3.X essential books

[Stormonu]

Near complete opposite opinion of Steel Wind, but I've always allowed things in my game on a trial basis.

My favorites are:

Fiend Folio, MM2, MM3, MM5, Monsters of Faerun
Spell Compendium (but as others have mentioned, there are spells to avoid)
First round of Completes (Warrior, Arcane, Divine, Adventurer).
PHB2
Tome of Horrors (Necromancer Games) & Creature Collection (Sword & Sorcery) books

I hated Eberron at first, but it does have a decent, if different, world.

I generally avoid:

Book of Exalted Deeds
MM4 (POS!!!)
Tome of Battle
Magic Item Compendium
2nd round of Completes (Mage, Champion, Scoundrel)
Any FR splatbook beyond the Campaign book (Races of Faerun, Player's Guide, etc.)

The "settings" books are really nice for niche campaigns
Sandburn (desert settings)
Frostburn (artic settings)
Stormwrack (seaborne settings)

Like anything else, there are the bad apples in any book, but generally the good far outweighs and is useful enough to keep.

 

[Greg K]

If it's a Player Book? Don't Allow it.
Vile Darkness? No and no again.

Actually, I found this book to be okay, because I treat it as a DM book. There are one or two spells that I allow PCs to use, but the rest is off limits to them.

Which reminds me to edit my post regarding my own essentials.

 

[Steel_Wind]

Re Book of Vile Darkness

Actually, I found this book to be okay, because I treat it as a DM book. There are one or two spells that I allow PCs to use, but the rest is off limits to them.

I agree with you on this. I'd also admit that BoVD really is mostly a DM book anyway. Exalted Deeds, otoh, is mainly a player book -- or at least, enough Player stuff in there it becomes an issue.

 

[Blackbrrd]

As noted in my comment I just allowed the PHB for my players in 3.x. A bit strict but I wanted relatively "normal" characters.

4e is very well balanced and overpowered stuff gets nerfed. Most stuff that is 18+ months old is usually very well balanced. There is some mild power creep, but it's mostly from synergy and partly due to system "fixes".

 

[Mark]

Hey everyone,

I only ever got the core 3 books for D&D 3.5 and relied on my friends for any extra stuff. Since comming to 4e I've found the value is getting more books than just the core 3 (ie: PHB2, DMG2).

Anyway, as i love both 4th and 3rd editions, this has me wanting to expand my 3.5 library. For example, I never got the PHB2 or DMG2 in the 3rd edition era, were those any good?

What 3.X era books would you say are essential (for any reason)? I'm a player and a DM. Thanks!

I'd suggest that the follow list is a good start for a 3.5 DM with most being useful for any medieval/fantasy campaign rpging -

Unearthed Arcana (WotC)
DMG2 (WotC)

Trailblazer (BadAxe Games)

Book of the Righteous (Green Ronin)
Advanced Bestiary (Green Ronin)
Advanced Player's Manual (Green Ronin)
Advanced Gamemaster's Guide (Green Ronin)
Mythic Vistas: Medieval Player's Handbook (Green Ronin)

Crime & Punishment (Atlas Games)
Dynasties & Demagogues (Atlas Games)
Love & War (Atlas Games)

From Stone to Steel (MonkeyGod/Highmoon)

A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe (XRP)

 

[Steel_Wind]

Near complete opposite opinion of Steel Wind, but I've always allowed things in my game on a trial basis.

[snip]

Look, I don't disagree with the thrust of your post and many of these things may work for your home brewed campaign just fine.

If I had REALLY wanted to make a lot of the stuff work in my own home brewed campaign - I could have done so as well. No question about it. And for a time - I did.

But at the time the whole Spell Compendium and Complete Class & Races of XXXX Triple whammy came out, I was involved in running the Age of Worms Adventure Path. And without putting too fine a point on it, the Spell Compendium and the Complete series broke Age of Worms completely. Smashed it into a bazillion smitherenes. POOF. >>BROKEN<<

So that's the thing. Out of all the coolness in 3.5, I'd like to draw attention to what really was the greatest thing about that era that I honestly do not think will ever be repeated in any Dungeons and Dragons RPG of the future -- no matter the version, ever again.

In a phrase: Dungeon Magazine.

During the 3.xx period, the hobby was BLESSED with the work that Paizo publishing did with Dungeon magazine. Dungeon under Erik Mona was never, ever better.

That Golden Age of Dungeon is something I am always going to treasure as a fan of the game. I have every single one of the 3.xx issues and they are all good - most of them great - and some of them beyond GREAT.

To get the most out of that Golden Age, you need to have your players run classes and spells only from the PHB. Because once you depart from those fundamental assumptions, the balance of all those adventures just breaks all to hell.

So Shackled City? Age of Worms? Savage Tide? And a whole host of dozens and dozens more of one off and two-part adventures in that Golden Age of Dungeon magazine await you and your players. They'll be there for years and years to enjoy. They are well WORTH playing, too.

So if those are things you want to use and play? Don't alter the fundamental rules and assumptions which renders the greatest DM resource of the entire 3.xx era and leaves it smashed to pieces lying on the ground.

It's not worth it. Not to me. Regrettably - I learned it the hard way. I would prefer to see a lot of other DMs and play groups avoid that pitfall and enjoy something which really was a tremendous contribution to our hobby.

 

[blargney the second]

Good call on Dungeon mag, Steel_Wind! It's an absolute must-have for 3.5 DMs. I'm going to XP your post just for that one awesome suggestion.

I disagree strongly that banning player options wholesale is necessary for those adventures to be usable, but different strokes and all that!

 

[Sammael]

I am not speaking from experience, but I heard from several people that Age of Worms (and other Paizo adventure paths) are pretty much unplayable with core-only characters. I.e. the adventures assume that players will be using optional content, which is orders of magnitude more powerful than the core content, so the difficulty is adjusted accordingly.

The same story was absolutely true for later Monster Manuals (III-V), where CRs were utterly different than CRs in the original MM.

 

[Votan]

The core three are all you need. I was part of a group that played from level 1-20 over the course of a couple years and no one (DM or player) used anything other than the core three.

I had my best 3.5 E experience (by far) using core rules from levels 1 to 17. Later attempts to use more complicated rules sets (by including supplemental material) simply did not work out as well.

 

[Dice4Hire]

I would be restrictive, and definitely get rid of the later complete stuff.

So I would go, for the DM

Core 3, plus as many MMs as you want


For the players

Core 3, PHBII first four completes, maybe campaign setting stuff, XPH.