Still Playing via PDF

I ran out of shelf space.

So my 5E and ToV hardcovers are in my sealed crates in the garage, and I am sticking to only playing via PDF and Shard tabletop. Part of my 5E problem is that I have too many 5E books, and if I just focus on one game with the core books, I have a lot more fun.

Most of my 5E collection is junk collected during the boom years, and I regret about 70% of it all.

PDFs take little space, and I can still play without "displaying them all" on a most-played shelf. ToV is still far, far better than D&D 2024, which is just a mess at this point with a dead release schedule. I am no longer interested in Baldur's Gate 3 content; it is a 3-year-old game with no expansions and in its waning years. The Forgotten Realms have been wrecked, and I have no idea what this setting is anymore. I played the Forgotten Realms in D&D 2E, and that is my mental version of it.

Nor do I want the unbalanced classes and power creep of D&D 2024. The monk there is OP and broken. ToV made an effort to keep the classes balanced, and it keeps essential things like the ranger's "roleplaying abilities." You know, things that make a difference in narrative play, where D&D 2024 just focuses on the map, and to heck with the roleplaying and exploration.

ToV was crafted by a team that knows their reputation as game designers is on the line. They needed to care and make sure the game worked and wasn't horribly broken. They don't have the luxury of shipping a broken game, and then trusting "people will buy it anyway."

ToV is made by a team that cares, and their entire business depends on ensuring that ToV remains a solid game to fall back on when the inevitable 6E comes out and possibly breaks 5E compatibility. This game needs to work and provide the best 5E experience, should that happen.