[D&D]"Complete" books: worth it?

[MadMaxim]

I say they're all good. Who doesn't like a ton of prestige classes, feats, spells and equipment? All the books have some updated 3.0 prestige classes and some new ones. Psion is right about the fact that Complete Divine has most old 3.0 prestige classes updated for 3.5 and least new prestige classes. But I like them all, though I think that Complete Divine is the worst in terms of editing ("See page XX" comes to mind).

 

[Sammael]

Things to look out for: Frenzied Berserker PrC (CW), Hulking Hurler PrC (CW), Karmic Strike feat (CW), Rainbow Servant PrC (CD), Ur-Priest PrC (CD), Divine Metamagic feat (CD), brambles, miasma, quill storm, spikes spells (CD), Faith Feats variant (CD), Warlock (CA) with Supernatural Substitution (Savage Species).

Otherwise, highly recommended.

 

[VirgilCaine]

My hat for Complete Warrior know no limit.

Okay, it know some limit, because there are a few usable bits in there, but I find it very frustrating.

The tactical feats and weapon style feats are nice, and some of the feats are nifty expansions, but there were FAR too many PrCs for my taste...and the new weapons...not too useful...

 

[ColonelHardisson]

I have Complete Warrior and Complete Arcane. CW is not that great, for some of the reasons mentioned above, while I think CA is pretty durned good. The Warlock and Warmage core classes alone make it worthwhile to me - and bear in mind I'm not a big fan of books expanding upon spellcasters.

 

[MerricB]

Very much worth it. All four books give the essential expansions to the basic game. There is more in those books than you'll need, and some material that moves very much towards specialist territory, but I've never regretted getting them.

The books see constant use in my games.

Here's what I can remember being used of the material:

Complete Warrior
Classes: Hexblade, Samurai, Swashbuckler
Prestige Classes: Cavalier, Invisible Blade, Ronin, Spellsword
Feats: Extra Rage, Extra Stunning, Hold the Line, Improved Buckler Defense, Improved Familiar, Improved Rapid Shot, Improved Toughness, Divine Might, Divine Resistance.

Complete Divine
Classes: Favoured Soul, Spirit Shaman
Prestige Classes: Radiant Servant of Pelor, Seeker of the Misty Isle
Feats: Augment Healing, Empower Turning, Practiced Spellcaster, Rapid Spell, Cheetah's Speed

Complete Arcane
Classes: Warlock, Warmage
Prestige Classes: Mindbender
Feats: Extra Edge, Draconic Heritage, Sudden Empower, Sudden Maximize, Sudden Silent, Sudden Still, Sudden Widen

Complete Adventurer
Classes: Ninja, Scout
Prestige Classes: Animal Lord, Dungeon Delver, Thief Acrobat
Feats: Extra Music, Jack of All Trades.

(The players in my games tend towards the fighter classes - arcane and divine spellcasters are quite rare)

Cheers!

 

[Buttercup]

If you have the 3.0 splatbooks, you don't need these. Otherwise, I'd recommend Arcane, Warrior and Adventurer whole heartedly, and Divine with reservations. Like Crothian said, if you're an experienced DM, you can deal with any problems, but otherwise, give them a look-over before you spend your money.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

Well, I've used base classes out of all four books, though I don't use all of them out of any one book.

Most of the Prestige Classes are decent, and you can find out real quick what's broken just by poking around in the D&D Rules Forum-- I'll second the recommendations of Frenzied Berserker and Ur-Priest. I'm still working on PrC conversions, since most published PrCs don't stand up well to the Gestalt rules.

All-in-all, I think they're solid options for players who stick to particular archetypes, and good material for DMs looking for a variety of humanoid opponents.

 

[caudor]

I don't have Complete Arcane yet, but I'm pleased with the other three. I'm especially happy with Complete Adventurer...very good.

 

[Jdvn1]

/me also votes for "yes."

I think they're all really useful and provide interesting character options.

 

[MonkeyDragon]

But I like them all, though I think that Complete Divine is the worst in terms of editing ("See page XX" comes to mind).

Gah, I must do the agreement-dance there. I'm currently typing up 30-some spells from that book for my druid to use. Three spells from that list are not included in the actual spell list, only in the full length spell section, and I've seen numerous typos. It makes my poor English majored soul hurt.

I find it nice to have the complete books, because if I say to my players "core books and complete books only" for making their characters, it allows for plenty of options, but keeps the sheer numbers of references down to a much more managable (for me) size. And I own all but WC, so it's easy to tote them around when need be.

That said, I do plan to go through them more carefully before my next game, and cull the classes that don't fit what I want in my homebrew. Especially the PrCs. In particular, the ones that are parts of in game organizations, since I've got enough to do in designing my setting, I don't need to be trying to work in somebody else's organizations at this stage.