D&D Must Buys

[CarlZog]

Must haves:

Booklet I Men & Magic
Booklet II Monsters & Treasure
Booklet III The Underworld & Wilderness Adventures


added extras but not necessary the Reference Sheets that came with the above Booklets in the Boxed Set.

Don't forget a copy of Outdoor Survival.

zog

 

[diaglo]

Don't forget a copy of Outdoor Survival.

zog

and Chainmail by Perren & Gygax

 

[johnsemlak]

I don't think any books are essential. And really, beyond the core books, it depends on your tastes and the kind of campaign you want to run.

My general recommendations would be the following, if you think you need more:

• Dragon and Dungeon Magazine.
• The splatbooks. The Complte Warrior, the Complete Divine, and Complete Arcane when it comes out, or Tome and Blood.
• A campaign setting, if you want to use one.
• If you use a campaign setting, one regional supplement, if there are any, that you would base your campaign in, might be helpful.

 

[Breakdaddy]

I would pick up a copy of AEG's Toolbox, as it will probably prove useful in almost every session as a place to mine ideas/locations/npc's from. YMMV

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

Draconomicon, thats one Ive been intrigued by, but havent heard much on. I know my players well from Star Wars, and they seem to like to be Outlaws, you know, men always on the run, hiding in seedy taverns and stealing from the local nobleman. What would work well for this?

I think Crothy hit the nail on the head with Freeport.

It's got quite a bit of built-in humor, which turns some people off, but it makes for a nice little pirate game.

 

[CarlZog]

and Chainmail by Perren & Gygax

And Fight in the Skies, if you're running any aerial battles.

 

[afstanton]

Grim Tales, by Badaxe Games, is really good.
Dynasties and Demagogues, by Atlas under the Penumbra imprint, is good.
I'm also fond of Fields of Blood, by Eden Studios.

I'll also second Tome of Horrors. I'm not fond of the splatbooks, either by WotC or the Quintessentials series by Mongoose. Personal opinion - players seem to love them.

Monsternomicon (I forgot the publisher) is nice.
Atlas (Penumbra again) also put out a nice monster book, but I forget the name.

Just my $.02.

Aaron

 

[Derulbaskul]

I can't think of anything that is a "must buy" beyond the core books (plus the excellent XPH if you like psionics) and any campaign setting material that might be appropriate.

 

[Frost]

Like others have said, it all depends on what you want to do with the campaign. Personally, I say avoid any of the splatbooks (Complete this, Quintessential that). IMO, they add little except for confusion and DM headaches. For me, I put my money into monster books (Tome of Horrors 1 and 2, Creature Collections, Fiend Folio, etc.) The Arms and Equipment Guide is kind of cool, but not a "must have."

 

[sjmiller]

As someone else who is sticking with 3.0, I know it can be a bit difficult finding books that won't require a bit of tweaking. You have pretty much all you will need right with the 3 core books. Here are a few other books I would suggest that you could find useful. This, of course, depends on the style of game you are interested in playing.

RPG Specific Books
Monster Manual II - A nice addition of creatures with a different twist to them.
Savage Species - Fun for adding monsters and non-standard creatures as PC races.
Anything from Philip J. Reed - Phil does some fun, creative, and interesting thigs with D&D, and has a wonderful time doing it. Check his stuff out at www.philipjreed.com

General Sourcebooks
Bullfinch's Mythology - a good source of story ideas and creatures for European styled games.
Any respectable book on the mythology of your choice.
The Encyclopedia of Crystal, Gem, and Metal Magic by Scott Cunningham and
Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs by Scott Cunningham - These are great sourcebooks for creating your own magic items and potions. I found them delightfully useful.
And finally, any fiction book that covers the style of gaming you desire, especialy classic fiction. These help give you an idea of the flavor of a game, plus it's a good excuse to read classics of literature. I know that when I was going to run my swashbuckling game I read just about everything by Dumas.

I hope those help!