Freaking Awesome 3rd Party Books That Don't Get Enough Praise

[Sigurd]

Darkwalkers The Evil Within by Dragonwing

http://enworld.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=7598&

I have not read another source that put evil into a framework that lets evil have a goal\strategy. It keeps everyone from killing each other just to prove how evil they are and has a lot of crunch!



Unorthodox Witches by The Le Games

http://enworld.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=4567&

Very tasty arcane base class examples that aren't over powered. Shows how uninspired the wizard is as a class.


Cities Encounters, City Populating, Character Catch Up
By Stephen Abrams & Jon Everson, Chaosium 1986 (also Midkemia Press)
Great random tables and advice for building cities. I have a hard copy but I love it so much I'm including it here.


Sigurd

 

[Nightfall]

Darkwalkers is a good update from the previous stuff from Mystic Eye/Mongoose etc. I was happy to add it to my collection.

The rest...meh but eh it's not like it's FFE crud.

 

[I'm A Banana]

I hope not, Nightfall! But I'm going to err away from stuff that doesn't seem like it'd have a good appeal "whole cloth" for my personal list (that is, without another setting book or something). Sadly, that makes the Divine & Defeated a bit too niche, but it sounds like it encapsulates the SL god/titan conflict really nicely.

#11:Ultimate Equipment Guidehttp://www.amazon.com/Ultimate-Equipment-Guide-Matthew-Sprange/dp/190398081X. It's a crying shame that the WotC "softback in a hardcover" Arms & Equipment Guide probably outsold this thing.

#12:Classic Play: Strongholds. There's not one review on the thing, so I can't even say what's strong about it! What makes it good?

#12:The Book of Taverns. Neat, actually, this thing sounds like EVERY campaign can use it. At least for on-the-fly taverning!

#13:Doom of Listonshire. Again, no reviews, but it seems like someone went out on a limb with random adventure design. That's a ballsy move!

#14:The Witch's Handbook + The Shaman's Handbook. Seems to bring a good historical feel to a new class that could go mad with myth. Sometimes, this is a good thing.

 

[Nightfall]

Kami,

eh, it might but it has some nice mechanics, like what does praying actually do as a mechanic without casting the spell. Spells too. But *shrugs* whatever. I still vote Divine and the Defeated over most god books.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Untapped Potential: New Horizons in Psionics by Dreamscarred Press . It is like complete psionic, only full of psionic goodness instead of suck.

HAHAHA, wow, that's a good recommendation.

eh, it might but it has some nice mechanics, like what does praying actually do as a mechanic without casting the spell. Spells too. But *shrugs* whatever. I still vote Divine and the Defeated over most god books.

I'll buy that. Let's LINK IT!

 

[Nightfall]

YAY! Divine and the Defeated in the hunt! Sooo cool.

 

[Sigurd]

Also a General Vote for the Money Raisers

I also think third party publishers deserve high marks for the several money raising projects for charities they have done.

The Le - Personal Artifacts - Leukemia Edt.

F20 Gamers Against Cancer Edition (never tried it)
http://enworld.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=2529&

Sean K Renolds - Swords Into Plowshares
Now free: http://enworld.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=214

Also Hungry Little Monsters benefits FoodForAll.org
http://enworld.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=3926&


Dog Soul Publishing: Suck Da Head, Squeeze Da Tail - Katrina Fundraiser
http://enworld.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=5953&


I'm sure WOTC gives money to good causes but these 3rd party publications (and others) are visible acts of good will. I think these projects don't always get the recognition they deserve. Simply good ideas to help people.

(Part of what makes me try to always spend more on PDFs than on mainstream publications.)

 

[catsclaw227]

Hmmm. The ones that I'd mention are:

The Drow War Campaign Trilogy - Mongoose Publishing. a 1st-30th campaign in 750 or so pages.

Oathbound - Bastion Press. There are a bunch of books out and you can get them cheap.

Iron Kingdoms - Privateer Press. There are a few of these books, but the players guide and the campaign setting are stellar, oh and so is the new Five Fingers book. Flavor-insane goodness.

Also for good flavor (though mechanically a bit messy) are the four Warlords of the Accordlands books that came out all at once.

Let's see, most Scarred Lands, Freeport, Bluffside (!)... I guess you can see that I like setting books.

But, for non setting books, I would say that many of the Legends and Lairs books that FFG put out were really good.

Crime & Punishment and Dynasties & Demogogues by Atlas Games where really good as well.

 

[khyron1144]

I like the first Creature Collection that Sword & Sorcery/ White Wolf put out. The CRs are a bit off because it's such an early product, but the concepts are good.

 

[Angel Tarragon]

Broncosaurus Rex - concetually cool, but could have been implemented better.

Experts 3.5 An extremely useful resource for DMs that need specific types of experts.