Something keeps me coming back to the simple retro-clones like Labyrinth Lord or Basic Fantasy. They have an incredibly low barrier to entry, cover what you need for old-school, and have that Monopoly-like appeal of being a gamer's game rather than a large computer operating system-like set of rules with rules and options for everything. I can get a group started with them for free or little cost.
What kills me about Pathfinder is I have this feeling I bought the system into un-playability. Too many books. My gaming bookcase just collapsed, literally, under the weight of the system. One night we were playing a game of 7 Days to Die and we heard in the other room, bang, bang, bang.
The shelf holding Pathfinder had collapsed. The books are completely fine and no one got hurt, but now my books are on the floor and I am sitting here wondering why I need so many rules and books to have fun. I wonder if I haven't falling into the trap of hoarding and collecting books, and buying something because more is better. Then I end up loving it to death and smothering the system with so many options and books it becomes un-fun.
I am seriously considering boxing up everything I have except for the base gazetteer for Golarion, just for reading and inspiration, and calling my open shelf in my gaming room for the game done. I don't have the play time for something this complex, and the books just sit there on the shelf like some sort of gamer-cred display case. I end up looking at them and feeling bad I don't have the time, so why have them out?
Kudos to the D&D 5 people for keeping their system to the base three books, but I don't play enough D&D 5 to warrant buying the add-on modules for that either, and I fear the end result would be the same if I were into the game as much as I would have liked.
But again, the simple calls to me. The retro-clones feel like what I started with so long ago. They don't require learning curves or hundreds of pages of spells or character options. You are not chasing the next book or rules addition. I know I love the art and direction of both Paizo and Wizards, and yes I know sales of new stuff keep great and creative people employed at both companies, but I feel a system can only get so big before, well, my shelf collapses.
I know this sounds like, "Well, not everybody's shelves are so cheap, dude. Buy a better shelf." I would agree with that if it were someone else saying this and I loved the game and played it all the time. This is not a system wars thing, just a reflection that I have a shelf full of books for a game I infrequently play.
The bigger question is, what do I need? You know, it is like going out and buying a pickup truck and all you use a car for is going to the store and work and back. You literally never put anything in the back bed of the truck, and it just collects dust and leaves. And now that you have a truck, the payments and upkeep cost prevents you from having the car that you may want and need. You may be a hybrid person in a city and find one of those fits your life perfectly. You may love the thrill of a sportscar. You may be better suited with an off-road 4x4.
I have this suspicion owning two or three dozen Pathfinder hardcovers is actually keeping me from playing the game. You know the feeling? And I also get the feeling this mass of books is keeping me from playing fantasy medieval RPGs at all because using all that material seems intimidating. What is your hang up, right? Dive in and play! Well, maybe I am not a fan of all those options and what I want is something simple. And having a shelf full of books out means it is better than a single-book game, right?
So the retro-clones get ignored. You have Pathfinder and D&D 5, play those. Yes, I can drive the pickup and it takes me where I need to go. But there is that always hard to express question, "Is this what I want?" You have a massive 17" gaming laptop, what use would you have with a ultra-thin 13" lightweight notebook? The gaming laptop can do it all! But I can't take it anywhere. I need a backpack to take it out. It doesn't go to the coffee shop or library, and I feel tied to the behemoth. That sort of feeling.
You can love a game for what it is not, and because it fits into your gaming lifestyle better. There is something to be said for games that do a lot with a little.
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