Books you DO like.

[toberane]

I use mostly the core rulebooks. I have the PHB and DMG open in front of me practically every game session and they get heavily thumbed. But for non-core:

- Magic of Faerun--some nifty spells
- Epic Level Handbook--I like it. Haven't had a chance to use it, yet, but one of my characters is a t 18th and almost there...
- Stronghold builder's guidebook--The aforementioned 18th level character is building a Keep and a small village near a mine he owns. This, plus the extras in Dragon Magazine, is helpful, helpful.
- FRCS--I agree that the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting is a very nicely done book with more goodies than you can shake several sticks at.

Haven't bought a lot of the non-WOTC books yet, mostly because my group is reluctant to play with non-core WOTC rules. But of the ones I've bought, I liked:

- Creature Collection and Creature Collection II--I have a fondness for unusual, sometimes quirky creatures. These books fill that order quite nicely.
- Ravenloft Campaign Setting--Never played it before 3E, but this book made me want to.

 

[Warchild]

Manual of The Planes. This book is getting a lot of love! Psion and Wicket said all that needs saying about it. The best book i own.

Legions of Hell - Great combination of creature/adventure seed book. Mechanics were tip top as well. Rare combo.

Occult Lore - i don't get this book for another day or two, but i have every reason to believe it will be one of the best i own.

Spycraft - This is an awesome book. It is tight, mechanically speaking, and gives a real taste of the genre. Their mechanic innovations were well done. score.

FRCS - Though i've slowed down considerably on the published settings of late, no sane person can deny the quality of this tome. Beautiful and brilliant. Puts the other setting books to shame, regardless of your opinion of the actual setting genre.

Bluffside - cool city book. A lot of fun and IS easy to fit into a homebrew. (Unless your brew is considerably exotic)

 

[Tyler Do'Urden]

Books I love:

Book of Eldritch Might I&II (Malhavoc): Wow, did Monte do a great job on these... more fun spells than you can shake a stick at, and other cool ideas. Bravo.

Arms and Armor (Bastion Press): COOL. I've gotten more ideas for outfitting unique and culturally distinctive millitary units from this book than any other. From crystal-armored Grey elven PsyWarriors to steam-powered exoskeleton and double-mail clad Orc Warlords wielding serrated Bloodaxes, with numerous others in between. There's no better armory in print!

Spells and Spellcraft (Fantasy Flight): Again, not only a great collection of spells, but a great collection of easily-implemented magical systems that mesh well with existing mechanics. Very useful (and a hardcover, to boot).

Psionics Handbook (WotC): I love the 3rd edition Psion (or, as they're called in my campaign setting, Gnostics). It's balanced, effective, and unique.

Stronghold Builder's Guidebook (WotC): My campaign is very political- and every ruler has to have a stronghold. This book is a great toolkit for players and DMs alike.

Books I don't particularly care for but have still found a lot of use in my campaign:

The 3e Class Handbooks (WotC): I didn't like them. Too much errata, not enough balance, too many Gayhawk references- yet my players can't get enough of them, especially the prestige classes. Already, my campaign has seen an Elemental Savant, a Mage of the Arcane Order, a Ghostwalker, and a Duelist- with a Deepwood Sniper and a Warmaster on the way.

Books I like but haven't found useful:

The Manual of the Planes (WotC): Great book. Completely useless for my campaign at the present time, however.

Books I shouldn't have purchased:

Deities and Demigods (WotC): Useless.

Creature Collection (SSS): Even more useless.

Books I'm glad I didn't buy:

Hero Builder's Guidebook (WotC): The most useless book ever written.

Books I'm considering buying:

Epic Level Handbook (WotC): I'm not sure about this one. It could be useful if my campaign hits higher levels, but it sounds like the book was a bust- not useless, just uninspired. But it might be nice to have... maybe I'll just wait for a friend to purchase it.

Way of the _____ (Fantasy Flight): These look like they might be a considerable improvement over WotC's Class Handbooks- and they're hardcovers to boot. Considering how much I like FF's books, I might have to get them.

Spells and Magic (Bastion Press): I'd pick this one up right now if I had the money. I flipped through it at the store the other day, and I was hooked instantly. It looks like a fantastic supplement.

 

[Blacksad]

Oriental Adventures: tons of prestige class which aren't better fighter or better wizards but fun specialist or new concept, divine sorcerer new core class (shugenja), nice setting, lots of fun monster, lots and lots of idea sprang from this book.

Way of the Ninja: it works only for Rokugan, but ideas for a ninja campaign in a very, very lawful land, are just great.

Polyhedron 151 for spelljammer, but I'm not sure that it counts.

 

[Tsyr]

Hmmm... WotC?

Psi Handbook, Oriental Adventures, Masters of the Wild, Tome and Blood, Call of Cthullu, Wheel of Time... all goodies.

None WotC? Alot... Lets see... some of my favorites...

