Shadowdancer
First Post
I voted for Complete Adventurer, but really I like it and Complete Warrior about equally.
Favorite Complete Book
- Thread starter Pants
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Estlor
Explorer
I haven't yet read through Complete Adventurer (I've flipped through it a few times so I have a fairly strong idea of what's in it), but I've read the rest.
For my money, Complete Warrior still has the most universal value to it. The feats and prestige classes are excellent and well chosen, and the Hex Blade is a great class. I like the option to play non-spellcasting Rangers and Paladins (though Ranger is a bit less useful now that the Scout class exists). The only thing that really sinks from Complete Warrior is the Samurai base class. The book isn't class-focused, but that's a strength given its purpose.
Complete Divine is probably the poorest book of the series. The base classes really left me in the cold. Reprints of the Shujenga and Favored Soul? What a waste. The Spirit Shaman is fine, but I'm not sure a spontaneous casting druid is overly useful when 1) the sorcerer is a poor class and 2) the favored soul is a silly class. Too much time was spent on generic dieties which have little carry-over value to other campaigns. Relics is an interesting idea, but I'm not sure if I need another type of magic item in my game. The feats were okay, I suppose.
Complete Arcane is a good book, but it doesn't really serve the intended purpose. It's more of the 'complete guide to arcane magic for arcane spellcasters.' I hate that they reprinted the War Mage and Wu-Jen with a passion. What a waste. (Pardon the echo.) The Warlock is a great class, though. The prestige classes are up to Complete Warrior standards.
Complete Adventurer looks pretty good. I don't really need a Ninja for my game, but at least it's a bit more general thematically than the Samurai was. The Spellthief is mechanically sound, though I doubt I'd ever use him, and the Scout is a simply amazing class to replace the Ranger with. You could even roll the two together with a little tweaking to build a more flexible skirmisher. The skill section is good. I haven't ingested the prestige classes yet so I can't make a statement on that. Maybe once I read them, the organizations will provide me with some inspiration, but right now they look to be needless wastes of pages.
Bottom line... I'd love the Complete series a lot more if I didn't have the Miniatures Handbook. I wonder why they didn't find a way to recycle the Marshall and Healer to completely repackage the book?
For my money, Complete Warrior still has the most universal value to it. The feats and prestige classes are excellent and well chosen, and the Hex Blade is a great class. I like the option to play non-spellcasting Rangers and Paladins (though Ranger is a bit less useful now that the Scout class exists). The only thing that really sinks from Complete Warrior is the Samurai base class. The book isn't class-focused, but that's a strength given its purpose.
Complete Divine is probably the poorest book of the series. The base classes really left me in the cold. Reprints of the Shujenga and Favored Soul? What a waste. The Spirit Shaman is fine, but I'm not sure a spontaneous casting druid is overly useful when 1) the sorcerer is a poor class and 2) the favored soul is a silly class. Too much time was spent on generic dieties which have little carry-over value to other campaigns. Relics is an interesting idea, but I'm not sure if I need another type of magic item in my game. The feats were okay, I suppose.
Complete Arcane is a good book, but it doesn't really serve the intended purpose. It's more of the 'complete guide to arcane magic for arcane spellcasters.' I hate that they reprinted the War Mage and Wu-Jen with a passion. What a waste. (Pardon the echo.) The Warlock is a great class, though. The prestige classes are up to Complete Warrior standards.
Complete Adventurer looks pretty good. I don't really need a Ninja for my game, but at least it's a bit more general thematically than the Samurai was. The Spellthief is mechanically sound, though I doubt I'd ever use him, and the Scout is a simply amazing class to replace the Ranger with. You could even roll the two together with a little tweaking to build a more flexible skirmisher. The skill section is good. I haven't ingested the prestige classes yet so I can't make a statement on that. Maybe once I read them, the organizations will provide me with some inspiration, but right now they look to be needless wastes of pages.
