Good/Bad d20 Publishers? Sorry, I know this has been asked before...

[dreaded_beast]

I know that this question has probably been asked a million times, so if anyone can provide me the link to the most recent thread, I would greatly appreciate it.



Anyways, I am looking to expand my collection of RPG books beyond WotC. Instead of picking individual books, I'm thinking that I will be a bit more general and start at publishers that have a good reputation.

I'm looking more along the lines for publishers that either have a good reputation for producing quality product or publishers that have a bad reputation for consistently producing poor products.

 

[Henry]

My personal experience is that Green Ronin, Malhavoc Press, Bastion Press, and Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) are among the best of the d20 publishing houses right now. However, my other advice is that you never know what gems you might find from a less well-known publisher. Bad Axe Games, for instance, are well known for several truly entertaining and innovative takes on Dwarves, Half-Orcs, etc. So you never know what you might find with an otherwise smaller publisher.

My best advice is to go look at who won the 2003 ENnies to get a feel for the consistently strong players in the field.

http://www.enworld.org/modules.php?...ns&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=40&page=1

The ENnies are a good starting point , being what the other members of ENWorld feel are some of the best titles of last year. Give them a look!

 

[Crothian]

It's tough to put any publisher is the good or bad catogory. Many have products of varying degrees and of various topics. For instance while Green Ronin is a top notch company and are very good with writting and rules, I find many of their book topics I have little interest in. Then there is Mongoose whis is very hit and miss. But their good products are very well recieved and used by me, but they have some that are just not very good. FFG is a good company that does some solid work. MEG and AEG are two other compaines that I've enjoyed products from, and have shown some great improvements since d20 first came out.

Personally, I find it's easier to take the very best from the many compaines. I enjoy a lot of Bastion, Atlas, Bad Axe Games, and many, many others

 

[diaglo]

the good, the bad, and the fugly. i'll let you guess what is what.


WotC, Green Ronin, Kenzer, AEG, MEG, FieryDragon, Sword&Sorcery, Bastion, Malhavoc, Necromancer, TrollLords, GoodmanGames, Ambient Inc, Open World Press, Khan's Press, Mongoose, FFE, FFG, BadAxeGames, Living Imagination Inc

 

[johnsemlak]

If you like adventures, I'd have to give Necromancer Games high marks.

Again, it really depends on individual products rather than the publisher.

One company that has some very good stuff that hasn't been mentioned above is MonkeyGod Enterprises. They have some good adventures, and an excellent sourcebook in From Stone to Steel. I"m really looking forward to Frost and Fur.

I'd definitely agree that Green Ronin and Malhavoc Press seem to put out consistantly good products, though not all may fit everyone's tastes. Atlas Games also seems to be good, though that's more based on reviews, as I only have one of their d20 sourcebooks.

I personally like KenzerCo's stuff, but that may be a taste thing. Also, sometimes I find it easier to interoduce their stuff in games where people are conservative about non-WotC products.

 

[Wombat]

Yep, gotta agree on Malhavoc & Green Ronin. They have consistently put out interesting, thoughtful, and well-produced material, books that stretch the limits of the D20 system, which is something I truly enjoy. In fact I far prefer either of them to WotC on that point.

Beyond that, it's pretty much toss of the dice and personal tastes.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Personally, I find it's easier to take the very best from the many compaines. I enjoy a lot of Bastion, Atlas, Bad Axe Games, and many, many others

And a guy with 17,000 posts can't be wrong.

Thanks for the kind words, guys!


Wulf

 

[Gothmog]

Stuff you can't go wrong with:

Green Ronin- probably the best of the best right now, I haven't seen a single GR book since they started that was a stinker. Top notch stuff. Especially check out the Shamans Handbook, Witch's Handbook, Book of Fiends, Unholy Warrior's Handbook, and Book of the Righteous.

Mystic Eye Games- Again, some great stuff, from their Foul Locales series of min-adventures, to Artificer's Handbook, Guilds and Adventurers, etc. MEG stuff tends to have a darker feel though (which I love), so be warned.

Atlas Games- Their Penumbra line is incredible, but is more similar to medieval earth than really out there fantasy. Their adventures are some of the best, and can't be solved by hack-n-slash. I love it, but some folks think its too grounded in reality.

