Ultimate Equipment Guide vs. Arms & Equipment Guide: Which one to buy?

[jaldaen]

I'm glad so many of you like the UEG by Mongoose... as one of the contributors to several sections (especially the fighter and monk sections) I enjoyed writing the equipment up... probably my favorite item concept was the ladder staff... nothing like wielding a weapon you can climb as well ;-)

Good Gaming!
Joseph Miller

PS: What are some of your favorite items from UEG? Particularly from the figther and monk sections... if you might be so kind as to indulge me... also... anything you didn't like in those sections?

 

[Iron_Chef]

I liked the Arcane section the best but that's because I spent the most time going over it as I'm playing a wizard right now. I loved the arcane staves and robes most in that section. Every section had good stuff in it, though.

 

[Sirius_Black]

Crothian asked:

What about it [AEG] turned you off of it?

Apologies Gothmog, but I'm going to use your eloquent response to answer Crothian's question to me

1.

many of the items are too outlandish for use in most games.

2.

On the other hand, the Mongoose book draws from over 30 OGL sources, as well as having a bunch of new items. The items are grouped by class: arcane sorcery, temple items, armory, dwarf's forge, rogue's tools, wilderness gear, food drugs and herbs, psychic mastery, fighter's gear, tools, and items of the orient

Or to sum up Point 2 for me, Presentation. I really like the different sources and the layout I have found in Mongoose publications.

3. Reputation, at least to me. I have found that in purchasing past generic D&D products from WOTC and past Mongoose products of a similar vein that the Mongoose products blow WOTC's offerings out of the water.

There are two d20 publishers that I have yet to be disappointed with when it comes to products I have purchased: Green Ronin and Mongoose.

 

[Yeoman]

I own A&EG but not UE, but based on my memory of skimming through UE in the store, A&EG has a lot more magic items (not sure if UE has any) and UE is a lot more like the old Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog. From a pagecount standpoint, UE is probably a better value, although it contains more reprinted material.

UE is like the Aurora's Catalog? Damn, I'm so buying that!

 

[kenjib]

Was it UE that had those broken bladed guantlets with an insane crit threat range but still as much damage as a rapier (and no, I'm not thinking of the ones in Sword & Fist)?

I seem to recall browsing UE, seeing that, and then worrying that the book would have the typical Mongoose problem with power escalation.

 

[jaldaen]

There was the "sword gauntlet" in the Armoury section (which I was not involved in) which was a heavy gauntlet with a longsword coming out of it, but a hopefull misprinted crit range of 18-20/x2 instead of the normal longsword crit range of 19-20/x2... it also caused a -4 Dex penalty to any actions involving the hand with the sword guantlet on it... not as broken as the bladed gauntlet in S&F, and not at all if that crit was just a misprint...

As for the guantlets in the Fighter's Trade section I spent a good amount of time balancing them and hopefully did a good job... but one man's balance is another's broken...

Joseph Miller

 

[kenjib]

The sword gauntlet is the one Joseph. Thanks. You get a better crit range, can not be disarmed, and the drawback is not a big deal for heavy tanks anyway. Bad stuff. Yeah, I think it would have been good with a 19-20 threat range, but 18-20 is broken.

 

[DwarvenBrew]

I'm waiting for the Kenzer one myself. I flipped through the WotC one this weekend and it just doesn't appeal to me.

 

[coyote6]

I flipped through A&EG this weekend, and want it now. I flipped through UEG a week ago, and was mildly interested; but I haven't been pleased with past Mongoose purchases, so I'm still wary. I may pick it up, when the FLGS gets another in.

I spend way too much money on gaming stuff.

 

[Iron_Chef]

I liked the book because it was all mundane items, instead of mostly magic like every other one. Many of the mundane items offered non-magical bonuses to skills and this was a nice way of not having to "magic up" every last piece of equipment just to get something tangibly cool out of it. Like the Arcane Robe and Arcane Staff (both flashy over the top looking items like the way the mages in the D&D movie dressed, LOL---hey, Jeremy Irons was lookin' suitably powerful in his Profion get-up so don't laugh). When worn together, you get a +3 bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate checks to convince another of your magical power and consequently, your ability to smite them dead or worse if they don't help you out, LOL. Nice. The Elegant Outfit on the other hand, for a mere 320 gp (even more royal than the royal outfit in the PHB), will give you a +2 bonus to Bluff, Gather Info and Intimidate checks in social situations where your ostentatious appearance could benefit you greatly by cowing those of lesser station either through the subject's admiration or fear (-2 if the person despises the rich and powerful). The scintillating elvish Star Robe gives you a +1 morale bonus to all Charisma based checks for "only" 750 gp. There are fun items like finger razors (false fingernails designed more for appearance than battle but still capable of getting in one good---poisoned, if you're smart--claw attack (only 5 gp). There are several monocles to choose from, too (the Rogue's Monocle grants +2 to Search checks, though I'd confer this to Appraise checks as well).

Lots of good stuff in this book; it is like the old Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog for 3e.