Bottom line... I'd love the Complete series a lot more if I didn't have the Miniatures Handbook. I wonder why they didn't find a way to recycle the Marshall and Healer to completely repackage the book?
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Testament
First Post
4. Complete Divine. Doing a book of Divine magic and casters was always going to be hard, given that such things are so heavily tied to setting. Appaling editing and an apparent lack of playtesting/balancing (Divine Metamagic? Spikes? QUILL BLAST?!) didn't help though.
3. Complete Arcane. It has the Warlock. This is a very good thing. It also has the Wu Jen. This would have been a good thing, except that the cut and paste goblins got lazy tranferring the spells from OA, and forgot to add Wizard to them. And whoever did the school assignment needs to be punched in the face. Hard. Repeatedly. The book loses serious points here. Orb of Force as a creation?! WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!?
2. Complete Adventurer. Or as I call it, Complete Advantage. Some wonderfully interesting things in here, like Alchemy (WHEE!), loads on skills, Scout (DOUBLE WHEEE!) and the new Master of Many Forms (this Druid player screams with glee).
It does, however, have the Ascetic/Devoted lines of feats. These are all well and good, but may be the most Twinkable feats EVER printed. Halfling Ranger/Paladin/Halfling Outrider with Devoted Tracker means EVERY SINGLE LEVEL boosts your mount as both a Special Mount and an Animal Companion. And need I mention a Monk/Sorc/Enlightened Fist with Ascetic Mage? I have some powergamer friends who have dubbed this book "The Completely Broken".
1. Complete Warrior. No other "Complete" book fufilled its promise of something for everyone more than this one. And for that alone, it deserves credit. The tactical feats rock, and encourage even more tactical play (which I really enjoy!), styles are a great addition. Really, this book kept it relatively simple and everyone benefited. Only problems are in the PrC section, in the forms of Hulking Hurler, Invisible Blade and Master Thrower combo, and Warshaper. Having Marshall in the base class section would have been the icing on the cake, rather than that sad mockery of the Samurai.
3. Complete Arcane. It has the Warlock. This is a very good thing. It also has the Wu Jen. This would have been a good thing, except that the cut and paste goblins got lazy tranferring the spells from OA, and forgot to add Wizard to them. And whoever did the school assignment needs to be punched in the face. Hard. Repeatedly. The book loses serious points here. Orb of Force as a creation?! WHAT WERE THEY THINKING!?
2. Complete Adventurer. Or as I call it, Complete Advantage. Some wonderfully interesting things in here, like Alchemy (WHEE!), loads on skills, Scout (DOUBLE WHEEE!) and the new Master of Many Forms (this Druid player screams with glee).
It does, however, have the Ascetic/Devoted lines of feats. These are all well and good, but may be the most Twinkable feats EVER printed. Halfling Ranger/Paladin/Halfling Outrider with Devoted Tracker means EVERY SINGLE LEVEL boosts your mount as both a Special Mount and an Animal Companion. And need I mention a Monk/Sorc/Enlightened Fist with Ascetic Mage? I have some powergamer friends who have dubbed this book "The Completely Broken".
1. Complete Warrior. No other "Complete" book fufilled its promise of something for everyone more than this one. And for that alone, it deserves credit. The tactical feats rock, and encourage even more tactical play (which I really enjoy!), styles are a great addition. Really, this book kept it relatively simple and everyone benefited. Only problems are in the PrC section, in the forms of Hulking Hurler, Invisible Blade and Master Thrower combo, and Warshaper. Having Marshall in the base class section would have been the icing on the cake, rather than that sad mockery of the Samurai.
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Whizbang Dustyboots
Gnometown Hero
If Arcane had a page of more familiars, along with stats and the bonuses, along with a reprint of the maps for Mathmaghma, it would have been the perfect D&D supplement, IMO. Between it and Libris Mortalis, I've got enough for years worth of arcane-focussed campaigning.
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