Reading Rules for Games I'll Never Play

 Since my recent posts here have featured characters I've made for a roleplaying game, and the most recent book I've finished reading was a rulebook for a different roleplaying game ("Weird Heroes of Public Access"), I've been thinking about this habit of mine...

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy reading rules for RPGs, and making characters for them, but the last time I "actively" played one of these games was a short-lived online 1920s superhero adventure using the Cypher system. 

I ended up bailing on that to spend more time on the Weird Warriors Podcast that I co-created and still co-host with my long-suffering buddy Rich.

I guess actually playing RPGs is just too time consuming for me now, and has been for over a decade really. Playing "solo RPGs" holds no interest for me, either, so...why do I engage with this kind of material at all?

To be fair, even back when I had time to play and a regular group to do so with, I still acquired far more RPG material than I ever even intended to make "use" of, and I know I'm not alone in this.

And, I do occasionally enjoy the sheer act of reading a RPG rulebook, especially in the case the aforementioned WHPA (which I will link to at some point in this rambling post). 

That book in particular has very few "rules" in it to speak of, and is mostly a collection of quirky zine content establishing more of a "vibe" than anything else. 

Seriously, it's great. Here's a pic of the cover:

And a link to where you can buy it:
https://www.exaltedfuneral.com/products/weird-heroes-of-public-access?_pos=1&_psq=weird+&_ss=e&_v=1.0

So, yeah, I know it's "okay" to read RPG books and make characters for games that I KNOW I will never play, but I just don't know if it's something I should spend my time on....at 54, I'm starting to look at the clock on the wall, eh?

And yet, here I am blogging about whether or not I am wasting my time on a different leisure activity.  I mean, this is basically a diary, but still.

But hey: check out WHPA. It's a fun, interesting, brief, and truly creative read.

And let me know if you ever play it. It'd be nice to at least HEAR about one of these things being used for their intended purpose :)