running, but I've learned that the best way to get a solid grasp of what a DM needs to know about a game is to read the parts that contain the answers to questions that players are going to ask, which means focusing on what the character options are and do.
With one hand on the book and the other on a sandwich.
alienux wrote:
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
Depends on how useful the book is to me and my table.
PHB, I skimmed everything, then absorbed in detail the combat and spellcasting mechanics. Character creation was up next. I never studied the remaining subsystems in as much detail, though I've read every page at least once in a nonlinear way. Over the months I've committed much of the PHB to memory just from flipping through the pages while discussing rules and rulings on these forums.
MM, I looked at the pretty pictures and only read the entries in depth when I was planning on actually using a monster.
For the DMG, I just skimmed it and rarely even open it up anymore. The alternative systems the book provides and which I liked were committed to memory early on, and I ignored most of the rest. The magic items section was nifty though, so I read through most of that. Rarely, a situation comes up where I'll consult the DMG again after a session (a recent example, chases) to see how the devs suggest handling it, but at this point I'm comfortable enough improvising a system rather than interrupting play.
I read the 5th Edition books cover-to-cover when I first got them, and now I find myself returning to the Dungeon Master's guide and select chapters in the Player's Handbook most often. I try to avoid reading too deeply into monsters I'm not using (in order to maintain some element of surprise), and I largely ignore classes I don't care for (so I don't know much about them), but I've really enjoyed reading the game's introduction, the exploration of play styles, and other elements that I used to gloss over previously. It's been an interesting exercise in coming to understand Dungeons & Dragons from a fresh perspective. (Amazing how much baggage and preconcieved understanding we tote around with us through the years.)
I tend to skip back and forth between the sections that interest me, getting a feel for making a character and running the game, and looking up answers to questions as I read. Then I fill in the gaps, typically skimming over class powers, spells, and magic items that look samey after a little while.
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
I look at the pretty pictures, and don't bother with the words until someone tells me they're important.
i Read cover to cover. Then go through different sections from time to time. In 5e I tend to reread the how to play section over and over. My biggest issue with 5e isn't the new rules but letting go of old rules. I get stuck and confused with older edition rules and so to my players. A lot of time players are looking for an advatnage in a situation and reach to older editions.
ChrisTheS wrote:
AaronOfBarbaria wrote:
I read them cover to cover; then do it again.
That's my general RPG book reading system. If I feel I need house rules, I try to wait to make them until the second read-through.
Of course, when I first open a book I jump to all the cool looking places before I even start my read through, just to see all the shinies I was wondering about.
I try to read rulebooks cover-to-cover the first time I get them.
Then I go back and study the parts that apply to my character(s) a lot.
Some things I decide to type up so I always have a printed copy handy during play - and I remember better the things I read / copied / typed / printed.
how do YOU read the rules?
I start reading cover-to-cover, on the lookout for exciting character concepts. I guess I start drafting characters before actually finishing encyclopedal entrys like spells.
For MM, I read eveything once, and return to favorites.
For DMG, I skip basics and flip a lot back and forth. I have yet to peruse all tables for example, but I have read all magic items, world-building, DM workshop, etc.
I read them out loud in pig latin after converting the text using the numerology system in Qabala while recording it on a vinyl recorder. I then play it backwards and even forward at different speeds to learn the inner esoteric secrets of the game.
arnwolf666 wrote:
I read all three core rulebooks from cover to cover. I did skim over the spells in the PHB, and some of the monsters in the MM. But the DMG was a full read through from start to finish. I've probably read most of the PHB at least ten times.
For adventures... I read the beginner box multiple times, maybe four? It is really excellent. I never finished the HOTDQ read through, and haven't started Rise of Tiamat. I had read most of the Expeditions adventures, but they came out faster than I could finish DMing them so I haven't even read the most recent batch from the past month or two yet.
So I guess spells and monsters are more of an "as I need them" sort of thing. The DMG should really be read in full. The PHB should really be read in full excepting the spells and any classes or races you aren't interested in. There is no need for players to read the MM unless they are going to need or use animals/beasts. At this point, they are all three reference material now. Adventures are very much an as needed thing, though I sometimes read them for inspiration to steal from.