FFG- Another golden company, their whole Legends and Lairs series of books see tremendous use at my table, and they brought us Midnight and Dawnforge!

Necromancer Games- These guys consistently put out some of the best adventures offered, with a very "old school" feel. Not for the weak at heart! Tome of Horrors kicks butt too.

Paradigm- Probably some of the best flavor text books out there with solid mechanics, and makers of the much underappreciated Arcanis setting. Thier book on Mind Flayers was phenomenal (Unveiled Masters), as was their giants book (Lord of the Peaks). Forged in Magic (a magic item and spell book) is good too.

Kenzer- I personally like Kenzer's stuff a lot. Kalamar is a top-notch setting, although some people find it boring because it is very well researched so it makes sense culturally, geographically, and politically. Their rules tend to be pretty solid, and the Kalamars Player's Guide gets regular use in my game.

Bad Axe Games- The racial books they have put out have been great, but I have only one complaint- I want them to be longer!!!!

Companies on the border:

AEG- These guys have some great ideas, but I've had a few problems with some of their mechanics which seem overpowered (especially Feats). Still, most of their books are packed with great plot hooks, optional variants, and good ideas- they just might take a little tweaking. I especially like Wilds, Evil, Good, Mercenaries, and Toolbox.

Malhavoc- I know lots of people love Monte, but I've gotten very little use out of any Malhovoc purchase. The rules are overall pretty good (mild to moderate power inflation), but many of his ideas and tastes are just too wonky for me. How many times in a game will I have gods dying, meteors striking the planet, or need super-specialized prestige classes that give up almost nothing while gaining tons of powers? Anger of Angels was pretty good, but then again, how often do you use angels in a game, much less as PCs? The Books of Eldrich Might have some neat spells and feats, but many have proven to be overpowered in my game.

Troll Lord- These guys have some pretty decent adventures, but you'll have to double check some of the stats to make sure they are ok.

Bastion- If I liked really high fantasy, I'd like this company better. They have some out there stuff, but it tends to be well done. The big complaint I have about them is that their books are EXTREMELY pricy for the size ($25 for 96 pages softbound).

Mongoose- When Mongoose is good, they are really good, and when they are bad, they put out some stinkers. The Quintessential series is hit or miss (I liked Revised Fighter, Rogue, Sorcerer, Witch, Barbarian, and Paladin), as well as Book of Dragons. The Slayer's guides are optional, but have some decent background infor on a lot of critters. I'd say the Conan RPG is the pinnacle of their achievements so far- its golden. The Ultimate series hardcovers are ok to good, with Ultimate Equipment Guide and Ultimate Arcane Spellbook being the best. That said, even the worst of the Mongoose books still have some gold nuggets in them I use.

Companies I'd avoid:

Fast Forward Entertainment- Widely known as probably the sloppiest publisher, their stuff tends to be super overpowered and the mechanics tend to be rather shoddy. That said, two of their recent products have been pretty good (Devil Player's Guide and Deadliest Creatures Tome).

Sword & Sorcery- Moderate to good production values, but the mechanics on a lot of their stuff stinks to high heaven! The bindings on almost all their hardbounds are crappy too. Their stuff is extremely overpowered, and I don't use Relics & Rituals at all anymore except for Ritual magic. What isn't overpowered is so Scarred Lands specific to be of very limited use in any other world. Be warned!

 

[trancejeremy]

IMHO:

Very Good:

Necromancer (for adventures), Bastion, Bottled Imp, Green Ronin (though I would personally say they have produced 2 "stinkers", the vast majority is excellent), Atlas


Bad:

Fast Forward Games, Avalanche Press (I think they might have gone out of the d20 business), AEG (non-Spycraft/Rokugan stuff). I would also come very close to including FFG's stuff in this. They put out some brilliant stuff, but shovel out a lot of junk. And their later Dragonstar stuff is awful.

At one time, I think you could look at company ratings in the reviews section.

 

[Desdichado]

One of my favorites hasn't been mentioned yet: Privateer Press. Their release schedule stinks, and you have to like the particulars of their setting, but otherwise, I'd say they're one of the best in the business. Books like the Monsternomicon are almost consistently trotted out as the best monster book, for instance, and Witchfire was an extremely popular module series.

Unfortunately, that's most of what they've done to date. Two big campaign setting books are due for the first half of this year, though, so I'm excited.