D&D 5E Do you ACTUALLY use 3rd Party Books?

[AdmundfortGeographer]

Yup. A PC currently runs a Titanheart Sorcerer from an Arcadia issue. The characters made abundant use of stronghold and retainer rules from Strongholds and Followers.

I’ve customized magic items nearly every loot trove with magic items that have “+”s using some 3rd party magic item customization tools. One PC has an ancestral weapon from another product.

To add, I also use Worlds Without Number’s DM tools to help build out setting areas because those DM tools for region development are many levels more useful than the WotC stuff.

I ran Goodman Games’ The Lost City campaign conversion.

 

[jmartkdr2]

For me it’s technically yes since I have played in a game with a Blood Hunter. But that’s the only costs-money-3pp I’m aware of using.

In practice I’ve found the official stuff is good enough for most characters with homebrew magic items, and just looking at what people shared on Reddit seems to cover the rest.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Heck yes! Most of my 3pp is from ENPub, Mage Hand Press, and Kobold Press, but I have a lot of other stuff too. I've been slowly moving away from using WotC products for the last couple years.

 

[Maxperson]

I've used monsters, classes, feats, subclasses, equipment, magic items, traps, maps, curses, poisons, taverns, places of interest and spells. That list is 3e and 5e both. And I'm probably forgetting a few things.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

In the one group, only monsters, magic items, and fluff details like taverns and whatnot. If a monster is broken, it has much less of an impact than if an entire subclass or feat is borked. In the other group, no. It started as an open table and as a result, I set the expectation that only official content would be used, to make life easier on me. I've stuck by that ever since.

 

[Bagpuss]

No, I don't use any third-party D&D 5e stuff. Sometimes I'll get OSR adventures and convert them.

That sounds like a Yes then as OSR is third party content. Or at the least a Yes but only monsters.

What's with all these post saying "No but..." then listing a load of 3PP stuff that they have used.

 

[iserith]

That sounds like a Yes then as OSR is third party content. Or at the least a Yes but only monsters.

It's a D&D 5e thread related to 3PP and I don't buy any of those as stated. That's how I read it anyway. What I buy tend to be decent location-based adventures run on some niche system that I convert myself to D&D 5e. Sometimes those authors will also publish a D&D 5e version of those adventures, but I find people in those spaces aren't actually very good with D&D 5e, so I'd rather just have what they originally designed it for and I'll convert it myself.

 

[Cadence]

I clicked "Yes but only monsters" because I assumed you were referring to D&D. My 13yo and his friends don't have exposure to 3PP much, and it didn't come up in the last 5e game I ran for adults or played in.

In the last 13th Age campaign I was in we were able to use the non-Pelgrane Dark Alleys & Twisted Paths. (Is that 4PP?).

 

[Riley]

No poll option for me, either.
In 5e, I've used 3rd party adventures and worldbooks, including monsters (mostly Kobold Press and Goodman).
In BX, I've used OGL 1.0a OSE rules and adventures (which this OGL 1.1 nonsense has suddenly lumped in with 5e OGL stuff).

 

[Scottius]

Before we quit 5e recently I was using more 3rd party content than WOTC stuff. I quit allowing player facing material after Xanathar's.

But I use a ton of Kobold Press stuff both monsters and player stuff.

Also stuff from Nord Games and Cawood Publishing's monster books. And I've got all of Goodman Games OAR books and reran Keep on the Borderlands with it.

 

[Mind of tempest]

mine is a technical no as the only game I could get into was a taster game at uni and that lacks it for clear reasons.

but when I played properly yeah when it was relevant.

 

[Micah Sweet]

In the one group, only monsters, magic items, and fluff details like taverns and whatnot. If a monster is broken, it has much less of an impact than if an entire subclass or feat is borked. In the other group, no. It started as an open table and as a result, I set the expectation that only official content would be used, to make life easier on me. I've stuck by that ever since.

I don't care for the assumption here that 3pp are inherently of lesser quality to WotC, whose work is IMO no better, and in many cases worse.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Please don't put words into my mouth.

I don't care for the assumption here that 3pp are inherently of lesser quality to WotC, whose work is IMO no better, and in many cases worse.

 

[Voadam]

I voted for DM and player stuff for the last two campaigns I ran.

Last two campaigns I ran included 3rd party DM and PC stuff.

Last two years only DM end stuff.

Current 5e Iron Gods conversion campaign I run I have used monsters from Creature Codex, Fifth Edition Foes, and Tome of Beasts. I use a bunch of OGL non-5e settings and sourcebooks and modules in the campaign. I have bought a number of 5e OGL sourcebooks specifically for the campaign that have not entered into use yet.

My last campaign I ran before the current one was a 5e converted Carrion Crown Adventure Path and included supplemental 5e modules like the 5e version of the Murmuring Fountain, and the 5e Fiddler's Lament. I had player side elements of things like Tomes of Ancient Knowledge that a player used and dove into. I also had extensive non-5e OGL setting and modules that I used for the game.

 

[J.Quondam]

No answer, as I haven't played actively in the last 2 years, and I'd need an "other" category anyway.
But in both the near and distant past, I've used lots of 3pp monsters and limited player options; as well as settings and adventures. My main use of 3pp material in the last several years, though, has been for non-5e systems, especially systemless and OSR stuff.

 

[aco175]

I did not see a choice for yes, but only player options and not monsters. I'm not sure your poll will get what you want since I only used a class revision once in the last 2 years and that seems to total 1% of the game.

 

[DarkCrisis]

For 5E: Aside from an Adventure or 2. Not really.

I do own a lot of OGL stuff. Like OSRIC and For Gold and Glory etc which see use.

 

[TheHand]

We use Levelup and a fair amount of Kobold Press materials, with a smattering of others

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I've bought lots of 3PP content but none of it has been used apart from monsters...

I have run a 17-year campaign set in Ptolus with lots of supplemental works from other companies. During the 4E era, my group went to Castles & Crusades instead of 4E.

Using just WotC content is like just watching one channel on your television. There's both good and bad on the other channels, but most importantly, there's a lot more choice.

 

[Voadam]

I have run a 17-year campaign

Impressive.

I have been running sequential campaigns in continuity with each other in a mashup setting that includes Ptolus ever since the Banewarrens in 3.0, but there have been long periods where I was a player and not DMing so it is not continuous.