The sheer amount of text each month coming my way is somewhat overwhelming. I'm looking at the August order and boy, that's a lot of stuff to read.
I'm already seriously behind. I just finished reading the Guide to Korvosa and Pathfinder #7. So I've just started AP #2 and Paizo is finishing it. Reading a Pathfinder book is roughly equivalent to reading a 300-page paperback novel, and frankly, I still read a whole bunch of books.
I think I could just read Pathfinder and keep up with Paizo's publishing schedule, except when they send me a hardcover and three other books in a single month.
Don't even get me started on running these things. I'm still running SCAP, and have been for the last three or four years.
So do you skim this stuff? Look at the pretty pictures? Are you all speed readers? What's the deal?
I'm only interested in the adventures - the APs and stand-alone modules - so that's all I get. Most of the Chronicles and the Golarion stuff I ignore completely.
I only read the APs once I get a complete set. I skim the modules (but not read) to get an idea where to place it in my long-running FR game, and then read just before I use it. (That's how I've always done it no matter what module I buy, and it was no different with Dungeon mag.)
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Since I only really need to read in depth right before I actually run the adventures, the first time through I just try to get an idea of where everyone is and the key encounters they'll face. Since I know about how far my players will get each time, it really saves some time. I'm mostly interested in all the stuff that's not the adventure, but again I just usually skim through to get the general idea rather then every little detail and try to figure out in my mind where i can fit it in my world or in a future adventure. It usually takes me about 2 hours to do this to one of the APs, and a hardcover campaign book will usually take about 6 hours. then I just go back piecemeal as I need something or am interested in something and look at just that more in depth.
I guess I'm a read'a'holic. I don't even really have time to read (busy job and two kids) so I always bring my reading material with me and read in the "between" moments (i.e. on the bus, in a waiting room, at lunch, before bed at the expense of sleep and other places we all read but don't need to mention). I almost hate to admit that I feel a bit embarrassed about displaying game material in public but I do. I have taken to disguising my Pathfinder Issue with covers from other periodicals so I can continue to read it in public places.
Using these little tricks I can go through a Pathfinder Issue in about a week and I usually read it in detail cover to cover. Then I'm in need of something else. A novel usually occupies me till the next Pathfinder comes out. August is looking to be a full month of D&D goodness. Yeah! Now if I could only find time to actually play the game...
Cheers,
C.
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I skim over most of the material to get a good first impression of everything, and when (as soon as) something grabs my attention, i dive in deeper.
I read the fluff (the journal, articles (skipping the crunchy parts), and bestiary (minus stat blocks), then read the adventure, whenever a stat block comes up in the adventure, I read the person's tactics then move on.
I am way, way behind, but then I just started reading them about a month ago.
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I think of myself as having an above average speed for reading - though as my mother tongue is German I guess my speed with the pathfinder stuff might be only average.
So far I read the first AP, skimmed through most single Adventures, having read only a few of them completely (Demon Within, River into Darkness, Haunted Forest, Carnival) and raed all the world fluff I got yet (Gazzeteer, Korvosa, Classic Monsters. I store the 2nd. AP untill I have all Issues. I'd probably be faster, but I recently completed my Witchcraft Collection and bought zhe German Books for Unknown Armies which I also read more or less all at the same time.
I guess I'm a read'a'holic. I don't even really have time to read (busy job and two kids) so I always bring my reading material with me and read in the "between" moments (i.e. on the bus, in a waiting room, at lunch, before bed at the expense of sleep and other places we all read but don't need to mention). I almost hate to admit that I feel a bit embarrassed about displaying game material in public but I do. I have taken to disguising my Pathfinder Issue with covers from other periodicals so I can continue to read it in public places.
Using these little tricks I can go through a Pathfinder Issue in about a week and I usually read it in detail cover to cover. Then I'm in need of something else. A novel usually occupies me till the next Pathfinder comes out. August is looking to be a full month of D&D goodness. Yeah! Now if I could only find time to actually play the game...
Cheers,
C.
A brother (or sister?) in spirit :-D. Honestly, anything I could have said, you already did. Maybe we should found an Anonyomous Speed Readers' Circle ;-).
Now, back to waiting for that August package.
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I guess I'm a read'a'holic. I don't even really have time to read (busy job and two kids) so I always bring my reading material with me and read in the "between" moments (i.e. on the bus, in a waiting room, at lunch, before bed at the expense of sleep and other places we all read but don't need to mention). I almost hate to admit that I feel a bit embarrassed about displaying game material in public but I do. I have taken to disguising my Pathfinder Issue with covers from other periodicals so I can continue to read it in public places.
Using these little tricks I can go through a Pathfinder Issue in about a week and I usually read it in detail cover to cover. Then I'm in need of something else. A novel usually occupies me till the next Pathfinder comes out. August is looking to be a full month of D&D goodness. Yeah! Now if I could only find time to actually play the game...
Cheers,
C.A brother (or sister?) in spirit :-D. Honestly, anything I could have said, you already did. Maybe we should found an Anonyomous Speed Readers' Circle ;-).
