2004: What have you bought, what will you buy?

[Arnwyn]

I was wondering (inspired by a few other threads): What are the D&D-related products you've bought this year,

Here is my list, put in order of release date (not perfect, but close enough):
Continual:
- Dragon Magazine (subscription ends in October, and I won't be renewing)
- Dungeon Magazine (multiple-year subscription continues on!)

January
- Black Sails Over Freeport (GR)
- Stargate SG-1 d20 (AEG) - for fan reference only. Spycraft sucks.
- Stargate SG-1 Season 1: Fantastic Frontiers (AEG) - see above.

February
- Secrets of the Shadowlands (AEG) - Rokugan
- Stargate SG-1: False Gods (AEG)

March
- Slayers d20 (GoO)

April - nothing

May
- Bonegarden (Necro Games)

June
- Trouble at Durbenford (Necro Games)
- Way of the Open Hand (AEG) - Rokugan
- Stargate SG-1 Season 2: Friends & Enemies (AEG)

July
- Serpent Kingdoms (WotC) - Forgotten Realms

August
- Vindication! (Necro Games)

and what have you thought of them? What are the products you're looking forward to later this year?

I thought they were all good and useful to me - because I never buy a product that won't be. I ensure that I know all about a book before buying it, and also make sure to look through it first. I slavishly follow my "80% rule". I'm not a wasteful person.

Upcoming:
September
- Caverns of Thracia (Necro Games)
- Fane of the Witch King (Necro Games)
- World's Largest Dungeon (AEG)

October
- Shining South (WotC) - Forgotten Realms
- Way of the Daimyo (AEG) - Rokugan
- City State of the Invincible Overlord (Necro Games)
- Liber Mortis: The Book of Undead (WotC)

November
- Sharn: City of Towers (WotC) - to insert in my FR campaign

December
- Way of the Yakuza (AEG) - Rokugan

(and, yes, I'm a WotC junkie, primarily because it's very hard for me to find and acquire non-Wizards d20 products)

I'm not, primarily because WotC products vomit out "new feats, PrC's, spells, and magic items!". Uh... no.

 

[RFisher]

As far as I can recall, the only roleplaying product's I've bought this year were Mongoose's Pocket PHB, BESM, & several OOP products (B3, B4, D&D Expert rulebook, X1, & Toon).

I forgot to say how I liked them...

Pocket PHB: Love it. It does the job. It's compact. I like it better than both printouts of the SRD or even a WotC PHB.

BESM: I dunno. I keep thinking I should like it since it's almost a lighter variant of GURPS. As much as I like anime, the anime angle in BESM turns me off for some reason. It was a good price & something I wanted in my collection, but I don't know when I'll get around to using it.

B3: I'd been wanting to see the green cover since WotC put the orange cover online. It's very interesting. While the orange cover may had too many loose ends (or not, depending upon taste), the green cover manages to wrap almost all of them up in a package that might be too tight. Definately important for my collection & understanding the history of the hobby. I'll probably mine some ideas from it. I might even run it pretty much as it at some point.

B4: A classic module I'm happy to have finally acquired & read. I'm definately stealing ideas from it even if I never run it directly.

X1: I originally bought the stand-alone Expert rulebook, so I never had a copy of X1. I haven't read most of it yet, but the overview of the Known World was the first time I'd read about that setting & actually been tempted to use it.

Expert rulebook: I made the mistake of taking the books' advice & cut up my original Basic & Expert books & combined them in a three-ring binder. I'd picked up a spare & intact Basic last year & so I was happy to have a space & intact Expert to go with it.

Toon: I had mixed feelings about buying this. On the one hand, the system looked OK & useful for other things. On the other hand, it didn't look phenomenal & the toon angle didn't do much for me. After buying & reading it, though, I'm glad I picked it up. I think Toon will be great for one-offs if we can get everyone into the right mood. I can even imagine running a short campaign (...I mean "series"...) with it.

 

[Wombat]

I should assume we are not restricted to D20 only?

Okay, the only WotC book I bought since 3.5 -- Unearthed Arcana. This is also the only D20 purchase I actively regret. I felt badgered into buying it and found that any rules in it I might have used I already had in another (better!) form from somewhere else.

My Dragon subscription lapsed. No further need for it.

Complete Book of Eldritch Might -- I had the first BoEM, but not the others. It was also nice to have the first set in a non-pdf format, as we were going to be using spells from it at the table and I hated the thought of actually printing the whole thing out. And the bit in the back converting spells, etc., over to AU sold me on it utterly

The Psychic's Handbook -- bought as a b'day gift for a friend, turned out he bought it for himself the week before; now if I ever decide to use psionics (low possibility) in a game, this will be the set of rules I use.

Medieval Player's Manual -- DWAH! DWAH! A Thousand Times DWAH! This is a great supplment! I wish I could move a campaign directly over to this supplment! This is undoubtably my favourite D20 supplement purchase this year!

Relics & Rituals: Excalibur -- bought because of my Arthurian obsession. Doesn't really strike me right, but there are a few amusing concepts in it.

Legends of Excalibur: Arthurain Adventures -- very nice job! Again bought due to my Arthurian obsession, but I feel this is probably the best D20 version of the legends either available or likely to be available. Takes the conventions built into D20 and does a pretty good job of twisting them around to fit the spirit of the legends. I have quibbles with this book, but only quibbles. Overall a superlative book.

Love & War -- great job! Written by David Chart, the same fellow who wrote up the Medieval Player's Manual, so it is pure quality. Actually, it wouldn't be too hard to combine the two...

GURPS Transhuman Space -- whopping great read, though I doubt I will ever play it under any system.

GURPS Arabian Nights and GURPS Celtic Myth -- thank goodness for eBay! (actually that could be said for many of my purchases...)

Faerie Stories, Cause & Cure, Living Lore -- all Ars Magica supplements. I absolutely adore LL, I like FS, and C&C is of limited use.

The Dying Earth RPG -- eBay again. Not bad, but I doubt I'll be playing it anytime real soon (...though probably sooner than Mechanical Dream, but that is a separate issue and a different year...)

That just about does it.

 

[Pants]

What I have bought this year:
Book of Fiends
Unearthed Arcana (Best money spent ever!)
Eberron
d20 Future

The books I plan on buying:
Monster Manual III
Iron Kingdoms Campaign Guide and Player's Guide (If I ever actually SEE it anywhere)
Monsternomicon 3.5 (If it comes out in a reasonable amount of time, if not then I'll track down the original)
Libris Mortis
Codex Anathema

Books I may buy depending on reviews:
Frostburn
Sandstorm
Complete Arcane
Sharn

Books I DIDN'T buy after reading reviews or looking at them:
Complete Divine
Planar Handbook
Bestiary of Krynn