Cwell2101 said:

I so wish they would. I have over 5,000 dollars in gaming books of varied sorts; when I ran my Star Wars games I spent 200 bucks on fluff books (the entire "New Essential Guide" series as well as some others) and no one ever offered to pitch in. (though they do buy me dinner ever week, but at app 10 bucks a week that is a lot of dinners to make up for in financial investment)

But I know they would never agree to helping out. From their point of view, I'm keeping the books, so why should they pitch in? Even though the only reason I get the books is so I can run the games they play in. ::shrugs:: But, then, I have hard enough time getting them to show proper appreciation for my hard work anyway. (They don't seem to realize how much effort goes into running, even though one of the problem people is a GM himself)

As for the options people have mentioned, I'll look into those as alternatives. It still infuriates me, though, that they'd limit the game so much and then offer no inexpensive ways to do something as simple as adding a couple players. (And as much as a "character sheet" idea - as someone mentioned - might be simpler, the entire reason I'm getting the material is for the new system ... otherwise I'd save money and buy used 2E stuff)