D&D General Best D&D product of any edition (non-core book)

[Lakesidefantasy]

Unearthed Arcana both 1st and 3rd editions.

Manual of the Planes from 3rd edition.

 

[Dragonhelm]

I always liked this booklet and got a few campaigns out of it. I found it to be a good style and formed what I think of Forgotten Realms (FR). First one I thought of reading the thread title.

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This was one of the first D&D products I owned. It spawned my first campaign, set in Daggerford. I absolutely love the description of the town and NPCs.

The only downside is that there are issues with the map for Illefarn. Other than that, it's rock solid.

 

[Zardnaar]

FRCS 3.0
Faith's and Acatars 2E
Rules Cyclopedia BECMI

 

[TerraDave]

All others must bow down in awe.

 

[el-remmen]

I may use other monster books but I never actually need another monster book.

 

[sevenbastard]

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I may use other monster books but I never actually need another monster book.

Yeah a world built only with creatures and ancestries from the Fiend Folio should be WOTC next campaign setting.

Added bonus no Dragonborn.

 

[Voadam]

The Dragon CD archive (issues 1-250 plus the TSRs). I still use it fairly regularly and find the search function to go across all the issues in the collection really useful. I have a couple dozen of these in hardcopy inherited from friends when they were downsizing their collections but I find it so much more convenient to search stuff on my computer with one search. It was $25 well spent.

 

[Sacrosanct]

The Dragon CD archive (issues 1-250 plus the TSRs). I still use it fairly regularly and find the search function to go across all the issues in the collection really useful. I have a couple dozen of these in hardcopy inherited from friends when they were downsizing their collections but I find it so much more convenient to search stuff on my computer with one search. It was $25 well spent.

Oh, absolutely agree. I actually gave away all of my Dragon magazines (#1-175) when I moved for space because I had these CD roms.

 

[Sacrosanct]

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I may use other monster books but I never actually need another monster book.

You know what they say. Once you go elbow testes, you never go back.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

1e: Unearthed Arcana. I can hear howls and screams now, but it was a book that injected many new ideas into the game, even if all of them didn't land.

Give it time to realize your crime
Why you have to be a heel?
I have loved AD&D for so long
How can this be real?

Do you really want to hurt me?
Do you really want to make me cry?
You wrote "Unearthed Arcana," words that burn me
I have to ask you now ... why?

When you bought it the binding was already dying
A bunch of cash-grab OP options stuffed in a grimoire
But you say it's the best 1e book ever?
That's a step, a step too far

Do you really want to hurt me?
Do you really want to make me cry?
Do you really want to hurt me?
Do you really want to make me cry?


I ... I do not know how to respond to this. I would present a copy of AD&D's Unearthed Arcana to you so that you could realize the error of your ways as you flip through the pages, but we both know that will never happen, as every single copy of that accursed tome lost its pages within two months because the pages all fell out since it used the worst glue binding ever.

AND THAT WAS THE ONLY GOOD THING ABOUT THE BOOK!* BECAUSE IT SELF-DESTRUCTED BEFORE IT WOULD DESTROY YOUR CAMPAIGN!

Look, I've often said that the late stages of one edition presage the next edition, and in a certain way, UA presaged 2e. NWPs ("skills"), weapon proficiencies, cantrips, some cool spells. But trying to use UA, which was a poorly thought out compendium of quarter-baked ideas from Dragon Magazine, destroyed countless campaigns. Where do I even start?

The alternative character creation mechanism - for humans only (yeah, right). The one that gave you all the minimums you needed, and also let you roll up to 9d6? How about the Barbarian, who was insanely OP ... except you couldn't use them in any adventuring party? Or the Cavalier (and Paladin subclass) who was also insanely OP, but was also balanced by having the drawback that they couldn't be used because of the whole, "Charge and never retreat." The insane demi-human rules that made no sense other than to encourage cheating? Comeliness?

Comeliness?

Oh, and I was being generous with "quarter-baked." The weapon specialization rules were not even 1/8 baked, says the person who was like, "Hey, how about a hand axe killer, amirite?" OA was useable, UA was the effective end of 1e and the OD&D line. I often say that the DSG and WSG were the worst 1e books, but they were simply banal. UA was the book that killed the continuity of the game from 1974 on, and required the 2e reset.

UA should be used as kindling, except the hard cover doesn't burn well and the pages can't be found. UA exists in that special circle of hell reserved for Bards and soulless, dead-eyed elves. It's like being forced to roll on the random harlot table for all eternity.

Anyway, best 1e product? The 1e DMG. Best non-core product?

....hmmm. I'd go with (a) the 1983 World of Greyhawk, (b) the original print Deities & Demigods (the one with the "extra" pantheons), (c) the Fiend Folio, or (d) the Rogue's Gallery, which from a modern perspective was an insanely stupid product, but has a special place in my heart.




*Okay, in fairness, Appendix T, The Nomenclature of Polearms? That was cool too, if only because it made Brad stop equipping all of his Clerics with a Lucern Hammer.