Best Five RPG Books You Own

[Ulric]

I'm always looking for good RPG books and products.

I loved the "Freaking Awesome 3rd Party Books That Don't Get Enough Praise" thread: http://www.enworld.org/showthread.php?t=191725

It probably cost me $500 bucks in new products .

Anyway...I was thinkin' there are probably some great books/products I need to buy, so, tell me, what are the five best RPG books/products you own...and tell me why.

ADD: And you don't need to mention the core rule books (MM, PHB, DMG), unless you really want to.

 

[Nightfall]

Tome of Artifacts.

Best darn book of artifacts since Book of Artifacts in 2nd edition. Heck in someways, BETTER!

 

[Thurbane]

Here goes:

- Unearthed Arcana
- PHB II
- Tome of Horrors Revised
- Magic Item Compendium
- Spell COmpendium

 

[crazy_monkey1956]

Being a poor gamer, I have to include the core books in my top 5, because it's pretty much all I own.

Expanded Psionics Handbook - Nifty alternative to core rules magic with a very pleasantly different flavor.

Unearthed Arcana - More optional rules than you can shake a stick at. Some you'll want to use, some you won't...but there's likely to be something in here worth having.

Savage Species - This is one is a chore, because most of the material has to be converted and updated to 3.5...but I love freaky, monster PCs and I like the challenge of figuring out monster class progressions. Not for everyone though.

Hero Builder's Guidebook - Ye olde 3.0 book that still applies these days because it has...no feats, no prestige classes, no spells, no classes, no...well, yeah...all that stuff. What it does have is a nifty little background generator and alignment test. I still use it, even though I wish it were updated with a bit of an expanded background doohickey.

Core Rules - I have a couple of other books (Libris Mortis, Monster Manual II), but the core rules trump them in terms of usefulness and quality.

 

[HellHound]

Burning Wheel - I haven't been so excited by READING an RPG book in years. I don't think I'll actually play it / run it, but there's no way I'm giving it up.

Vampire: The Requiem - As an age-old Vampire: the Masquerade storyteller (been playing since the 1st edition was released, before the first supplements hit the street), this game really appealed to me. The writing is great, and the atmosphere is astounding, and the new image of the game really got my creative juices going.

I'm trying to think of a CyberPunk RPG book that really caught me by the short and curlies (since that is my absolute fave game) and I guess I would have to go with either Dark Metropolis or Grimm's CyberTales which add a lot of awesome new rules and setting material to the game, making it quite a bit darker and more personal.

 

[jdrakeh]

Legends of the Samurai by RPG Objects is head and shoulders above all other d20-ish Asian fantasy supplements on the market. It could have used a larger selection of creatures from Japanese folklore, though the selection of cool, new, rules for honor, social caste, and simplified point-based magic in addition to the nifty classes more than make up for it.

Questers of the Middle Realms is a PDQ-powered vanilla fantasy RPG with lots of light-hearted humor that reads very easy, is simple to learn, and seems like a perfect fit for those night when not everybody shows for the regular game and you need to pick up something at the last minute and run with it. Also, as an added bonus, the humor is actually humorous.

Legendary Lives is now available as a free PDF, courtesy of the former author (who now owns the rights). It's vanilla fantasy, though the freeform-ish magic system and rules for diceless NPC encounters really rock. In fact, I think it may be the RPG that invented "Player Roll All the Dice" -- which is nifty in and of itself.

vs Monsters Deluxe Edition is the only card-based RPG resolution system that I have ever taken a shine to. It's fast, furious, and fun (like that non-card-based RPG from Great White). Also, the hardcover edition rocks because it has a quote from my review of the PDF inside the front flap of the dustcover

The OD&D Bundle from RPGNow gives you all of the original D&D goodness for $29 that some loon just paid more than 2k for on eBay -- and he only got books one through three. You get those, plus Chainmail, Swords & Spells, Greyhawk, Blackmoor, Eldritch Wizardry, and Gods, Demi-Gods, and Heroes!

 

[Treebore]

Book of the Righteous by Green Ronin

Green Ronin

Legend of the 5 Rings 3E (D10)
Creatures of Rokugan 3E (D10)
L5R


C&C Players Handbook and Monsters and Treasure

Troll Lords


Why? They are immersive and the mechanics support the flavor of play that I like.

 

[maddman75]

Buffy the Vampire Slayer - This game has seriously made me rethink how I look at RPGs, and has gotten me from thinking in terms of sessions, encounters, and campaigns to episodes, scenes, and seasons. I find these far more useful. It also has the best metagame mechanics, an excellent balancing of high and low power characters, and is wonderfully written.

Exalted, 2nd Edition - Exalted also informed my thinking on cinematic gaming and the way mechanics can influence play. The stunt system not only encourages exciting fights but makes BBEG battles extremely interesting. And the full color comics in place of fiction are the icing on the cake.

Unknown Armies - They say once you begin to play UA you can never stop. The Madness Meters show how personality mechanics can work without being a straightjacket. And the setting is just fascinating - the game had me at pornomancers.

All Flesh Must Be Eaten - This is a simple game, but really gets down to the basics of gaming. It remains one of the few modern games that you can be playing in five minutes. Hand everyone an archetype and put them in a city full of zombies. Instant fun!

Sorry, only got 4. If it hadn't been stolen I'd add HOL, just to remind me not to take gaming so seriously.

 

[Philotomy Jurament]

Here's my list (edited to reflect current views):

• 1e AD&D Dungeon Masters Guide
• D&D Monster & Treasure Assortments
• Delta Green
• Monsters of Myth
• Gary Gygax's World Builder

 

[catsclaw227]

PHB II
Book of the Righteous by Green Ronin
Freeport Trilogy by Green Ronin (OK actually, it was the individual modules, they were the first 3.0 adventures I ran, and will never forget it. The trilogy book updates them to 3.5)
Ptolus by Malhavoc
Lost City of Barakus - Necromancer Games

Honorable Mention to the ultimate monster trilogy:
Tome of Horrors (Necromancer)
Denizens of Avadnu (Inner Circle)
Monsternomicon 3.5 (Privateer Press)

Honorable Mention Campaign Worlds:
Scarred Lands Ghelspad
Wilderlands of High Fantasy (Necromancer)
Bluffside - OK, not a world but a city.
Warlords of the Accordlands

Honorable Mention Adventures:
Rappan Athuk Reloaded (Necromancer)
Savage Tide AP (Paizo)