Now, back to waiting for that August package.
Me too! Except for the hiding bit, I read Pathfinder on my hour and a half bus+train commute with pride! :P Hey, I got to meet another local roleplayer just yesterday that way (I started my thorough read of Skeletons of Scarwall yesterday as I've been reading other stuff the past couple of weeks, he was sitting opposite on the bus and commented on it, since it hasn't turned up in our FLGS yet).
I read the adventures for the adventure paths as they come out, and generally I read the Chronicles within a month of release, too. The only one I haven't read yet is Darkmoon Vale, since it isn't applicable to the adventure paths. I'm looking forward to all the August releases so I'll have something new to read...
I just started reading the first AP last week - I put them in my shelf because I did not know if I might play them last year. Now, it is clear I won´t, so I started reading. I just started book three yesterday evening, and came to "Retaking Rannick", with several breaks for eating, watching news and doing various and sundry other things. I actually hope to find time to read it today completely, this should be possible.
Stefan
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When it comes to the pathfinder AP, I usually have it read front to back within a couple of days of getting the actual book. When I get the PF AP, I need to read the whole thing. There has been a couple of cases where I have received the PF's on a Thurs or Fri, and have it read by Sunday night. The modules I can knock out in an hour or two. I find myself skimming through the Pathfinder Chronicles, and and only reading the really exciting parts. I suspect that I will use the Chronicles more like reference books and review the appropriate sections before a game.
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Seriously, though ...
When Burnt Offerings first arrived, I read it cover-to-cover as a novel, and I devoured subsequent Runelords chapters with similar gusto.
I was so impressed with those first Runelords, that I implored my friends to join my Runelords campaign. Runelords single-handedly reignited me DMing for my friends.
I like to be as well-prepared in an adventure before running a session as possible. The first time I read Burnt Offerings (or Edge of Anarchy - as I'm now running BOTH campaigns for different groups) is just for exposure - gaining familiarity with the plots, characters, locations, concepts etc. The second read through, you start to piece things together, like connections between characters, the role of different characters in each plot, their motivations etc. You start reading between the lines and things start coming to life. That's when ideas start forming such as how to personalise the experience for individual player characters. Now, already well familiar with the adventure, just before I run a session, I read up on the encounters likely to be run that session for details, such as NPC/Monster tactics/spells etc. So by the time I run a session, I've actually read the material three times through. I also read any relevant supplements, such as Guide to Korvosa. I've been doing this for both Burnt Offerings and Edge of Anarchy so far.
The problem with this? My players can't meet regularly enough! Between other game commitments and real life, we've been playing once per month on average. Recently, I haven't helped things either, coming down with a cold/flu for the last three weeks (Southern hemisphere - Ausssie winter - grrr!) which means both groups have missed this month entirely :-(
While I've picked through the later Crimson Throne chapters for interesting pieces, I haven't read them cover-to-cover as a novel, only because it's unlikely my players are going to reach them any time soon; and there are interesting things to be read in the Chronicles line.
Meanwhile, Second Darkness rapidly approaches. Need a third group ...
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I haven't read any of it, not a single word. I just collect it because I know it is good by the shiny pictures and the hype on the introductions by James Jacobs. I barely have time to see all the pictures and large print titles before another Paizo load arrives. I just love looking at the spines of all these Adventue Paths on my bookshelf as I head out to my second job to pay for it.
Yes, I am one of those people who can't wait for the world to end, because then I could have all the time I need to read all this "good stuff". I just need to take care of my glasses.
Cheers,
Zuxius
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Here's my plan. Yes, I do keep up with it.
I used to read Dragon and Dungeon magazines each month before the next issues came out, so reading the monthly Pathfinder Adventure path is easy. It's done a little bit at a time, sometimes daily, till the next one hits.
I make the extra time for the "Guides to this and that".
That said, I expect to take vacation time in August to do nothing but read for 2 weeks straight! ;-)
-DM Jeff
Done with book three, just starting book four. Yeah, I can be quite tenacious if I set my mind to something.
Stefan
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The sheer amount of text each month coming my way is somewhat overwhelming. I'm looking at the August order and boy, that's a lot of stuff to read.
So do you skim this stuff? Look at the pretty pictures? Are you all speed readers? What's the deal?
August is the biggest month thus far. But since I get everything in a once a month bundle, I just stack'em and read them through favorite order.
Much like another poster, I take materials everywhere, so I read a bit here and there.....I really dont find it that hard to keep up.
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Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 6
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I'm a pretty fast reader, but even so, keeping up with the Paizo inflow is somewhat daunting. Currently, I still need to read LB1 from the last Paizo shipment, having already finished The Ginger Star, PF #11 and Guide to Darkmoon Vale. Once I'm done with that, I'll be caught up until the big August shipment.
I normally manage to read the whole pdf within a few days as I tend to get little else done if I haven't caught up with what is going on in the world of pathfinder (technically Golarion). I then read the paper copy over the next month until the next one arrives. If I haven't finished the paper copy by the time the next bit of Golarion goodness arrives I tend to get my ass in gear and finish the papercopy quickly. I do sometimes wonder if I do read it too fast to properly enjoy it.
