Best books to get for getting into 4th Ed?

[Minifig]

If I had to buy any books (I usually just borrow them from friends or my DM).. I'd probably pick up the Player's Strategy guide, PH1-3, the Psionic book, the divine power book, the Handbook, the dragonborn racebook, the tiefling racebook, and the Eberron Player's guide.

That way you have the entire gamut of things covered... granted... it'd be expensive to pick all of them at once.. but you'd have everything covered.

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The thing that confuses me is why no one on here recommends the Divine Power book, The Handbook, The Dragonborn Racebook, The tiefling racebook, and The Eberron Player's guide.

 

[Wizard Biscuits]

Phew, thanks for all the replies, folks. To be honest, I really want to run it as quick and simply as possible. None of my players have access to DDI and few own any books (they're pretty casual gamers, which I don't mind) and a couple are new to the game themselves. I basically want to plop one or two books in front of them, get characters rolled up, settle behind my DM screen and have fun.

So, book-wise I'm now thinking after everyone's input I could run a game with basically:

PHB1 and 3
Essentials DM's Kit
Oh, and the Dark Sun Monster Manual, of course.

 

[Gradine]

Phew, thanks for all the replies, folks. To be honest, I really want to run it as quick and simply as possible. None of my players have access to DDI and few own any books (they're pretty casual gamers, which I don't mind) and a couple are new to the game themselves. I basically want to plop one or two books in front of them, get characters rolled up, settle behind my DM screen and have fun.

So, book-wise I'm now thinking after everyone's input I could run a game with basically:

PHB1 and 3
Essentials DM's Kit
Oh, and the Dark Sun Monster Manual, of course.

Certainly feasible, though by skipping the PHB2 you'll be missing out on a lot of the Primal classes that make interesting options for Dark Sun (particularly the Druid), but again, it's possible to go without.

I'd agree that the four that you picked would be the bare minimum required, of course.

 

[Pickles JG]

So, book-wise I'm now thinking after everyone's input I could run a game with basically:

PHB1 and 3
Essentials DM's Kit
Oh, and the Dark Sun Monster Manual, of course.

I would recommend the Dark Sun campaign guide as a good book & it has the setting information in it.
I would avoid the DM kit - it's twice as much as the Rules Compendium that you could get instead. You gain a box, a couple of (nice) maps, counters & a 2-3 level adventure that is not Dark Sun. Hmm sounds better than I thought but seemed like £30 for a screen to me (oh you get a screen too).

You should not discourage players from getting the xxx power books for the classes they play, or PHB 2 for primal or naughty arcanists.

 

[Neonchameleon]

The thing that confuses me is why no one on here recommends the Divine Power book,

There are no Gods or Divine classes in Athas. The divine power source just doesn't work in that world - recommending it would be pointless (It's great if you want a lot of detail on divine classes, especially Paladins).

The Handbook,

?

The Dragonborn Racebook, The tiefling racebook,

Never seen a use for Racebooks. Especially when the races are non-standard as in Athas.

and The Eberron Player's guide.

The game's in Athas (Dark Sun). Eberron is a different world. (And for a DM I wouldn't recommend the Eberron Players' guide. That's for players who really don't need the DM material in the Eberron Campaign Guide).

Edit: and the best way to roll characters fast and easily is the Character Builder

 

[Wizard Biscuits]

Ah, I guess it wasn't made that clear in my first post, but I already have the Dark Sun Campaign Guide. I bought it out of curiosity to see what they done with the setting.

And while it may seem like I'm depriving my players of choice limiting the amount of books, like I said before, I know them well and they're pretty casual players and fairly new to the game, so I don't want to overload and intimidate them with options. By all means, I may pick up more books if they express an interest in different classes after they've got to grips with the basics.

As for the DM's Kit, it's the screen and tokens/maps that are a selling point, along with the rulebook.

 

[Mercurius]

I hope this makes sense to someone and I'd greatly appreciate any help. I basically just want to know the minimum amount of books to get some adventures running in Athas.

These sorts of threads tend to get out of hand rather quickly, with people disagreeing over which 7th, 8th, and 9th book would be best (see above). So while I don't want to add yet another post with a slightly different perspective, I'm going to try to summarize what some have said and what I think to be the answer to your actual question.

