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44
Posted by
u/AtridentataSSG
5 hours ago

My university gaming club is making a list of

RPG books to buy and donate to the local
public library, help us make a great RPG
section!
As the title suggests, the gaming club at my university wants to compile a list of books for the
club to buy and then donate to the library for everyone to enjoy.

I'm looking for suggestions of systems and specific books within those systems you'd consider
essential for a beginning group to pick up and play.
Edit: One thing I forgot to ask, could you also briefly describe the game you're suggesting? I
haven't heard of some of these already!

Thank you all for your help!

39 comments
94% Upvoted

level 1
ElvishLore
· 4 hr. ago
level 1
Fussel2
· 5 hr. ago · edited 4 hr. ago

Dungeon Crawl Classics - Deadly, kind of old school-y but very fun splatter fantasy with great
adventures.

Quest - extremely beginner friendly generic fantasy game. Written for people entering the hobby.

Worlds without Number - a mix of classic d20 shenanigans with a solid 2d6 based skill system,
three classes, phenomenal game designer, even better support for the GM. Fantasy.

Stars without Number - see Worlds without Number, just in sci-fi. Crawford is also working on
Cities without Number, a cyberpunk iteration.

Traveller/Cepheus - the mother of all sci-fi space opera rpgs. Somewhat retro-futuristic.

Monsterhearts 2e - Twilight: The Game

Monster of the Week - Throw Buffy and X-Files into a pot, give it a stir, get Monster of the
Week

Call of Cthulhu 7th Ed - It's Cthulhu stuff.

Chronicles of Darkness - fantastic game to play regular people confronted with supernatural
horror.

All of these are relatively beginner-friendly and have good support for the people running the
game.

17
level 2
AtridentataSSG
Op · 4 hr. ago

Whoa! Big list right away! Can you describe these briefly? I haven't heard of any of them except
Call of Cthulu!

level 2
kyletrandall
· 1 hr. ago · edited 1 hr. ago
+1 for Monster of the Week. It's one of my all-time favorites. It's a Powered by the Apocalypse
game (story forward rpg based on the rules system from Apocalypse World). It's a beautifully
designed and balanced game where the mundane meets monster.

https://www.reddit.com/r/monsteroftheweek?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

Vote

level 2
fluency
· 1 hr. ago

Great list! I’d add Numenera (Discovery is probably enough, but Destiny is also a core book)
and Blades In The Dark to that list, but thats just personal preference. Maybe the Castles &
Crusades Player’s Handbook and Monsters And Treasures as well.

Vote
level 1
coreypress
· 4 hr. ago

As a librarian and a gamer, I love this.

But...

Has you club spoken with the library in question about this? Getting the stuff on the shelf (and
together!) takes some logistics and work from the library. I know we do not for the most part
take community donations, otherwise half the collection would be copies of The DaVinci Code.
Also, libraries often get some sweet discounts from vendors, so it might be worth a chat to help
your donation money go farther.

Hate for you to do all this work and then just have your stuff sit in a box in back with a 'To
Catalog' sign on it for months.

12
level 2
AtridentataSSG
Op · 3 hr. ago

Yes.

level 1
karl_jansky
· 4 hr. ago

Ryuutama - a fairly rules light nature fantasy rpg. Really fun and cute game that focuses on
traveling. It is great if you want to have something similar to The Hobbit book. It's a japanese
game that was mostly used to introduce children to the hobby but it is still pretty darn good.
CY_BORG - D20 cyberpunk game. Kinda rules light. Similar enough to DND 5e so that it is
easy to introduce players to it. The book is short and it looks neat but it can be vague at times so
it leaves a lot to personal interpretation.

MOTHERSHIP - A d100 space horror rpg. Doesn't have too many rules. Simple enough to bring
newcomers in. Really nice and compact game if you want to do games in the vein of alien.

STARTER SETS

The One Ring 2e - This is a hobbit centered game. You go around doing quests around the shire.
Rules are fairly straight forward. Great beginner game for people and the starter set has enough
content to keep you busy for a while.

Star Wars RPG FFG - The fantasy flight star wars rpg has a really solid starter set. The adventure
can run from 1 to 3 sessions depending on your speed, but afterwards its really easy to expand
your game to a campagin. The main draw back of the system is the special dice (They are really
fun to play with but are hard to find) luckily the starter set comes with them. Really recommend
this one if your group is into improv

level 1
NabiCankle
· 5 hr. ago

Maybe a fifth edition starter set, Powered by the Apocalypse games are also good simple and
rules light with a heavy emphasis on narrative driven story telling that enables the mechanical
aspects. I would say Monster of the Week, Masks: A New Generation, Dungeon world seems a
little more complex but it's lighter than 5e while holding the same kinda style. There's a lot of
great games that could be picked up and ran pretty easily, maybe also see about paperback copies
of one page rpgs. The witch is dead, jumping the shark, etc.

level 2
AtridentataSSG
Op · 4 hr. ago

5E was right at the top of the list! Haha, we've got a discord going but that channel is just getting
off the ground and needed some ideas.

level 1
Gicotd
· 3 hr. ago

Blue Rose RPG.

Its focused on relationships and romantic adventuring, so its different enought to justify the
attention and get out of the classics medieval fantasy/cthulhu

level 1
AshikaraRPG
· 3 hr. ago

Something like Mausritter might be nice, has a broad appeal aesthetically.

level 1
InsidiousDrT
· 2 hr. ago

Modern or Fantasy AGE.

