What's a splatbook?

[Christian]

What's a splatbook? I hear the term a lot, but have no idea what it is.

Thanks!

[Crayne]

If I'm correct (and ignore me if I'm not), a splatbook is a supplement that details 1 previously left vague element of a setting.

For example, if you design a game which features a world with 4 warring countries, only painting them in broad strokes in the mainbook, and then release 4 a seperate book for each of the countries, then those 4 books are your splatbooks.

White Wolf does it to a huge extent. Others may as well.

No idea where the term comes from though... :)

Crayne

[Mark Withers]

In computer terms, a * is refered to as a splat. (It's quicker that saying asterisk etc.)

White wolf in particular have clanbooks, traditionbooks, creedboooks, castebooks etc..

Abreviating them to *books just caught on I guess.

[Christopher Ashe]

I'm pretty sure crayne's right about that...it's a general slang term for a game supplement based on a current setting.

[Gareth-Michael Skarka]

Originally posted by Christopher Ashe
I'm pretty sure crayne's right about that...it's a general slang term for a game supplement based on a current setting.

No, actually....Mr. Withers is right.

A splatbook is a game supplement based on a character grouping: Breeds, clans, kith, guilds, classes, races, what-have-you.

It started in the early 90s, with the simultaneous proliferation of White Wolf's clan books, tribe books, tradition books, etc. and TSR's "Complete Book of X" Class and Race books.

They were referred to on Usenet as "*-books", from the wild card symbol "*". People pronounced "*" as splat.

Hence, splat books.

General setting books don't really fall under the same heading.

GMS

[Misguided]

Cool, I never knew the derivation of this term. You learn something new every day...