Core Package for a Dark Sun Campaign

• Dark Sun Campaign Guide - awesome book, but you already know that ($26.37 on Amazon).
• Rules Compendium - handy reference book and saves you from buying a few other books ($13.57 on Amazon).
• Dark Sun Creature Catalog - not absolutely necessary but very useful($13.57 on Amazon).
• D&D Insider - The Monster Builder in particular is very useful for a DM and potentially saves you from buying all the Monster Manuals; Character Builder is great for your players, but they can get their own subscriptions(one month subscription $10).

So that's another $37 over what you've already spent. The next group is comprised of books that are helpful, especially for Dark Sun, but not necessary:

Useful but not Necessary

• Marauders of the Dune Sea - official Dark Sun adventure
• Desert of Athas - Dungeon Tiles
• Core rule books - PHB, DMG, MM
• Monster Manuals 2 and 3
• Players Handbooks 2 and 3
• Psionic Power
• Essentials DM's Kit
• Essentials Monster Vault
  

One final note: If you get D&D Insider for only a month, you will want to wait until it is updated for Dark Sun. I'm not sure when this will be, but probably in November. Again, I'd highly recommend getting a month subscription and downloading Character Builder and Monster Builder, which include every option from every book and other official publication source (e.g. Dragon and Dungeon) to date. Monster Builder is particularly useful for DMs because it allows you to take any monster and adjust it to an appropriate level.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Phew, thanks for all the replies, folks. To be honest, I really want to run it as quick and simply as possible. None of my players have access to DDI and few own any books (they're pretty casual gamers, which I don't mind) and a couple are new to the game themselves. I basically want to plop one or two books in front of them, get characters rolled up, settle behind my DM screen and have fun.

So, book-wise I'm now thinking after everyone's input I could run a game with basically:

PHB1 and 3
Essentials DM's Kit
Oh, and the Dark Sun Monster Manual, of course.

Really, they are casual players, I'd just get the DMK, HotFL, RC, and the DS setting books. That will give you the basics you need. Yeah, you don't have the PHB3 Psionics rules, but you have 4 good solid classes and the DS themes and whatnot to add to that. It will certainly be enough to get going with and 'get going' could well mean playing 1-30, which is going to be a couple YEARS of play. If a player really wants to play something from the earlier PHBs etc then either he can just pull the options out of CB or buy a copy of that book.

There are going to be a few things you don't have, like any rituals, but again you can pull those out of the online Compendium or CB, which both have all the relevant rules text. I don't think RC actually has the general rules for Rituals, but there is really nothing much to know in general, you buy it, you can cast it, you pay the cost, you gotta have the Ritual Caster feat to learn rituals, that's about it at a basic level. There is very little else that you need to know. CB can pretty much handle anything you need to know about psionics too, which again isn't a whole lot, they're just powers with the augmentable keyword, which is in the RC.

Once you get going you can always pick up other books. The DS monster book should give you enough monsters, but again DDI has all the other ones in the Compendium (and Monster Builder, an excellent tool). Maybe you will eventually want the MM1/2/3 series just for more variety or whatever, but you can ALWAYS pick that stuff up later.

 

[Dr_Ruminahui]

I whole heartedly agree - for your particular group, the books I would recommend are:

1. The Rules Compendium (all the rules in one place)
2. Heroes of the Forgotten Lands (simpler characters with less options sound like a good fit for your more casual gamers)
3. The DM's Kit (useful accessories for a new DM)
4. The Dark Sun specific books.

Now, I do think a DDI subscription is a great deal (I LOVE monster builder), but for a group of casual gamers, character builder isn't that useful (gives too many options), so you could well do without.

As for the other books (the PHBs, power books, etc.), you can pick those up as your players show interest. So, if a player really wants to play, say, a Druid, you could pick up the appropriate book (PHB2) - or better yet, get them to buy it themselves.

 

[Wizard Biscuits]

Thanks AbdulAlhazred, Mercurius and Dr_Ruminahui. You guys have pretty much narrowed and nailed the choices for me.

I'm going to give the DDI subscription a miss for now. I can see its use and appeal for a more dedicated group, but at this moment it's easiest simply sticking to books.

Truth to tell I thought the Essentials line would save me this kinda headache but I can still see their value.