D&D 3E/3.5 3.5's Legacy

[nijineko]

aurora's whole realms catalogue.

eph, comp psi, sos, mind's eye.

 

[RUMBLETiGER]

I believe Dungeonscape intruduced me to a series of new ideas (such as the Factotum) and pursuaded me of the value of tracking down many of the supplimental books. You could say that book inspired a drive to pursue all the others.

 

[Mercurius]

As a general quality, I loved how 3rd edition books by and large felt like tomes - large books with small text with lots of random, and often useless, info in them, but without the slick (and often boring) streamlined feeling of 4E books. I felt that 3E did a good job recaptures at least some of the elements that made 1E books fun to browse, but for which 2E was a bit less interesting.

As for specific books, in that regards the 3.5E Player's Handbook is terrific, and the Dungeon Master's Guide is pretty good. But for me, as a setting junky, my favorite 3.x book is the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting hardcover which, along with the 1987 gray box, is the best FR product (imo) and is simply the most beautiful, complete setting product that WotC or TSR has every produced. A master work, really. Also, a lot of their later theme books were quite good (the various codexes and books that looked at weird creatures and alternate rules).

Beyond WotC, I have great appreciation for The Book of Righteous Might which has similar qualities to what I describe above: more ideas than should fit into its page count, which is a good thing and what I love about RPG books (think the 1e DMG as the archetype of this quality).

 

[VariSami]

I really enjoyed Libris Mortis: the Book of the Undead. It might be a bit limited in scope but most of it seems applicable. I also like the Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords, Unearthed Arcana and Rules Compendium.

 

[NMC]

For me, outside of pretty much the whole Freeport campaign setting, the book Skull & Bones from Green Ronin/Adamant Entertainment was by far my favorite. To me, it represented how the D20 System could be used for any setting or type of campaign.

-Nate

 

[Sunseeker]

Aside from the fact that it had sbolustely no rhyme or reason to the level adjustments of it's races, "Bastards and Bloodlines" is by far my favorite book for 3.X, they had everything from the overly sexualized to the creepy and downright insane(Ogre/Beholder hybrid say what?). I love weird races, I just wish someone would figure out a way of putting playable races together that made sense, Paizo's Advanced Race Guide did not help at all.

 

[Empirate]

I think the single most-used and most-loved book on my D&D shelf, aside from the core three, would be the the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. I was seriously low on money back when I spent what felt like a fortune on it, but I never regretted a single Euro I paid for this one. I greatly appreciate how well-made and outright beautiful the FR books' design was back in the 3E day.

I also like some corner cases among the WotC 3E line a ton: Fiend Folio is probably my most leafed-through monster book. Lords of Madness is just extremely well done (although I really missed a section on Deepspawn) and a fun read. Tome of Magic contains my favorite alternate magic system (binding), and I also love a lot of the ideas concerning Shadowcasters (which I find weak for full casters, but still balanced in a tier 3-4 party). Tome of Battle I only like for the ideas, not the execution, of most of its stuff, but it's still a great book. Magic of Faerûn, although strictly 3.0, is probably my favorite setting-specific book aside from the FRCS - it just contains so much information useful to DMs, as well as providing a lot of spells that are considered classic (although most have been much changed in the 3.5 update prints).

 

[Ahnehnois]

To me, the 3e era is really defined by Unearthed Arcana. The book showcases the flexibility of the system; more than any other edition by far, 3e lets you play the game you want to play (albeit not without costs to you in time and work). It's also OGL (which not nearly enough things were), which makes it a greater part of the game's legacy.

 

[ForeverSlayer]

Lost Empires of Faerun and Grand History of the Realms are just two of the many faves I have.

 

[DaveMage]

I can't pick one, but the core 3.5 books are probably tops.

Close seconds are the Fiendish codices and the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting - which to me is the best value in any 3.x book (and may be all time for D&D as far as a space-to-info ratio is concerned).