Which 3rd Edition books are the best?

[Nellisir]

As far as third-party publishers, it depends on what you're looking for. I kept a lot of Green Ronin, some malhavoc, some Mongoose (ok, the two monster encyclopedias), WoW RPG, and Rokugan. That's mostly variants on core classes and minor adjustments to fit specific campaign styles.

 

[DnD_Dad]

I was always for breaking 3rd so I'm throwing in mongoose's book of ultimate feats.

 

[Nellisir]

I was always for breaking 3rd so I'm throwing in mongoose's book of ultimate feats.

Mongoose is good if you want a whole slew of ideas to pick through. I'm fond of their books as concept generators.

 

[Will]

Complete Divine fixes a lot of what I find boring or simplistic about Clerics (3e clerics BUG ME), if for nothing more than 'Spontaneous Domain spells.'

(Mind you, I then turn around and disallow Divine Metamagic and Persistent spell right out)

Complete Warrior isn't dramatic or sexy, but adds a lot of basically useful stuff.

Paizo's Shackled City megacampaign is a singular achievement -- I can't think of anything else that is as functional or cool.

I enjoyed Dynasties and Demagogues. I'm not sure how useful it is, but the social encounter rules are thought-provoking.

 

[Greg K]

From WOTC: Unearthed Arcana and Fiendish Codex 1.

For 3rd Party

Alternate Rules, Variants
Fewer Absolutes (Sean K Reynolds): 2 free web articles of what was supposed to be a three part series
Trailblazer (Bad Axe Games)
Book of Iron Might (Malhavoc): for the maneuver system, fighter fighting styles, and options for substituting BAB for certain skills in combat.
Poisoncraft (Blue Devil Games): revises the poison rules
Elements of Magic: Revied (ENPublishing): alternative magic system
Elements of Magic: Lyceian Arcana (ENPublishing): Companion to Elements of Magic: Revised
Artificer's Handbook (Mystic Eye Games): Alternate Magic Item Creation System that does away with XP costs
Advanced Rules for Beginners (EN Publishing) combines Grappling for Beginners, Advanced Grappling for Beginners: How to Master your Chi, Fighting with Flair, and revised drinking rules
Ken Hood's Grim and Gritty

Classes
Cavalier's Handbook (Green Ronin): not a fan of the core class (I prefer Hong's Knight which is available for free online), but the rest of the book is gold
Holy Warrior's Handbook (Green Ronin) updated version of the Holy Warrior from Book of the Righteous
Psychic's Handbook* (Green Ronin): different mental power system and great sourcebook for mental powers
Shaman's Handbook *(Green Ronin): awesome source book on shamanism for D&D and a great class
Witch's Handbook*(Green Ronin): awesome source book on witchs for D&D and a great class
Unholy Warrior's Handbook (Green Ronin)
Mercenaries (AEG)
*In my opinion, these are how class source books for D&D should be done and formatted- much better than anything WOTC has done for 3e or 4e

Equipment
From Stone to Steel (Monkey God/Highmoon Media)
Airships (Dragonwing/Bastion Press)

Combat (also see Alternate Rules above)
Torn Asunder (Dragonwing/Bastion Press)


Spells
Behind the Spells (Tricky Owlbear): lots of variant spells

Animals and Monsters
Book of Fiends (Green Ronin): Combines and updates Armies of the Abyss and Legions of Hell to 3.5 with a third, previously) unpublished book
Advanced Bestiary (Green Ronin): A big honking book of templates
Book of Templates (Silverthorne/Goodman Games) (the pdf is Deluxe Book of Templates Revised): another big honking book of templates
Noble Steeds (Avalanche Press): a primer on horses in d20 terms, also includes rules for other mounts, creating NPC horses like Trigger and Silver, and magic items for mounts
Predators (Betabunny): real world critters, but also great for modifying with templates to create new monsters.

Magic Items (also see Alternate Rules above)
EN Treasure Troves: Figurines of Wondrous Power

Setting Building
Corsair: The Definititve d20 Guide to Ships (Adamant Entertainment): stats for different types of ships, rules for ship battles, feats for ships, and more
Experts 3.5 (Skirmisher Press): Splits the Expert into 5 NPC classes, a PC Expert Class, new uses for skills
Frost and Fur (Monkey God/Highmoon): Cold environment sourcebook with sections influenced by three cultures
Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe (Expeditous Retreat)
Alchemy and Herbalists (Dragonwing/Bastion Press): a look at alchemy and herbalism
Ink and Quill (Dragonwing/Bastion/Press): books, tomes, libraries, etc.
Redhurst Academy (Human Head Studios): a magical academy and supplement for running a magic school campaign
Toolbox (AEG): Lots of charts to generate ideas
Tournaments, Faires and Taverns (ENPublishing)

 

[GreyLord]

The books that I consider essential would be

Unearthed Arcana - So many suggestions and ideas, it's a plethora of ingenius things to add or not add.

Dragonlance Campaign Setting - What can I say, I love Dragonlance, if you do too, it's an essential book.

Forgotten Realms Campaign - Probably the best of any of the campaign books in my opinion.

Player's Handbook 2 - I love the additional options they give in this book

Oriental Adventures - If you like Oriental roleplaying, this is one that you also would want.

So DL Campaign and Oriental only if you like those types. That's about all that I would consider absolutely what I'd want in addition to core.



High on the list of wants would be

Rules Compendium

Psionic Handbook and Expanded Psionic's Handbook

The Monster Manuals

Deities and Demigods.

And that's about it.



For third party creations...there's only 3 series that I'd even think about considering and two of them are because I've been a fan of them from previous times.

Blackmoor 3e
Lone Wolf Roleplaying game

and

Midnight by FFG