Source Books Management

[CAndrew Wilson]

One of the most exciting features of the Golarion setting is how fully realized it becomes through the many source books related to races, regions, classes, and even alignments. As a GM however, this can really add up to information overload.

My question: What are any tips and tricks veteran GMs out there use to keep up with the new books as they drop, and even better, how you keep all this information straight in your mind, to assist with running PFS play?

Many thanks in advance for the advice.

[powell01]

For me, I try to have a quick browse of anything new, but only buy it in PDF and carry it to events if I am using it myself. Apart from that, enforcing the rule that a player must own and have the source available helps a lot.

Over time you pick up a lot by running or playing with different players. Just remember, if something sounds too good to be true, it is worth taking a good look. You cannot know everything, but if you understand how things interact and the language used in most cases you will be fine.

I have also found that if you have time, asking players at the start of the scenario if they are using anything not in the core assumption helps a lot as you can sort out problems before they come up.