handbook prices

[Desmond Tiny]

In ootsworld how much would a copy of the Monster Manual or Player's Handbook cost in gp? Who would be willing to sell books that tell you how THE UNIVERSE WORKS? We see oots characters reading them but how did redcloak or kubota get them in the first place?

[Optimystik]

Zero, because Haley would read them without paying.

[Forbiddenwar]

In ootsworld how much would a copy of the Monster Manual or Player's Handbook cost in gp? Who would be willing to sell books that tell you how THE UNIVERSE WORKS? We see oots characters reading them but how did redcloak or kubota get them in the first place?

And yet in our world in school we are forced to hold textbooks, books that tell us how the universe works. I think they would cost about the same as a good textbook, say 100gp (if 1gp=$1)

[littlequietguy]

So maybe you have to write an essay on obscure grappling rules or whatever in junior high.

[Desmond Tiny]

We do learn about how the universe works but there are some things we do not know. In dnd if its not in a rulebook it can't happen. Also who would write the rulebooks?

[Porthos]

Also who would write the rulebooks?

The spooooky wizard over on the coast (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0032.html) wrote them, natch. :smallwink:

[NerfTW]

And yet in our world in school we are forced to hold textbooks, books that tell us how the universe works. I think they would cost about the same as a good textbook, say 100gp (if 1gp=$1)

I know, I think people are forgetting that our world is governed by a distinct set of rules as well.

[Setra]

And yet in our world in school we are forced to hold textbooks, books that tell us how the universe works. I think they would cost about the same as a good textbook, say 100gp (if 1gp=$1)
I would think a dollar is closer to a sp, but maybe that's just me.

But yeah, probably about as much as a college textbook..

[SadisticFishing]

I know, I think people are forgetting that our world is governed by a distinct set of rules as well.

Not to nearly the same degree, though. We have rules, sure, but many important ones are on a scale we can't comprehend well enough to apply (yet, I guess).

[Andraste]

And yet in our world in school we are forced to hold textbooks, books that tell us how the universe works. I think they would cost about the same as a good textbook, say 100gp (if 1gp=$1)

I would think a dollar is closer to a sp, but maybe that's just me.

But yeah, probably about as much as a college textbook..

As the average commoner makes 1sp per day, I'd say it's more like $1 = 1cp

[Porthos]

We have rules, sure, but many important ones are on a scale we can't comprehend well enough to apply (yet, I guess).

That's why we keep waiting for new sourcebooks to be published. :smalltongue:

[Setra]

As the average commoner makes 1sp per day, I'd say it's more like $1 = 1cp
I just figured the commoners were so poor they only made a dollar a day >.>

[Starscream]

Well, most of the universe is based on the SRD. That's free. They have made reference in the strip to things being "open content".

[Boogastreehouse]

We do learn about how the universe works but there are some things we do not know. In dnd if its not in a rulebook it can't happen. Also who would write the rulebooks?

That is so not true.

In D&D all sorts of things not in the rule books exist. DMs and players are free to invent and implement anything they like (subject to approval of the DM) including new character classes, races, monsters, magic items, home-grown rules, and special campaign-specific features.

There's no mention of ley-lines in the core rulebooks, for instance, but my campaign features them as both a plot-device and as a tactical variable in combat.

Just sayin'.

[Optimystik]

You can also create spells, feats, powers, vestiges... homebrewing is an officially sanctioned process in all editions.

You can also create epic spells, but you probably shouldn't. :smalltongue:

[NerfTW]

Not to nearly the same degree, though. We have rules, sure, but many important ones are on a scale we can't comprehend well enough to apply (yet, I guess).

which is the same as in the OOTS-verse. I really don't see the difference. We pick up and are taught basic skill sets that allow us to function. (Base rules) We then specialize in a field to learn more skills. (Class rules) Some people know more detail than others. (Grapple, Attack of oppurtunity rules)

And in the end, most people don't know how quantum mechanics or theoretical calculus works. (Things the characters don't understand) Not to mention NOBODY knows what actually happens in a wormhole, or the exact method of the Big Bang. We only have theories based on evidence. (The Snarl, the Pantheons)

We've only seen people reading books that directly correlate to real world almanacs and scientific papers. In fact, O'chul figures out Xykon's spell list by observation and trial and error. Exactly like how one would examine a new species. It's not hard to believe that the sourcebooks were written the same way. Observation and hypothesis.

Now, if someone pulls out a sourcebook with the Snarl in it and reads off it's stats, that would be something else entirely. But so far we've only seen the equivalent of Biology and Physics textbooks.


Of course, this is all moot since they're just jokes. Haley got the diamond for Roy's resurrection by stealing it from the cast page, for crying out loud. In the two places the books affect the plot, it's in the same form as one would consult either an ancient book on magic constructs, or a how to guide. Neither really that much out of touch with a real text on animals or how to be a certain profession.

[Trixie]

I would think a dollar is closer to a sp, but maybe that's just me.

But yeah, probably about as much as a college textbook..

Let me point out that such a book would contain some very precise and impossible to divine by other means info.

It would be more like "Jane's Guide To Tanks", and these books tend to be much more expensive.

[Firestar27]

As the average commoner makes 1sp per day, I'd say it's more like $1 = 1cp

Actually, the average unskilled physical laborer makes about 1sp a day. So 1sp might be a dollar, but this is before modern-day inflation? Remember, many poor countries nowadays have unskilled laborers making MUCH less than $10 a day.