JoeGKushner
Adventurer
Really hard question as my top five switch with what I'm actually doing. I noticed that Psion's list included a lot of material for planar campaigns. Other's I noticed had a lot of OGL goods like Conan or Mutants & Masterminds. While I enjoy those games, and Grim Tales for instance, my actual play value of them vs core d20/D&D, is minimal so despite my enjoyment of them, I doubt they'd rank as top five books for me.
In no order then...
1. Complete Book of Eldritch Might: I don't feel that it did enough to update Monte's version of the bard or his alternative version of the sorcerer, but I do use this book a lot. If I kept my old books, this one probably wouldn't be here.
2. Unearthed Arcana: Action Point? Check. Bloodlines? Check. Racial Paragon? Check. Options for Honor and Reputation if PC's want them? Check. Lots of other stuff that may make it into my campaign one day? Check.
3. Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide: Sure, the Player's Guide has a lot of stuff updated to 3.5 but the Campaign Guide is still a great book with a lot of utility to it and right now, I'm still playing a FR game so...
4. Black Company: This is purely a fans pick. I enjoy the Black Company. I trust Green Ronin. I'm in the middle of reading it and it hasn't let me down so far.
5. Advanced Bestiary: If it wasn't hardcovers, Dexlue Book of Template might be here. See, if we already assume that the Monster Manual is a given and I still need monsters, this sucker can give me thousands of options.
Not saying that other books like the Book of the Righteous or Book of Fiends aren't up there, but in terms of what I've been using, outside of #4, this is a good list of my game.
In no order then...
1. Complete Book of Eldritch Might: I don't feel that it did enough to update Monte's version of the bard or his alternative version of the sorcerer, but I do use this book a lot. If I kept my old books, this one probably wouldn't be here.
2. Unearthed Arcana: Action Point? Check. Bloodlines? Check. Racial Paragon? Check. Options for Honor and Reputation if PC's want them? Check. Lots of other stuff that may make it into my campaign one day? Check.
3. Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide: Sure, the Player's Guide has a lot of stuff updated to 3.5 but the Campaign Guide is still a great book with a lot of utility to it and right now, I'm still playing a FR game so...
4. Black Company: This is purely a fans pick. I enjoy the Black Company. I trust Green Ronin. I'm in the middle of reading it and it hasn't let me down so far.
5. Advanced Bestiary: If it wasn't hardcovers, Dexlue Book of Template might be here. See, if we already assume that the Monster Manual is a given and I still need monsters, this sucker can give me thousands of options.
Not saying that other books like the Book of the Righteous or Book of Fiends aren't up there, but in terms of what I've been using, outside of #4, this is a good list of my game.