Best products from the 4th edition era?

[graves3141]

Were there any gems produced during the 4th Edition era that I should know about? I was thinking of maybe picking up another book or two if it has enough interesting fluff in it.

All I have right now are the the three core books for 4th Edition, the DM screen, the Slaying Stone adventure and the PHB Races: Tieflings thing.

Any suggestions?

 

[Jan van Leyden]

Madness at Gardmore Abbey is a very well done, big adventure. It features possible patron, antagonists and rival adventurers, all handled in a flexible way. You can taylor it either willingly or randomly for your own specific version, a bit like the Tarot-like laying of cards of Ravenloft.

Though I don't have it myself, Monster Vault is considered one of the best monster sets for D&D by many. People praise the amount of fluff in it, saying that many adventure ideas spring from its pages.

 

[TreChriron]

The DM Tiles!! Wonderful game aid, well designed, beautiful, super easy!

 

[Lindeloef]

Though I don't have it myself, Monster Vault is considered one of the best monster sets for D&D by many. People praise the amount of fluff in it, saying that many adventure ideas spring from its pages.

I second this, especially the "Threats of Nentir Vale" one. That book is just fantastic. Basically an outline for a Sandbox game in itself

 

[Will Doyle]

The rules compendium and the monster vault are the best reference books to have at the table. Most sessions, they're all I have with me.

For campaign sourcebooks, Shadowfell: Gloomwrought and Beyond, Underdark, The Neverwinter Campaign Setting and The Plane Above: Secrets of the Astral Sea are probably my favourites. All released fairly late in the edition, and just crammed with good stuff. Neverwinter is an interesting one, as it's pretty much a Heroic campaign in a book, with enemies that normally would be Paragon scaled down to fit. I'd recommend it.

 

[tuxgeo]

The DM's Kit (part of the Essentials line of products) contains a well-received adventure called "Reavers of Harkenwold" -- basically using the Iron Circle coming up to the Nentir Vale from Sarthel.

 

[Voadam]

Demonomicon is one I still want to pick up. I've heard great things about Underdark, Gardmore Abbey, the Manual of the Planes sets (MoP and Planes Above and Below), and Player's Options Feywild and Chaos.

Heroes of the Feywild is the only one available on PDF right now, I belive.

 

[D'karr]

There are quite a few books that I've really enjoyed. From a DM standpoint the ideas/flavor in Manual of the Planes, The Plane Above: Secrets of the Astral Sea, The Plane Below: Secrets of the Elemental Chaos, The Shadowfell: Gloomwrought And Beyond, and Underdark were fantastic. The Despair Deck from Shadowfell provides a very simple and mechanically sound way to really impart the sense of gloom that characters would experience in the Shadowfell.

As a player and DM, I loved the flavor and the player options in Heroes of the Feywild.

As adventures go Madness at Gardmore Abbey is top notch and also includes the Deck of Many Things as a play aid.

For a ready built campaign I cannot recommend enough the Neverwinter Campaign Setting. Even if you are not using the Forgotten Realms as a base setting this book has enough ideas and resources that are readily useable that it is truly magnificent. This is how a ready-to-run adventure should be built.

The Rules Compendium collects in one place all the rules a DM is ever going to need. It is the only book I still actually carry to a game. With that and the revised DM screen I can run games completely off the cuff.

Monster Vault is a great collection of fixed monsters from MM1. However, I hardly ever use it as I prefer the quick and functional presentation on MM1, and I can do the MM3 fixes on the fly. Monster Vault: Threats to the Nentir Vale is actually a fantastic book of monsters and ready built encounter ideas.

 

[graves3141]

Madness at Gardmore Abbey is a very well done, big adventure. It features possible patron, antagonists and rival adventurers, all handled in a flexible way. You can taylor it either willingly or randomly for your own specific version, a bit like the Tarot-like laying of cards of Ravenloft.

Sounds cool, I'm guessing it's a boxed set?

 

[graves3141]

For campaign sourcebooks, Shadowfell: Gloomwrought and Beyond, Underdark, The Neverwinter Campaign Setting and The Plane Above: Secrets of the Astral Sea are probably my favourites. All released fairly late in the edition, and just crammed with good stuff. Neverwinter is an interesting one, as it's pretty much a Heroic campaign in a book, with enemies that normally would be Paragon scaled down to fit. I'd recommend it.

Underdark sounds interesting as do the planes books. I flipped through the Neverwinter campaign setting yesterday at my FLGS and it seemed nice but also very full of 4E stat blocks.