I've been alittle behind with the reading. two young kids will tend to do that. But I'm on vacation soon and that should give me plenty of time to digest the Campaign setting.
Now all I need is the beta.
Where's the beta? AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I N-E-E-D this book!
I try to read the stuff in the order it was released. Im roughly in November of 2004. I just finished Complete Arcane and am now reading Sharn: City of Towers.
I havent even read Age of Worms yet!!!!
So I think I win for "guy who is furthest behind on his reading list".
I try to read the stuff in the order it was released. Im roughly in November of 2004. I just finished Complete Arcane and am now reading Sharn: City of Towers.
I havent even read Age of Worms yet!!!!
So I think I win for "guy who is furthest behind on his reading list".
Heh, by the time you get around to 4E, 5E might be out already:).
I skim over most of the material to get a good first impression of everything, and when (as soon as) something grabs my attention, i dive in deeper.I read the fluff (the journal, articles (skipping the crunchy parts), and bestiary (minus stat blocks), then read the adventure, whenever a stat block comes up in the adventure, I read the person's tactics then move on.
That's pretty much my approach as well. What I have found is that a lot of world tidbits in the adventures/chronicles are extremely useful in whatever AP you happened to be running.
I´ve taken to read the books completely by now. I just finished book four of RotR, and will read book five now. I guess that I need about four hours to read one book, but I don´t get to read them uninterrupted.
Stefan
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I usually read the Journal part and skim the monsters to start with, then skim the articles and read them if they interest me. I then read the adventure, skipping over non-vital encounters. Before each session I read the part that I'm going to be running. I will probably fall behind with the latest shipment, though. :-P
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I try to read everything in the order it is released. I just finished PF #10 last night (11 is next, 12, 13 are arriving today...) I read the adventure paths from cover to cover.
I am way behind on reading/skimming the various guides (skim), modules (read some/skim others), and supplements (skim).
(Business hat on)
I love everything Paizo is publishing, but I do get concerned about too many books coming out. I think back to the late TSR days where there was just no way to keep up with so many books coming out each month, so after a while you end up buying less and less. Pretty soon you feel like you are missing way too much to ever catch back up, so you move on to something else. I like the various product lines, but hope they settle into a schedule that leaves us wanting more, not feeling like there is just too much to keep up with each month.
(Business hat off)
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I try to read everything in the order it is released. I just finished PF #10 last night (11 is next, 12, 13 are arriving today...) I read the adventure paths from cover to cover.
I am way behind on reading/skimming the various guides (skim), modules (read some/skim others), and supplements (skim).
(Business hat on)
I love everything Paizo is publishing, but I do get concerned about too many books coming out. I think back to the late TSR days where there was just no way to keep up with so many books coming out each month, so after a while you end up buying less and less. Pretty soon you feel like you are missing way too much to ever catch back up, so you move on to something else. I like the various product lines, but hope they settle into a schedule that leaves us wanting more, not feeling like there is just too much to keep up with each month.
(Business hat off)
Well, for the most part, they don't release a lot of stuff at once. Usually, every month it's one AP, one Chronicles product, and one Module or Companion. August is just really, really big.
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I mostly just get the APs. So I have plenty of time to read them. I have started picking up the Chronicles and read and reread them a a LOT. I will probably start subscribing to both APs and Chronicles. I think the Companions come with the APs as a subscriber, if not, then I will have to subscribe to them as well.
I'm having trouble keeping up, but I'm not too concerned about it. I just recently started "Escape From Old Korvosa." I did a pretty good job of keeping up with Rise of the Runelords, but I'm having trouble getting into Curse of the Crimson Throne for some reason. I might put CotCT aside for a while when the first volume of Second Darkness arrives. I think it may be more to my liking.
And otherwise, yeah, I'm having trouble keeping up. I still haven't finished Classic Monsters Revisited, and I haven't started the guide to Korvosa, the Gazetteer, or Flight of the Red Raven yet. And I still need to pick up the first of the Last Baron modules and the guide to Darkmoon Vale. But the good thing is, I know it will be there when I find the time. Or if I happen to need certain information or ideas, I know where to look...
Just done with reading Rise of the Runelords AP. It took me about 10 days, with quite some time on my hands. Now I´ll start with Curse of the Crimson Throne right away, but this will take some more time, as I don't have that much time on my hands right now.
Stefan
I read all the Pathfinder stuff I get, and I have a lot of time to read other stuff. Getting rid of our television set a little over a year ago has given us a lot more time to read.
Despite being an AP subscriber, I don't read the adventures. I read the supplementary material in the AP, I read the first few pages of the first adventure, I read the player's guide, and the chronicles. Burnt Offerings, I did read since I started to run it, but then had a falling out with the players.
Reason, I hope that I am a player in one of the games someday (Jeff, hint hint).
Getting rid of our television set a little over a year ago has given us a lot more time to read.
Yeah!!! Someone else who got rid of their TV. I didn't get rid of the box itself, just the cable. I still watch DVDs from time to time, but that is seldom.
