Is a 5th Edition coming soon? [Answer: NO, it isn't!]

[bert]

Originally Posted by ArchonShiva

Even if it made financial sense to publish a fifth edition, what would you want in it, seriously?

This is exactly what I wonder as well!

[kmunoz]

Originally Posted by ArchonShiva

Compendia in a few years

That's really the thing I think is needed, but isn't currently part of SJG's theory of publication. 4E is essentially self-consistent across its various documents (more so than 3E) but the information is all over the place and somewhat disorganized.

However, a Compendium is probably a cashflow assassin. It obviates the need for a lot of the existing products, since the sort of person who wants a Compendium (me!) is also probably the sort of person who prioritizes crunch over fluff.

For example, I look through the Horror book and realize that there's maybe 5 or 6 pages worth of crunchy stuff and the remainder is just telling me a lot of stuff I already know about how to run games and build worlds. Which is great for most people who buy the Horror book, but likely unnecessary for someone buying a Compendium. And so you end up with one and not the other...rinse and repeat for all the books. (As another example, there is exactly 1 page in Fantasy that I regularly turn to: the abstracted map of pre-industrial trade networks.)

Now of course this sounds like a critique but it isn't. I appreciate those books for what they are; they're just not for me, really, and likely not for the other sorts of people who are deeply interested in a Compendium.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by kmunoz

That's really the thing I think is needed, but isn't currently part of SJG's theory of publication. 4E is essentially self-consistent across its various documents (more so than 3E) but the information is all over the place and somewhat disorganized.

3E needed Compendiums because rules were scattered all ovder the place and a lot of things in setting books.
4E did a lot to fix that by A) Republishing material (several things in Horror are elsewhere, like Powers) and B) Putting a lot of new stuff in Power Ups, Powers, Thaumatology or other lines rather than setting books.
In fact for the most part the Power ups books are Compendiums and even better modular or topic specific so people can more easily pick and choose what they want.
The final thing is that the editors strongly discourage new advantages and skills so that we only see them when needed and often with an Under The Hood on how they were built so we have more consistency. Third Edition had a lot more special snowflakes.

[kmunoz]

Originally Posted by Refplace

3E needed Compendiums because rules were scattered all ovder the place and a lot of things in setting books.
4E did a lot to fix that by A) Republishing material (several things in Horror are elsewhere, like Powers) and B) Putting a lot of new stuff in Power Ups, Powers, Thaumatology or other lines rather than setting books.
In fact for the most part the Power ups books are Compendiums and even better modular or topic specific so people can more easily pick and choose what they want.
The final thing is that the editors strongly discourage new advantages and skills so that we only see them when needed and often with an Under The Hood on how they were built so we have more consistency. Third Edition had a lot more special snowflakes.

I agree that 4E is in considerably less need of a Compendium than 3E, but I believe 4E would benefit from one regardless. Truly thorough character creation for most fantastical (do not read: fantasy) settings requires a lot of books. I routinely build characters using all (not some, all) of the following: Power-Ups, Powers, Action, one of High/Low/Ultra-Tech and Martial Arts.

Not complaining that I have to - it's an embarrassment of riches, honestly - but it would be easier if everything were in one place, organized appropriately.

4E doesn't need it, but the system would benefit from it. The company, of course, would not, unless the resulting compendium cost more than $200. (Which is why I will never say that SJG should do it, or be disappointed by their continuing decision not to do it. It's a bad business decision.)

What would be really nice is if GCA could be reproduced in e-book form (well, e-book-of-the-future form). Pull a couple switches, turn a few dials, and the character creation options document you end up with only contains the elements you're planning to select from.

[adm]

Personally, I think we are less in need of a Compendium, and more in need of a thorough online Index that covers all the books.

[Christopher R. Rice]

Originally Posted by adm

Personally, I think we are less in need of a Compendium, and more in need of a thorough online Index that covers all the books.

I'd pay good money for this.

[wellspring]

Originally Posted by DouglasCole

It's the RPG equivalent of "are we there yet?" on a road trip. :-)

Am I the only one who was hoping that Kromm would post, "Ask me again in 2027"?

[robkelk]

Originally Posted by DouglasCole

It's the RPG equivalent of "are we there yet?" on a road trip. :-)

I wasn't aware we were even in the metaphorical car.

[rkbrown419]

Rather than a compendium perhaps what is needed is a tool to search through and cross reference multiple pdf's simultaneously. That way a gamer could easily find what they need regardless of which book it's in. Of course that would mean you'd have to get all your books in pdf rather than print, but I'm doing that with most of my books these days anyway.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by rkbrown419

Rather than a compendium perhaps what is needed is a tool to search through and cross reference multiple pdf's simultaneously.

Most PDF readers do this. Using Acrobat: Shift+Ctrl+F