Mongoose Publishing: Fey Magic, Shamans, Demonology, Quint Elf, Quint Fighter

AEG: Rokugan, Magic of Rokugan

Other noteables: Sov Stone campagin setting, Dragonstar players HB, Kalamar main book and players book, Occult Lore, Traps and Treachery

 

[Teflon Billy]

My favorite book of the last year was Seas of Blood from our good friends over at Mongoose.

My new favorites are The Ghelspad Gazetteer, and most of the Scarred Lands stuff (Particularly Hollowfaust and except for Warrens of the Ratmen).

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

1. The Manual of the Planes is cool. I think it's well put together and full of good extra planar info.

2. The Living Greyhawk Gazzetter. The level of info on the nations of Oerth is good, I use it in conjunction with the 1983 boxed set.

3. Legions of Hell & Armies of the Abyss. Great writeups on devils & demons. Sure I have to change the cosmomlogy a little, but there are lots of sees in there. The PC's are getting ready to interact with minions of one of the Demon Princes already.

 

[Gothmog]

My favorite WOtC books:

CoC d20- I have always been a fan of the Classic Coc- so it was cool to see how they did this

Masters of the Wild- the best of the mediocre set of class books

Manual of the Planes- even though I don't do hardly any plane-hopping in my game, its a good read. If you do use the planes frequently, it would be a nice book to have.

Non WOtC books:

The whole Quintessential series from Mongoose so far- yeah they might not have ALL of the mechanics perfect, but the ideas presented in them are top-notch. When I buy a new book, I look for new/interesting ideas, and these books have them in spades. I can changes any mechanics that don't suit my needs, so absolute adherence to the canon isn't as important to me as some maybe. I especially love the Rogue book- guilds, brewing cutsom potions, equipment, and feats were great. The cleric book was also quite good with the ideas of hymns, congregations, and divine estates- maybe not as useful to PCs, but there has to be a reason some NPC clerics minister to a flock rather than adventure.

Legions of Hell and Armies of the Abyss- especially for Legions of Hell- some great new creatures that had incredible artwork and very original concepts.

Spells and Spellcraft- good resource for any spellcasters in D&D- he some new spells that nicely fill in gaps left in the core rules, as well as interesting new ideas about familiars, labs, constructs (although the constructs part could have been a little more thorough in my opinion)

Occult Lore- although I haven't finished this one yet, the ideas present here are very interesting, and I'll probably end up inserting several of the magical traditions presented here into my world, along with the herbal remedies.

KOK Players Guide- probably the most bang for the buck of any book released in the last year IMO. Lots of new feats, spells, skill uses, fighting style suggestions, a cool new language system, and a comprehensive list of feats from all the WOC and Kalamar books!

Liber Bestarius- from Eden Studios- I got this one last week from my game store. Lots of great creatures in here that could easily be used in any style of game, but favoring a more horror/thoughtful type of game. Also, they present 2-3 scenario hooks with each creature that are solid, and the artwork is average to very good. I usually don't go out of my way for new monster books (I can make up those on my own), but this one kept me reading and gave me a list of 50(!) scenario ideas based around monsters in addition to the ones presented in the book. Very cool.

Secret College of Necromancy- Great book from Green Ronin dealing with the neglected field of necromancy. Lots of interesting ideas in here with a definite "dark and gritty" feel to them, and some very original spells from 0-9th level. Also provided are new feats for necromancers, two new core classes that go to 20th level (necromancer and death knight), and an entire secret brotherhood of necromancers detailed that are not all evil- all in all a very compelling book.

Although they have some problems mechanically, the Mongoose Encyclopedia Arcane and Divine books are a good source of ideas. I especially liked Demonology (for NPCs or really unwise PCs), Fey Magic, and Parts of the Necromancy book. Chaos Magic is interesting, but would probably be a pretty big hassle for someone to use at the table.

 

[dagger]

FRCS
Masters of the Wild
Tome and Blood
Book of Eldritch Might 1 and 2
Oriental Adventures
Magic of Faerun
Monsters of Faerun
Librum Equitis vol 1
If Thoughts Could Kill
Sword and Fist
Song and Silence
Defenders of the Faith
Lords of Darkness
Silver Marches
Manual of the Planes
Psi Handbook

Lots more d20 stuff I have failed to remember.


As you can see I aint too picky and can make use of most anything. I do buy lots of crap I know I wont use because I just gotta have it.

 

[ForceUser]

I'm going to have to make two lists: books I liked and bought, and books I like and use.

Books I Liked and Bought
Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
Magic of Faerun
Wheel of Time D20
Kingdoms of Kalamar
Scarred Lands Gazetteer
Psionics Handbook

I liked these books enough to buy, and liked them more after I read them. Unfortunately, I don't use any of them in my current homebrew campaign setting. Still, these are great products, and even though I don't use them, I think they are fantastic and I'm glad I bought them.

Books I Like and Use
The core rulebooks
Oriental Adventures
Traps & Treachery
Traps & Treachery II
Seafarer's Handbook
Seas of Blood
Jade & Steel
Relics & Rituals
Creature Collection
Creature Collection II
Monsters of Faerun

These products are fantastic! Not only am I glad I bought them, but I am incorporating elements from all of these books into my current campaign setting.