What 1e/2e books are still useful to a 3rd edition DM?

[KB9JMQ]

I still like the Dungeoneer's Survival Guide.
My dungeons became so much better after getting that book.
My family also vacationed to a lot of caves about the same time so the book really clicked for me.

 

[Crothian]

Aurora's Whole Realms Catalog, the best equipment book ever made for any version of D&D, by far.

Might be the best equipment book made for role playing period.

 

[fanboy2000]

My personal favorites are Monster Mythology and Lankhmar: City of Adventure.

 

[Voadam]

2e monster books for the physical descriptions/ecology/society which are lacking in 3e.

2e god books for the in-depth background descriptions of the gods that are lacking in 3e.

Any campaign setting stuff.

I've gotten use out of the 1e manual of planes and some planescape products.

Ravenloft boxed set (original edition) had great advice for running horror games and setting the mood.

 

[BOZ]

First of all, anything with more flavor text than rules is mostly instantly useable. In many cases, that information simply won’t be updated into 3E, and even if it is it may be changed or abbreviated.

For 2E, if you don’t mind doing a bit of conversion, the Encylopedia Magica and Wizards/Priests Spell Compendium will give you more magic than you could possibly ever use. The Monstrous Manual and Monstrous Compendium series will do the same for you for monsters.

 

[Ycore Rixle]

The Greyhawk Adventures hardcover has some great flavor in it. Also, Virgil, you mentioned the 1e DMG, but I think the 1e PHB has some great still-useful stuff as well. Number one on my list of still-useful items from the 1e PHB: level titles! Why-oh-why can't I have my level titles in 3e? Remember when "name level" used to mean something? *sigh* *pine*

 

[Voadam]

Why-oh-why can't I have my level titles in 3e? Remember when "name level" used to mean something? *sigh* *pine*

Can't is different from don't. Go ahead and call yourself a lamia, but at 3e advancement rates you will only have the title for a few weeks if you stick to the 1e chart.

 

[Insight]

I'm putting in a vote for the Complete Villains Handbook. Some of the material is pretty obvious to us old-timers, but it's still a useful resource, even if it just ends up reminding you of something you probably should have considered anyway.

There are some forms and checklists in the CVH that could be pretty darn useful. And the great thing is that there aren't that many 2e stat blocks - it's mostly text and advice. I recommend it to any new and/or prospective DMs.

 

[Insight]

There's no reason you can't add level titles yourself if you need them so badly. Why not just make a chart for each class and make up titles, or use those from 1e? I figure it would take about 20 mins with a decent thesaurus.

 

[Staffan]

I really like the 2e World Builder's Guidebook. The rules stuff is kept to a minimum, so it should be perfectly usable with 3e as well.

If I ever run an FR campaign again (and I probably will), the Faiths & Avatar series will probably be more useful than Faiths & Pantheons. Not even the designer wanted those sodding statblocks!