This article is about collection development for Tabletop games. LARP games will get their own love in a post about LARP programming. If you have questions about this post or you would like to request that I focus on something specific next, please contact me @MichaelBuono on twitter.’ 

Collection Development for niche hobbies is difficult. The materials are not as well reviewed as we would like, they are expensive and there is a limited audience. My friends and I have easily a thousand dollars worth of books. That says nothing of our dice, figurines or random medieval weapons. But we are fans first, and so we buy things we don’t need. There are ways to develop a collection to support the hobby without busting your budget. ‘ First and foremost, only buy the titles that reflect the interests of your teens. I have included a list of recommended buys at the bottom of the page.

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Yes, that is me in the middle

‘© Philip J. Hall

I’m a nerd. How much of a nerd? I wrote my undergraduate thesis on Dungeons and Dragons. So, I can tell you with some authority that D&D is not a common hobby for the “In crowd” in high school. Honestly, it was not even that popular amongst nerds for a while. In recent years, “pen and paper” and “live action role playing games” have seen a resurgence. There have been more teens buying books, attending cons and even playing in libraries. But what are Role Playing Games?

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