What makes a TTRPG purchase "worth it" to you?

[Reynard]

I have been considering buying the 5E Exodus game that is being published in parallel with the video game. The $27 price tag isn't bad, but I am not keen on the $13 shipping costs (even in the US, I can't imagine what they are internationally). When that made me balk, I realized that buying the book for $25ish would have been "worth it" just to see what they did with it, but at $40+ it was no longer "worth it." This in turn got me thinking about how I determine when a purchase is "worth it" -- especially in regards to a thing I don't really know a lot about and don't know whether I will use it.

Broadly speaking for video games and similar entertainment purchases, i personally use a "movie in the cinema" rule. I will go see a movie at the local theater at matinee princes ($10 or so where I live) and if I enjoy the movie I consider the expense having been "worth it." So, that sort of translates into a $5/hour entertainment ratio. That is, if I buy a $60 video game, I expect to get 12 hours of enjoyment out of it. Everything else is gravy.

This is a little harder to measure with TTRPG books. For example, I have spent a total of about $250 on 2024 D&D 5E, between the physical hardcovers and the Fantasy grounds modules. Does this mean that as long as I get a total of 50 hours of enjoyment out of them, it was "worth it"? If so, how and when do I measure than enjoyment? is it just actually play time, or does reading the books, designing monsters, and prepping adventures count? Is that just my 50 hours, or is it 50 man-hours because my players also get enjoyment out of the books I bought?

 

[The Soloist]

My rate is $25 (Canadian) per hour of entertainment per RPG book. Most books around here cost $75, so if I play for three hours, I've repaid myself. If the book is fun to read or if the rules are very good, that is also entertainment. GM activities like drawing maps and preparing encounters are also entertainment.

I apply the same formula to board games and miniature wargames. Painting miniatures is entertainment, if you like that as a hobby.

 

[Voadam]

I give myself a monthly hobby budget and generally stick with it. I have a ton of things I am interested in and none I really consider must gets.

So I generally do a little gut check on how interesting something is to me compared to its price and I often check out sales and bundles for good values on interesting things which come up a lot. It is a decent place to be and I get a lot of PDFs as bang for my buck generally. I am a regular with bundle of holding and humble bundle for instance.

The last two big things I got just because of the product itself was the 5e Moria PDF during the GM sale even though it was only 20% off compared to a lot of interesting 40% off stuff, and in print the last thing I bought was the 24 PH which was my first physical book purchase for myself in years.

 

[aco175]

I like to not feel scammed or taken. I was looking at new or used golf shoes on eBay the other day and seen a few pairs I liked but the shipping was twice what everyone else was charging. I felt that they were just padding the sale and taking me for a few more dollars. I skip that even if I really wanted the product.

 

[Wolfram stout]

This is a great question, because I have backed/pre-ordered a lot last year. What it has come down to me is does it fill a hole in my current outlook. Needed an urban fantasy game so I backed Curseborne. I buy D&D cause D&D is it's own fantasy. And Marvel because I need a super hero game with plug and play heroes.

Oh, and as much as I love Traveller I don't think I will get it too the table so I pre-ordered The Expanse second edition.

 

[overgeeked]

A big old it depends.

My line generally sees to be $50 for a fat hardback book. Anything over $20 for a PDF is a scam.

Am I collecting a book to fill out a collection of old, out-of-print books, then it'll gladly go over $50, plus reasonable shipping.

Am I curious about a game and how it plays, I'll find it in a game store and flip through it, read reviews, etc. and think long and hard before picking it up.

My inability to find a given book in a brick and mortar store greatly reduces my likelihood of being interested. Not being able to find it on a convenient online store also dramatically reduces my interest. Ridiculous shipping prices also dramatically reduce my interest.

 

[KYRON45]

It’s a shame that in the current market with independent publishers and Kickstarter that shipping is almost the same price as the product.

For myself; “worth it” is a matter of relevance to me at any given time. It’s too subjective to put a finger on.

 

[CleverNickName]

The easy answer is, "it has to meet my expectations." But I have different expectations for different kinds of TTRPGs.

If it's a D&D product, I expect to be able to use it with my 5E campaign. I expect it to be of similar quality and presentation as the official 5E products from Wizards of the Coast, and I expect it to be balanced enough to not need a lot of retooling on my end.

If it's a Call of Cthulhu product, it's the same deal: I expect to be able to seamlessly use it with my official CoC materials that were published from Chaosium.

If it's a small indie product with its own bespoke gaming system, I expect it to have a rich amount of lore, excellent artwork, and plenty of digital resources that I can cherry-pick for my own games--whether those games might be. Monty Cook's "The Magnus Archives RPG" and "Old Gods of Appalachia RPG" are excellent examples: so far I have been unsuccessful at getting my players to try the Cypher game system, but these materials are so richly detailed, the artwork is so vibrant, and the digital resources are versatile enough, that I can bring them into my Call of Cthulhu game OR my 5E D&D game.

If it's a very different kind of game--like Dread, for example, which doesn't use dice and has a list of 20 Questions for a character sheet--my expectations are going to be wide open. Does it look like it'll be fun? Does it look like my friends will enjoy it?

 

[Joshua Randall]

Do I think it will be fun?
And
Will it entertain me to read even if it never hits the table.

 

[DragonLancer]

I generally don't look at it from a £££ perspective, although if a PDF is near it's print price I won't touch it. PDFs should be a lot cheaper IMO.

As the DM I look at whether something will be of use in my campaign or have something I would like to incorporate. Adventures have to sound fun and interesting because otherwise it could be something I write myself.

Looking to the future I want the upcoming Eberron sourcebook because my setting is influenced by the likes of Arcane and it has rules for airships which exist in my setting, thus being a very useful book potentially. I'll pick the FRPG (whatever it is called) for the subclasses, spells and items to further expand my game. I want the Artificer class for the same reason as above, it'll fit very well.