Mutants and Masterminds 3rd edition.

Vote

level 1
AtridentataSSG
Op · 4 hr. ago

In particular, does anyone have good suggestions for cyberpunk genre RPGs to splash into the
mix?

level 2
OnodrimOfYavanna
· 4 hr. ago

Strongly suggest HardWired Island. Amazing game, great for a library because it’s all in one
book, and great art. Also really easy to get into.

level 2
Dennarb
· 4 hr. ago
Cyberpunk Red is my favorite TTRPG

level 2
Silverfang3567
· 4 hr. ago

If you want the frontrunners there's always Shadowrun (I recommend anarchy or 5e if you can
find hard copies) and CyberpunkRED. Unfortunately neither are super beginner friendly. Best
one I can think of that would be beginner friendly is The Sprawl, but I don't think they sell hard
copies, just PDFs.

2
Continue this thread

level 2
kyletrandall
· 1 hr. ago · edited 1 hr. ago

Somebody already recommended CY_BORG, I'd give it a vote. It's a gritty, atmosphere heavy,
rules light RPG sequel to Mörk Borg.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Cy_Borg?utm_medium=android_app&utm_source=share

Vote

level 1
WhitemanesLight
· 4 hr. ago

I'd recommend Numenera, it's about a people struggling to survive in a world built atop eight
dead and ancient civilizations. It's difficult to quickly explain, but its world is unique and
refreshing.

level 2
AbominableSnowLurker
· 4 hr. ago

A game about characters with roughly medieval levels of society exploring, studying and paving
a future in a fantastical world where science is so advanced and beyond comprehension that it
emulated and parallels magic.

I don't even think that explanation is adequate.

level 1
Malkavian87
· 4 hr. ago

Vampire: the Masquerade 20th Anniversary Edition

level 1
nemesis_777
· 2 hr. ago

I'm gonna recommend Knave or Cairn. Both are extremely cheap, OSR style games that are
classless and easy to play. The writer of Cairn has made several copies of his game, and left it at
the little library displays in neighborhoods so people can pick up and play his game as a way to
get into the hobby.

You can get a copy of Cairn from Amazon for about $3

level 2
AnOddOtter
· 1 hr. ago

If the librarians are going to use the games to host programs, I can highly recommend both of
these.

I'm a public librarian starting an RPG club at my place and chose Knave because it was
thematically close to D&D for people who didn't know much about RPGs, could be taught in a
few minutes, and has a pretty flat progression. That is perfect for an environment where one
person comes to every session and is playing side-by-side with someone who has never played at
all.

Vote
Continue this thread

level 1
yochaigal
· 1 hr. ago

If you want a stack of Cairns to give to the library send me a DM.

Vote

level 1
Booster_Blue
· 3 hr. ago
Paranoia Troubleshooter

Not having a copy of Paranoia is treason. There is a new edition coming out soon that cleans up
the issues I had with the previous edition and looks rock solid.

level 1
josh2brian
· 2 hr. ago

Basic Fantasy Role-playing. B/X base but ascending AC. Very cheap and works well for a basic
d&d experience. World's without Number as a slightly crunching osr type game with great world
building tools.

level 1
JPBuildsRobots
· 1 hr. ago

Blades in the Dark: You're a group of scoundrels, oppressed by the city elite and rival gangs, just
doing what you can to survive. And oh, the sun was shattered 1,000 years ago, the gates of death
were rendered open, and the only way to keep the ghosts out of the city is to wall them out
behind an lightning barrier powered by demon blood.
Scum & Villainy: Get your crew, load up your ship, and head off for outer space. The game
author tweaked the rules for BitD, and put it in space!

Band of Blades: Your army just got it's butt kicked by the Cinder King. Now you are retreating
to reinforce your home kingdom, chased by the legion. Winter is not coming. The lands will
burn!

Vote

level 1
Oelbaumpflanzer87
· 55 min. ago

Beyond the wall by flatland games A game about young adult heroes exploring a low fantasy
world

Warlock! Traitors Edition by Fireruby Designs Lore agnostic and very nice approach to anything
warhammer fantasy related

Mothership A survival horror Sci fi game in the style of tge alien movies

Warhammer fantasy RPG 2nd edition (if you can find a copy online as it is out of print)

Vote

level 1
Fubai97b
· 24 min. ago

Any games where you only need one book to both run and play. I know there are a few out there,
but my go to for simple and flexible is always Savage Worlds

Vote

level 1
bathsheba41
· 18 min. ago

Why would you inflict RPGs to normal people?

Vote
level 1
StoicBoffin
· 15 min. ago

GURPS. Being so well-researched, and providing lots of useful information and advice beyond
just the game itself, that's probably the system that'll give the library the most bang for your
buck.

Vote

level 1
dimofamo
· just now

You can't miss Lovecraftesque and Follow.

Vote

level 1
ludifex
· just now
Questing Beast, Maze Rats, Knave

Some great books from the OSR side:

• Into the Odd: Remastered

• Stars Without Number
• Worlds Without Number
• Old School Essentials and its official adventures, which are all beautifully designed and
well-witten
• Labyrinth: The Adventure Game (I worked on this one)
• The OZ and Neverland settings
• Ultraviolet Grasslands
• The Stygian Library

Vote
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