3.X essential books

[lordxaviar]

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!

Well I dont wish to promote copywrite infringement but the entire collection of 3.5 hell 4.0 for that matter is available in torrent files all over the web. so read and use what you like. - Oooh! Hypocritical and against the rules! Don't do this again. - Rel

several comments are correct in that most of the material could not have been playtested, hell alot of it wasnt even proofread well.

I like the PHB II just for the addition of saltmarsh, I am using it to back track the towns growth and recreate the U series..

 

[El Mahdi]

First: Welcome to ENWorld!

Second: I completely disagree with you.

Wow, I'm really surprised to read all of the people who don't allow any splat books. One of the many things that cause me to like 3.X over 4E is all of the customization of character that can be greatly benefited by splat books. Yea, there's some stuff that's overpowered but to just blanket every book with a ban in your game is really stifling the enjoyment and originality that can be had in a campaign. So what if a character is overpowered? Make the encounters more difficult.

If one character lives while all the others die....maybe that will encourage them to put more work into their next character...

That would be because a good amount of DM's want players to put more work into their characters...and not their character sheets...

If you like unlimited character creations, that's just fine for you. For other DM's, banning the extra books is not "stifling the enjoyment and originality that can be had in a campaign", it's promoting enjoyment and originality of other facets of the game...

 

[HeavensThunderHammer]

As a player: I really liked the Complete book Series (though I never have read Complete Scoundrel or Complete Psion), and the PHB II.

As a DM: DMG II, PHB II, Heroes of Battle, Heroes of Horror, Unearthed Arcana.

I also have to chime in: I really like the Forgotten Realm Campaign Guide, just great book, it really makes you want to start adventures right away. My favourite supplement is "Mysteries of the Moonsea".

So far as 3rd Party Material, I really like:

Fields of Blood: (Great for Realm Management)
CityWorks: Great for Urban Adventures
Wildscape: Great for Wilderness Adventures


On the Banning Splat Book debate:

This is the first I've read of dividing books into DM vs Player books and mainly allowing the DM books only. I also don't read every thread on ENworld and the WotC forums either, especially during the 3.5 era. I think it is an inventive idea to avoid the poorly (if at all) playtested material in the Player books. However some of the player books are worse than others, and I feel if you're going to keep just one, it should be the PHB II.

 

[Orius]

I couldnt agree with this more and honestly I thought I Was the only one who felt this way. I love 3.5 but I HEAVILY restrict player's options with splat books. WOTC was always trying to 1up themselves with player material because players are 80% of buyers. it's 1 DM to every 4-6 players. Some of the player options are good, but you have to be EXTREMELY pickey about what to allow.

Honestly though I think the power creep can easily affect any RPG, not just D&D. RIFTS comes to mind pretty damn fast, but 3.x isn't the only edition of D&D that's had power creep problems. There were such problems in 2e for sure, with the Complete Handbooks. Just take a look at the kits from the earlier books in the series and compare them to later books (*cough* Elves *cough*). Or see what happens when you let anything from Player's Option into a game, particularly unregulated Skills and Powers. I wouldn't be shocked if 4e has such problems or starts developing them eventually.

I agree that it's DM material vs. player material. DM material is useful, because DMs could always use a nice variety of tools to develop the campaign. There's always use for rules on unusual settings, new monsters and so on. Player material is more limited, since the players mostly only develop their characters. So there's not much more that can be provided beyond classes, proficiencies/skills, feats, gear, spells, daily powers, and so on. And yeah, I think a lot of it is 1-upping, occasionally to a broken degree. So you get something that looks innocuous on paper and the DM allows it when it's something like Pun Pun that's an abomination of charopping. But publishers go for the player material because it can get more sales.