So Im reading about all kinds of lovely dice, cards, cardboard markers, tokens etc. however I wonder. Will the books themselves also cover the carreers? With the "Carreer Cards" just acting as easy reference? Because I can really appreciate lots of cool references and extra's however full parts of the book being on loose pieces of cardboard isnt my cup of tea (knowing my RP group). Also are we getting only a box with core materials or also a "loose" couple of maybe hardcover books *drools at the thought*.

If I'm not mistaken, right now, we get a box with SOFT COVER books.
All the tokens, markers, dice, cards, books are in.
As for what books contain... we don't know.
A little glimpse into the one of the books content is here -> www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp

PS: still waiting for some info on limited/collectors edition with HARD COVER books Jay, simple yes/no will do, no answer at all is not nice.

As Sunatat says.

It's also doubtful that the information on the cards is in the rulebook for two reasons:

1) FFG said one of the reasons to use cards is so that players don't have to look it up in the rulebook. This way any expansions merely add to the deck of cards, rather than including another rulebook with card information to look through. ie, all talent information is in the single talent deck rather than spread over 3-4 books.

2) The individual rulebooks are relatively small (I believe it is estimated that the total of all 4 books is 200 pages). This makes it likely that, with all the other information needed to be in the books, that they don't include information provided elsewhere, such as anything that is on cards.

Now, it could be possible that a summary sheet might be included, like they have for DH/RT skills/Talents, but I think it's doubtful. I expect a fan, however, will post up a self-made .pdf list or two shortly after launch.

I'll also point out that hard cover books would be somewhat cost prohibitive. See my point #2. You are looking at 4 hard-cover books, each with only around 50 pages. This is just a guess, but each cover alone would probably cost as much as the pages it holds. It's certainly not cost effective for FFG to do so.

dvang said:

they could do one big hardcover......

Farin said:

Many people are already complaining that the core set price is too high. Imagine how much more it would cost if they had decided to include the rules portion as a hardback book rather than 4 softbacks. Setting aside the potential increased utility that having seperate booklets provides, a hardback in the box would not only add to production costs, but shipping weight as well.

Farin said:

Yup, thats totally ok with me. And as I wrote before, price is of little importance to me, as long as it is quality I get.
And limited/collectors edition is about quality, even if it is not cheap. There are still people that are willing to pay for it (including me).

So if You could Jay, a little yes, or no on the subject please.

The problem with one big hardcover, is that the pages aren't set up for it (think pages numbers and such). Thus, that would mean a completely new printing to bind the pages in a single book, not to mention any other things like appendices that might be included. That's not to say it couldn't be done, but I think it's doubtful FFG will spend the time or effort on doing so.

Of course, you can just go get your softcovers hard-bound yourself ...

dvang said:

The first thing I'm gonna do, if they decide, that HC books are not much of a profit for them to bother with limited/collectors edition.

But still some OFFICIAL INFO Jay would be nice.

dvang said:

i must disagree. They could make them Chapters and then sub chapters for what would have been each books individual chapters

I think we'll need to scan those cards as security backups. I don't expect the info to be in the books. I hope it isn't actually.

Jericho said:

same here.....i want my players in the game not the books....thus the point to having the cards and you can bet im scanning then into my computer!

Personally, I'd hope they included appendices with the information on the cards in compressed form (i.e. boring tables that are there for if you lose the card/want to look something up in a hurry)

phobiandarkmoon said:

That would be the perfect thing to do business wise - A way to hit book lovers and card lovers with one solution. Still, we need some info from Jay on this...

knock.. Knock... KNOCK... KNOCK... JAY!

And after all I think Jay owes us a session demo video

Armrek said:

yeah.......might start a thread on this

someone said that the reason for the cards and bits is that this is hard to pirate. i could be wrong, but dont waste your time looking for a HC compendium. look it up on Barnes and noble and they have a page count. i'm expecting something on par with the descent:RTL rulebook. 4 slim PB's that you really shouldnt put your coffe cup on.

a

chojun said:

what does someone prevent to copy and/or scan card and glue them on a paperboard. this is no protection against piracy. Those "special" dice are just dices with different symbols, right? You just can write a crossindex table to simulate them (e.g. numbers 3, 5, 7 and 9 are axes, 1 is broken axe, rest are donuts).

There is no better protection as in other RPGs. I think it's just a good feel for a player who gets a new skill to hold the card in his hand... and... FFG can make more money with it.

Lautrer said:

I have to disagree. Using special dice and lots of cards is a better protection than a simple book, which can easily be scanned. True, you can substitute dice, you can scan the the cards, print them out and use them, but employs a lot more work and effort and some people will eventually instead buy the thing. Which is, in fact, good for our hobby, isn't it?

PzVIE said:

Ok. That's right, too. The more people buy the game we like the more products will be released. That's indeed good for us.