What's the best and worst D&D book you own from any edition?

[eyeheartawk]

Worst: Actually is very hard to pick, because there's a lot of stuff that should never have been published, but the product that got me out of D&D is the 5e PHB. DisHonourable mentions to BoVD and BoED, Oriental Adventures, Maztica and Complete Book of Elves (2e).

Remember, we got an apology for the Complete Book of Elves!

 

[TwoSix]

Controversial take! Most people I know that are also into the OSR deride ACKS as D&D but with spreadsheets. Why that and not say, Labyrinth Lord or Old School Essentials?

Because if you're type of person that likes spreadsheets (raises hand), ACKS has some REALLY good spreadsheets.

Considering OSR games should be sandboxy simulations, strong simulation rules enhance the game.

 

[AmerginLiath]

No book will ever top the 1st edition AD&D Dungeon Master’s Guide. Pure Gary straight into your veins — and the lack of any clear organization means you can effectively open to any random page and drink in of Gygax’s mad wisdom!

 

[Gradine]

Clearly, the 3.5 Tome of Magic is the best D&D book. Also, the worst D&D book

 

[eyeheartawk]

Because if you're type of person that likes spreadsheets (raises hand), ACKS has some REALLY good spreadsheets.

Considering OSR games should be sandboxy simulations, strong simulation rules enhance the game.

I think that's fair. For alot of people OSR = very stripped down rules. But that isn't always the case see Traveler's charts and system/planet creation method and terminology and Rolemaster etc.

 

[TwoSix]

I think that's fair. For alot of people OSR = very stripped down rules. But that isn't always the case see Traveler's charts and system/planet creation method and terminology and Rolemaster etc.

Yea. You're right in that very loose, making it up as you go along play is really common in the OSR, but I do think more detailed simulation is also a pretty common strand.

 

[Dire Bare]

For me, the best D&D book I own is the Shackled City Adventure Path by Paizo (3.5E). It's my best D&D book because with it I ran a campaign for over 3 years and about 100 sessions, starting at 1st level and ending at about 18th-19th level. It was the longest campaign I've ever DM'd and the only one that reached the end point I'd hoped for at the start of the campaign. Yeah, I changed and added many things in the adventure (including a full re-write of the final adventure), but I definitely couldn't have come up with a campaign half as cool by myself.

Normally I'm complete bibliophile with my books. I hate to write in them at all or get them damaged. Almost all my RPG books are in pristine condition. By the end of the campaign, my SCAP hardcover was completely trashed. The front and back covers the book spine were all damaged. That wasn't because the book was poorly made. It was simply due to how much time the book spent in my bag as I took it to and from work to read on the train or on my lunch break. The book earned it's keep and then some.

I never had the Shackled City hardback, and I never managed to run the campaign, but I have vivid memories of reading about the adventures in Dungeon Magazine at the time. I found the city inside the caldera of a volcano a fascinating setting!

 

[innerdude]

Currently there are exactly 2 WotC branded books and 1 Paizo book on my shelf. I purged all of my actual D&D / PF hardcovers maybe 5 years ago, other than:

-- The 3.x Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting,
-- The 3.x Eberron Campaign Setting
-- The 3.5 Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting

All of them are excellent, but if I had to rank them top to bottom, Golarion/PF would be #1, and Eberron #3. So the "worst" D&D book I own is the Eberron Campaign Setting.

 

[Marc_C]

The worst: 2e Monster Manual binder, great concept but TSR couldn't make it work. Unearthed Arcana (AD&D 1e) is close second as a major disappointment. I'm told the Wilderness Survival Guide and Dungeoneer's Survival Guide are also very bad.

The Best: The World of Greyhawk folio. Simply because it opened my eyes to the true possibilities D&D had to offer. Before that I had been running modules only, one after the other.

 

[glass]

Worst: AD&D 2e Complete Barbarian's Handbook. Mostly because I missed it when it was new, but picked it on eBay a few years back and regretted it pretty-much immediately.

Best: This is trickier, but I would probably have to go with the Bo9S.

_
glass.