Voila! Everything I need to run my campaign fits perfectly until Bestiary 5 arrives.
Roleplaying games (RPGs) are awesome but one huge downside is all the books. Sure, many contain optional rules/ideas you don’t have to incorporate if you don’t want to, contrary to the critics claiming “orthodoxy.” I just like to have the additional books around to shake things up, along with the players because after a few years, everyone masters the core rules. Here is where Pathfinder has D&D (currently 5E) clobbered, it has been able to build upon its official release in 2009 so while the new 5E has just three books and I think four adventures, PF has a couple hundred adventures with about 20 supplemental books.
Back to my solution!
The red circle shows the wheels. Let’s hear it for stone-age innovation.
I’m the DM (again) which means it helps to have these tomes at my disposal. Yes, I have copies of them on my iPad via PFR which is nice yet prefer the tactile element plus I often find it faster/easier to look up what I need in the moment. The electronic search engine element is clunky. Last year I bought this discounted trunk at Big Lots. The books fit alright. I just didn’t have enough (hard to believe right) to fill it “horizontally.” The gap was filled in with certain paperback supplements and adventures. Eventually, empty Apple boxes propped up everything on one side. The sheer weight made it crappy. Our game isn’t played at my house, it’s played at my friends’ various places…now a nice house in north Pflugerville. We’d have to take turns lugging this heavy-ass trunk. It was cute when one of their cats liked to hop in, hide in the empty spaces left by books in use. Still, nobody’s in the mood to perform a deadlift to my car before and after the game, we’ve all already had a long day at work.
Yesterday I dropped by the store-closing sale at a nearby Office Max. Amongst the throngs of paper, pencils, etc discounted from 20 to 50 percent was this smaller chest. It’s half as wide, the hinges don’t touch the contents and best of all, it has wheels with a telescoping handle! Now when I arrive to play (as DM or PC), I just lift it out of my car and pull it easily up the driveway! It’s perfect for conventions too. I would love to attend Paizo Con or Gen Con should the latter get the hell out of boring Indianoplace, I just dread checking this thing into the luggage section at the airports. I have a sinking feeling it exceeds 50 pounds.
Now I need to find something which will stack on top easily for my props: cards, dice, wigs, coins, wands…hey, you play a game with me, you receive the platinum experience.
While researching I see Austin has two conventions (or cons to the diehards) coming up next year. I think I’ll try to swing both, see if I need this new acquisition and how well it pans out!