Over the years I've gathered some stuff. I'm still relatively new to this, so my collection might look small compared to old veterans. My TTRPG stuff currently fits inside one Ikea BILLY shelf.
I have just recently read an article by SlyFlourish where he contemplates, what would be included in the TTRPG hobby. One of the things he mentions, is collecting. So I feel partly validated.
Time to have a look at my collection.
The Beginnings
On the bottom - this is in no way a reflection on the quality of the product - of my shelf, is where I started in my TTRPG journey. Classic. With Dungeons & Dragons. There's the core books, some supplements and adventures.
My journey began directly by GMing and I choose an evergreen in Lost Mines of Phandelver with some mix-ins of the Essentials Kit. I had a blast for almost 2 years and then it took another 2 years to complete Rime of the Frostmaiden. From the materials I have, this is probably the stuff I've played the most.
A little bit of everything (Part 1)
Next up, we have a shelf, where I had to put mostly the large books (A4).
The newest addition to my collection are the Dolmenwood books, very prominently using a lot of space. They are gorgeous but I don't know whether I will be ever able to run it. At least the Monster and Campaign book can provide me with ideas if need be. I'm probably not interested in the rules itself, although I'm using parts of it (Rune Magic) for a OSE game already. I also included the four Dolmenwood adventures in my collection.
The small books next to it, are part of Colostle. I really liked the art. Not pictured are a set of playing cards and additional "class"-decks, that are also part of my collection.
Next up, we have a plethora of other systems and supplements. Stars Without Number is an excellent source to generate worlds and space sectors. Mythic Bastionland is also high on my list to play. And every good collection should include Monster Overhaul. The shelf is completed with some additional booklets with random tables, SlyFlourish's Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master and some other adventures.
A little bit of everything (Part 2)
Here we have a shelf with smaller books. We have some prominent books in here. Forbidden Lands I tried to run solo a while back. Since then, the books were never used again.
The other prominent books are Ironsworn. The three ring-bound books next to it, include the reference tables for Starforged and Sundered Isles. Starforged I played for a full year. The core Ironsworn started my podcast. These games are phenomenal and out of everything in my collection (apart from D&D) I played the most. And I regularly use its tables.
Some recent additions are Knave, Cairn and Shadowdark RPG. They start to get used more and more.
Vaesen
My personal highlight is the top shelf: Vaesen
The art of Johan Egerkrans is just gorgeous and the game that Free League created from it is superb. It is the right kind of horror and mystery that I like. Nothing to ridiculous like cosmic horror. And I also recognize some parts of it in the mythology that I grew up with. So it has a little bit a special place in my heart.
Whenever Free League publishes something new for Vaesen, you can be sure that I will buy it.
I also play it. From time to time our society meets and we go on an adventure with rotating GMs. It is a lot of fun and the simplicity of this system makes it great for newbies as well.
Oh, and there are some Knock! books as well. Still shrink-wrapped. But since I also have the PDF, it is more of a collectors item. I've heard if it is shrink-wrapped it is worth more.
Not Pictured
There is some bits and pieces I didn't take pictures of. I have a bunch of zines. For example Cursed Scrolls for Shadowdark. But also some other zines, I picked up from Zine month and other kickstarters.
There's also the Hexcrawl Toolbox from which I also written a Review for one of the adventures.
I have also recently started to pick up some of the old D&D modules, like Keep on the Borderlands or Isle of Dread.
I have a Game Master Companion from Dragon Shield, where I keep all my - well - GM stuff in. That might warrant another blog entry in the future by itself.
Conclusion
And now what?
As I've mentioned it is good to reflect once in a while what you already have. I have decided to focus myself more on running and playing Shadowdark and Cairn more. I feel Cairn is ideal for short games at conventions or one-shots, whereas I want to try a campaign using Shadowdark. The other material I want to mostly use as reference and ideas. Or just to have something beautiful on my shelves.
I also found out, that I don't really have a Sci-Fi system for group play. Stars Without Number is a great reference, but I do not entirely like the system. Starforged is also great, but the focus of that system is a bit more narrative. I'd like to have something in the middle ground.
Lucky for me there's some space left...