D&D Essentials

[Psion]

IMO:

Expanded Psionics Handbook
Unearthed Arcana
Book of Fiends (Green Ronin)
Advanced Bestiary (Green Ronin)
The Book of the Righteous (Green Ronin)
Dynasties & Demagogues (Atlas Games)

That's a pretty stong list, IMO.

Perhaps thow in:
Book of Templates Deluxe Edition
Hyperconscious
Book of Eldritch Might
Denizens of Avadnu
Monte Cooks Best of D20
Tome of Horrors

 

[Aus_Snow]

I don't think these have been mentioned:

the En Route books might be handy
A Magical Society: Beast Builder is unique and very good
Torn Asunder - Critical Hits... I just like

The rest, I think these have already been mentioned:

Grim Tales
A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe
Denizens of Avadnu
Book of Fiends
Book of the Righteous
Dynasties & Demagogues


All based on experience and preference, so yeah, really by no means any kind of objectivity at work here.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Grim Tales
Quintessential Human
Races Of.... Series
Complete.... Series
Gary Gygax's World Builder
AEGs Good & Evil

 

[Li Shenron]

I can think of none.

 

[Shemeska]

Manual of the Planes

Draconomicon

Manual of the Planes

Lords of Madness

and did I mention Manual of the Planes...

 

[tetsujin28]

Are we talking 'straight' D&D? Then just the core books, really. I like the Complete series, but you certainly don't need them.

As far as different interpretations of the whole d20/OGL mess, I'm a huge fan of Iron Heroes. It does everything I waited for 30 years for D&D to do.

 

[gabrion]

I odn't think people mention the environmental series (Frostburn, Sandstorm, and Stormwrack). I only have the first two, but I think they are great!

Once again they depend on the campaign though (obviously).

 

[Ghostwind]

I tend to favor these (outside of the three core books):
* Complete Book of Eldritch Might (Malhavoc)
* Monsternomicon (Privateer Press)
* Arms & Armor v3.5 (Bastion Press)
* Master at Arms (Second World Simulations) - this one is tough to find except in pdf
* Advanced Bestiary (Green Ronin)
* Wildscape (Fantasy Flight Games)
* Torn Asunder: Critical Hits (Bastion Press)
* Portals & Planes (Fantasy Flight Games)
* Frostburn (Wotc)
* Broadsides! (Living Imagination)
* Complete Book of Iron Might (Malhavoc)
* Airships (Bastion Press)
* Pale Designs: A Poisoner's Handbook (Bastion Press)

 

[petenik]

* Either the Complete series or the Races series -- it depends on what appeals to you more. Either series gives just enough options to spice up your game, but not too much for overkill (like it would if you went down both routes). D&D classes tickle my imagination more than its races so I went with the Complete series.

If you DM a lot:
* Dungeon Masters Guide 2 -- A lot of valuable advice and aids to help statting NPC's and towns. Adds some other neat features for magic weapons and little flavor tweaks to keep things interesting.

* The Battlebox and Dungeon Counters from Firey Dragon are a great help. If you're like me and not a minis guy, their counter packs are very nice as well.

If you need ideas for a session:
* The Goodman games dungeon modules are excellent.

If you need ideas for a campaign:
* The Wilderlands Box Set, while pricey, is very good. It doesn't overwhelm you with a lot of setting detail, but there are literally hundreds of little hooks, nooks and crannies to explore. You can painlessly drop any of the Goodman games modules in there with almost no effort. If fact, I plan on doing just that

 

[Aus_Snow]

So there I was thinking to myself: "If I hear the word Battlebox one more time, I'm going to ask."

So I'm posting.

What is a Battlebox and what does one do with it?