As far as laughing at a $50 price tag on a gaming book...
Humans commonly belittle things to make themselves feel better.
As far as laughing at a $50 price tag on a gaming book...
Truth! Even when a system has a free SRD it seem like some gamers are like “ugh, I have to buy dice?! Why are there no systems that will pay me to play them?”It isn't expensive, and yet gamers remain some of the cheapest people I have ever encountered.
And now you're making me vaugely consider sitting here for another few minutes instead of going to bed, so that I can set up a poll about how much we each spend on ttRPGs relative to our incomes with the thread title "Is TTRPGing an Expensive Hobby to You?".TTRPGs cost virtually nothing. DriveThruRPG has plenty of full games available at no cost, complete with accessories, quickstart rules, and expansions. In many cases, you are only out the cost of pencils, paper, and a single set of dice.
...or...
TTRPGs cost a literal fortune. Buying a set of 3 hardcover rulebooks for the latest top-selling game, brand new, from your local game store, plus a handbook, mini, set of dice, and a dice bag for each player, can easily be hundreds of dollars. Add in the cost of an internet connection, a subscription to Roll20 (or a license to FantasyGrounds) for each player, a battle mat, some 3D-printed terrain, and a full library of a dozen different splatbooks (in both print and electronic format), etc., and you're looking at thousands of dollars.
I'm somewhere in the middle.
In case you were being serious, I would totally vote in that poll. I think it would be interesting to see the results, too.Bed wins!
Suggest that for your next D&D 5E game. See how well it goes over.What is the minimum cost to play an RPG that has published rules? For D&D is it one person in the group having a phone to get the SRD, there being one set of dice or sharing a dice roller on the phone, and some paper and pencils.
Good luck trying to round up 5-6 people to play those free games from DriveThru.TTRPGs cost virtually nothing. DriveThruRPG has plenty of full games available at no cost, complete with accessories, quickstart rules, and expansions. In many cases, you are only out the cost of pencils and paper (and maybe a set of dice.)
...or...
TTRPGs cost a literal fortune. Buying a set of 3 hardcover rulebooks for the latest top-selling game, brand new, from your local game store, plus a handbook, mini, set of dice, and a dice bag for each player, can easily be hundreds of dollars. Add in the cost of an internet connection, a subscription to Roll20 (or a license to FantasyGrounds) for each player, a battle mat, some 3D-printed terrain, and a full library of a dozen different splatbooks (in both print and electronic format), etc., and you're looking at thousands of dollars.
I'm somewhere in the middle.