2e Paranoia - The even more perfect edition. Says so on the back.

Seriously though along with its excellent layout, streamlined rules and hilarious art it lays out not only how to play the 'bad' game. The PCs are all backstabbing murderhobos with secrets they cannot reveal and the GM is super adversarial and actively cheats.

So here's the kicker, if your regular, imperfect game starts to resemble Paranoia then things have gone seriously wrong.

The James Bond RPG Rulebook from Victory Games.

The D&D Rules Cyclopedia is obviously the correct answer.

Quote from: Reckall on July 30, 2021, 05:14:46 AM
The "Rules Cyclopedia" for D&D gives you everything you need to run and create any kind of fantasy adventures, with low crunch but a lot of content.

Quote from: tenbones on July 30, 2021, 07:44:24 AM
D&D Rules Cyclopedia

Quote from: Starglyte on July 30, 2021, 08:49:26 AM
D&D Rules Cyclopedia. Everything that is needed to run a game plus extras.

Quote from: Bedrockbrendan on July 30, 2021, 10:17:53 AM
In terms of functionality and not needing much else, the D&D rules cyclopedia, even though it wasn't one I ran, is a book that stands out in my memory. There are books I personally like better for subjective reasons, but being in campaigns as a player that used this book, it is the one I would pick if I could just have one RPG book on a desert island

Quote from: Steven Mitchell on July 30, 2021, 10:20:55 AM
My real answer is D&D Rules Cyclopedia for the reasons given by others above.  Stuck on a deserted Island with food and gamers, that's the book I want.

Quote from: Eric Diaz on July 30, 2021, 12:32:29 PM
Great content per book: Rules Cyclopedia. That's probably the answer to the OP.

Oh, I see this board is filled with lots of handsome and intelligent people. Nice.

Quote from: Mithgarthr on September 09, 2021, 12:50:10 PM
Oh, I see this board is filled with lots of handsome and intelligent people. Nice.

So very different from the art in the Rules Cyclopedia?

Quote from: Pat on September 09, 2021, 11:19:48 PM

Quote from: Mithgarthr on September 09, 2021, 12:50:10 PM
Oh, I see this board is filled with lots of handsome and intelligent people. Nice.

So very different from the art in the Rules Cyclopedia?

Man, I know everyone generally hates it, but I love Dykstra's art. I'm sure a huge part of it is that the big black box is the edition I first learned on back in '92. That basic set, the RC, and all the Thunder Rift stuff was my gateway into the hobby so it's got a special place for me.

As much as I loved the RC for being an all in one book solution I much preferred using the well battered and thumbed BECM books (not so much the I part). That said if you only had one book to take with you that one will cover the bases for Fantasy RPGs.

Warhammer Fantasy 1e, Tunnels and Trolls (Corgi UK edition), DC Heroes 3e (though I'd argue the eye bleeding awful to look at Blood of Heroes 2nd Edition is the best version of what I consider the best rules for a supers game) are all decent choices for me too. Star Wars D6 1e was great for a while to get us away from dungeons. MERP is possibly a left field choice - ditch the Tolkien Bilbo Baggage and run it in your preferred/made up fantasy setting. We ditched D&D and ran MERP in Karameikos for a one off and it turned into a several year campaign. E Crit for the win.

If I had to pick one I'd pick DC Heroes 3e even though 2e was a far better product but split over several books.

GURPS 3e. You can do anything with it.

Also, the D&D Rules Cyclopedia. Easily run level 1 to Demigod. No other edition allows the concise Immortal/sphere rules that the RC provides. So, if you're clever, you can advance your PC to godhood, not just "I'm a 20th-Level Badass!"

Quote from: Pat on September 09, 2021, 11:19:48 PM

Quote from: Mithgarthr on September 09, 2021, 12:50:10 PM
Oh, I see this board is filled with lots of handsome and intelligent people. Nice.

So very different from the art in the Rules Cyclopedia?

The RC isn't perfect but for what it is meant for, it is darn close to it:  A reference work. Some issues with organization, but not many.  At least, it hits its intent better than most games.   

It would be even better if all the art work was removed entirely and replaced with maps, sidebars for examples and more content, etc.  Says the poster here who isn't art savvy at all.  OK, OK, leave in some monster illustrations (of fantasy creatures, not real-world ones) and maybe a few weapons, castles, that sort of thing.  Keep the cover art, of course, which even I in my art-addled state can see provokes a mood.

Sometimes I wish more games used the art as illustrations of the content.

The best book for beginning to play - and keeping at it : Basic Moldvay

The best book for daydreaming about RPGs and for giving you teh urge to play : AD&D 1e Dungeon Master Guide

The best setting/ adventure book I had the chance to be a player in : City of Lies (Ryoko Owari), from Legend of the Five Rings (I love Rokugan).

Quote from: Steven Mitchell on October 04, 2021, 01:52:43 PM

Quote from: Pat on September 09, 2021, 11:19:48 PM

Quote from: Mithgarthr on September 09, 2021, 12:50:10 PM
Oh, I see this board is filled with lots of handsome and intelligent people. Nice.

So very different from the art in the Rules Cyclopedia?

Also a huge fan of the RC. And you hit on one of my pet peeves in RPG art.  Why the fuck do some games include pictures of alligators, apes, and giant crabs but then not include images of stuff like catoblepas, bulettes, beholders etc?  Are there really people out there who can't visualize a crab or alligator or ape?  Either illustrate everything or include images of the more unusual creatures.

Amber Diceless or AD&D 1e Players Handbook

Quote from: Persimmon on October 04, 2021, 07:58:39 PM

Quote from: Steven Mitchell on October 04, 2021, 01:52:43 PM

Quote from: Pat on September 09, 2021, 11:19:48 PM

Quote from: Mithgarthr on September 09, 2021, 12:50:10 PM
Oh, I see this board is filled with lots of handsome and intelligent people. Nice.

So very different from the art in the Rules Cyclopedia?

Also a huge fan of the RC. And you hit on one of my pet peeves in RPG art.  Why the fuck do some games include pictures of alligators, apes, and giant crabs but then not include images of stuff like catoblepas, bulettes, beholders etc?  Are there really people out there who can't visualize a crab or alligator or ape?  Either illustrate everything or include images of the more unusual creatures.

While you're at it, might as well get rid of all art depicting humans. After all, humans know other humans better than crabs and alligators. So let's replace all the humans with dwarves, hobbits... and elves. Especially elves! 99% of RPG art should be elves.

I'd rather have no humans than the current industry trend for "diverse" representation in RPG art, regardless of the implied setting.  Sorry, but there weren't random Asians running all over Medieval Western Europe or vice versa or huge numbers of white people in the interior of sub-Saharan Africa. 

Talislanta 4th edition

If boxed sets are allowed, original Traveller, because of the sheer amount of gameplay juice packed into the three little books. Literally years of play right there. And no hardwired Third Imperium or crap artwork or shit modern sensibilities or half-arsed attempts at production values that end up in uncanny valley. Now get off my lawn!