What's the best you've ever gotten for your buck in gaming products?

[Wraith Form]

All of the Call of Cthulhu stuff I've been fortunate to get my hands on across the years, but ESPECIALLY the Pagan Publishing stuff--Delta Green, Walker in the Wastes, Realm of Shadow, Mortal Coils, and the like. Pagan does top notch stuff.

Dungeon Magazine. I paid $10 for Whispers of the Vampire's Blade (a single adventure), but $7 for Dungeon __(insert number here)__ which usually contains 3 adventures. You do the math.

Greenwood's Volo's Guide to ________ series. The first was Waterdeep, and it revolutionized the way I thought about D&D and what could be done with it.

Dark Sun & Planescape, the campaign settings. I have every product from both of those settings and cherish them.

 

[Maggan]

My best purchases

Almost there but not quite:

Call of Cthulhu 2nd edition
Masks of Nyarlathotep box
Cyberpunk 1st edition
D&D Basic/Expert/Companion sets
I6 Ravenloft

The winner though is:

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay - original hardback!

M.

 

[Eremite]

FR2E's Faiths & Avatars. It inspired a return to D&D and countless hours of campaigns and adventures.

 

[Stockdale]

Aside from the core books, which always get used, and ignoring the pre-3x stuff, which saw years of use, my most used stuff is ...

1. Dungeon mag (amazing cost to value ratio)
2. Spells & Spellcraft (I paid full price for this, but use almost every session)
3. School of Evocation (I paid $5 for it and have used it frequently since)

 

[Bran Blackbyrd]

Well, I got the 3.5 core rulebooks boxed set for $3.97 US (new, shrink-wrapped, mint, etc.)...
Even though I haven't gotten to play much since then, it's kind of hard to deny that kind of a bargain.

 

[CarlZog]

Well, I got the 3.5 core rulebooks boxed set for $3.97 US (new, shrink-wrapped, mint, etc.)...
Even though I haven't gotten to play much since then, it's kind of hard to deny that kind of a bargain.

Wow, I want to start going to your game store! Where did you muster that deal?


Carl

 

[Mythmere1]

1. My AD&D PH, bought when I was 12 for $12.

2. Castles & Crusades, bought when I was 38, for $20.

3. Jack Vance, Fritz Leiber and R.E. Howard fiction - it was gaming stuff even though it wasn't gaming stuff.

4. Village of Hommlet and Keep on the Borderlands

5. 3E stuff bought for hundreds of freakin' dollars, but still useful for C&C

6. Steading of the Hill Giant Chief.

 

[Ed Cha]

Overall:

- 1st Ed. AD&D Monster Manual (bought it when I was a kid because I liked dinosaur and monster books; purchased another copy to replace my lost one years later and still love it)
- All other 1st Ed. AD&D books, especially...
Deities & Demigods (great read and learned a lot of basics about mythology which I was really into at the time)
White Plume Mountain (showed me what a fun, puzzle-filled adventure was like)
GDQ series (taught me how to run an epic adventure)
Slaver series (just a damn good adventure series)
Judges Guild stuff (just fun to read)

More recently (just to name a few):

- 3rd Ed. PHB (not 3.5 though)
- Counter Collection series (lightweight and inexpensive option to miniatures)
- The Tome of Horrors (lots of monsters that I thought should have been in the MM)
- Poisoncraft (best poison sourcebook ever!)
- Grim Tales (lots of great ideas for optional rules)

 

[Arc]

I use the Eberron Campaign Setting at least once per session, and always find something new and interesting in it. Not just feats or rules that I had read and forgotten, but information about countries and cultures that I needed for the game, and really led to a better understanding of the world. The FRCS came nowhere near as close in providing a compelling picture of a world For a while, Sharn had the same level of use and discovery, but since our campaign is moving to Karrnath, I doubt I'll reference it as often.

For rules and such, I use the SRD, or ask someone who has the book in question. This happens much less often (although I'm tempted to buy the Complete books due to the nifty stuff I keep finding in them).

 

[Turanil]

What gaming products (books, accessories, etc) have you gotten the best bang for your buck? Think in terms of actual use you get from the product. What books do you reach for several times a session?

Books that are used regularly include of course:
3.5 core rules. It's the core of the game after all.
Grim Tales.

Other books I use frequently:
3e Unearthed Arcana.

Book I got yesterday, that I am surprisingly pleased with
Shadows over Bogenhafen. This is a Warhammer module. I got it for my GT d20 Warhammer campaign, at a discount price (10$ instead of 20$). I got more pleasure out of it than Beyond Countless Doorways that I purchased full price. This Warhammer module has very few WHRP game mechanics (only three or four pages of stat-blocks), so no wasted paper for me; then it has background description (the Empire), some adventures, and nice handhout to give to players (won't have to do them myself). This book will indeed see a heavy use in my forthcoming Warhammer d20 campaign. I plan to buy another book like this at discounted price!