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

[Altalazar]

I have it. It does have some practical material in it. It has some very good examples of what would happen when PCs attack a certain targets.
And mine wasn't battered at all, it was brand new when I got it a few months ago.

Brand new condition, I imagine you mean? Someone leave it in shrink wrap for 26 years? Where'd you find it?

Mine I bought around 1981, I think, when I was in elementary school and it has seen rather heavy use over the years. It has been used enough (including some pencil notations I later erased) that the individual character of the book is as identifiable to me as a fingerprint - I could probably find it out of a stack of 1E DMGs. So in that sense, it has a special, comfortable, familiar feel to me that any other copy of it would not have. The same is true (even more so) with my 1E Player's handbook that I've also had for 25 years, and probably true of the original MM as well.

And who could forget the old Dragon and Dungeon magazines (my only bragging right is my complete collection of both).

So I get some nostalgia mixed in with my inspiration when I read those old, battered pages.

 

[VirgilCaine]

Brand new condition, I imagine you mean? Someone leave it in shrink wrap for 26 years? Where'd you find it?

Okay, it wasn't shrink wrapped, but someone left it alone for 26 years.
It didn't have any kind of wear or folded pages or anything at all when I got it a year and a half ago [now that I remember exactly when I bought it]. I bought it used on Amazon.com for like 13.99 or so with shipping.

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

Some of the 'flavor' books would be useful. Like some of the Greyhawk books (Scarlet Brotherhood) and of the FR material like Red Wizards of They. Even some adventure books would be helpful, depending on how much work you are interested in putting into your game and how much 'updating' you would be willing to do.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Have not seen it mentioned yet, so I thought I'd plug the Dungeon Builder's Guidebook. It has helped outmore times than I can remember. It has a lot of good advice on how to make unique dungeons and how to make them memorable.

 

[Larcen]

all of them

cuz 1edADnD is better than 2edADnD which is better than d02.

Diaglo, I been wondering, how do you feel about Hackmaster? Just curious.

 

[S'mon]

The old book I use most often in play would actually be 1e Monster Manual 2, with my pencilled 3e conversion notes. It has great encounter tables and lots of monsters that fit my gameworld better than most 3e stuff.

Away from the game table, I reference 1e DMG frequently, for all the cool stuff, the 1e Dungeoneers' Survival Guide, occasionally 1e Wilderness Survival Guide, and the 2e blue books (which contain some reprinted text from WSG & DSG) - Campaign Sourcebook and Catacomb Guide, Creative Campaigning, and Complete Villains' Handbook - the latter is nice but a bit 2e-ish in flavour for me, it tends to produce very "2e Ravenloft" style villains. Of them all I'd say Creative Campaigning was the best and most original. I occasionally look at the 2e Complete Priest, unlike the other 2e brown books (which I sold several years ago) it's as much for GMs as for players.

 

[diaglo]

Diaglo, I been wondering, how do you feel about Hackmaster? Just curious.

it is a playable game. i have the majority of the published material for it.

i don't think i could get myself to run a full campaign. but as a short campaign or at a convention. sure.

to me, other than the joke material, it is a more logical 3edADnD.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Oh yeah. I forgot about the Campaign Sourcebook & Catacomb Guide. Alas, I no longer have that one, but it's a keeper if you have it!



Never got a chance to use the World Builder's Guidebook, but I'd also heard it was good. Maybe I should check it out.

The old DMR series or the blue books, were pretty much all worth looking into. About the only one I'd skip for 3.5 is the Arms & Equipment book but the others, including the two mentioned in the top line and Creative Campaigning, were good stuff.

 

[Arnwyn]

What books are still useful, even though the crunch isn't necessarily up to date?
[Of course Al-Qadim and Dark Sun are useful, yes. I'm talking about general books, not campaign settings and not modules. Those are obviously still useful.]

Not counting campaign settings and modules (which I use extensively), I still use:

- Monstrous Compendiums: I've updated all these to 3e.
- Wilderness Survival Guide: best weather charts and wilderness rules I've seen.
- Aurora's Whole Realms Catalogue
- DMGR series, especially Castle Guide and Arms & Equipment Guide. Necromancer's Hbk is also useful.
- PHBR series: I use the flavor from all these books (especially the race books), and some rules from books like the Thief's Hbk (guild rules) and Druid's Hbk (farming rules) among others.
- Encyclopedia Magicas: I update these to 3e when needed.
- Wizard/Priest Spell Compendiums: I also update these to 3e when needed.
- Book of Artifacts
- Dragon magazine spell, magic item, and NPC articles (all converted to 3e)

 

[Psion]

I see my first choices -- the World Builder's Guide and Complete Book of Villains -- have been well covered.

Another campaign resources that is conspicuously absent is Aaron Allston's Dungeon Master Design Kit. The forms are so-so, but the ideas for adventure assembly are quick and useful.