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

[Estlor]

I've consistantly enjoyed material from Sword & Sorcery, Malhavoc, and Fantasty Flight in the past. Of course, with S&SS and FFG most of their best work is setting-specific. That could reduce your milage with a book. But I have to give FFG props for a setting that's as much fun to read as it is to play (Midnight).

I don't own any Green Ronin products, but all the books of theirs that I've flipped through seemed like solid works. They just didn't fit my preferred type of D&D game (though Book of Fiends is on my wish list; I wanted Armies of the Abyss and Legions of Hell, but never quite got around to buying them).

 

[Wolv0rine]

If you have an interest in the unusual (and if you like d20 modern especially) I'd recommend Second World Simulations. The Second World Sourcebook was a massive piece of work, and realizing that pretty much everything but the art was done by Steve alone makes it all the more impressive. Granted, SWS hasn't put out much, but given that Steve does all the work (last I knew), I can't fault him for it.

 

[Ghostwind]

There is a fair amount of support material available for the Second World Sourcebook on SWS' website. Sadly, Steve is busy writing screenplays so he has little time to write game books for the time being.

 

[Desdichado]

But, really, you need monster books. You can NEVER have enough monster books:

All the WotC monster books
Tome of Horrors
All 3 Creature Collections (CC1 Revised, not CC1)
Fantasy Bestiary
Book of Beasts (Liber Bestarius)
The "Lore" books from FFG

I'm quite the monster book fan myself, but I think you're leaving off some classic ones, and some of the ones you have listed I'd say are strictly optional.

The WotC books are pretty good, but MM2 in particular seems to be optional as it has few "must haves". FF is also quite focused in many ways on extraplanar monsters, but I think it's extremely well done.
Tome of Horrors converts a lot of old D&D creatures that were better off forgotten, although it's got some gems in it as well.
I don't have the Revised CC1 or CC3, but I'd say in general the CC books are worth their cost.
Don't have Fantasy Bestiary; that price tag just keeps turning me off.
Liber Bestarius is kinda hit and miss; it has a few good ideas and a few clunkers, and a lot of mediocre ideas as well.
I don't have the lore books.

Noticably abset are the Green Ronin monster books, Jade Dragons and Hungry Ghosts and the Book of Fiends, just recently recompiled, issued with many new creatures and updated for 3.5. Also, the Monsternomicon is (almost) universally acclaimed as the best monster book in production. I'd agree with that assessment as well. Creatures of Rokugan is another one that I like quite a bit.

 

[Psion]

If you have an interest in the unusual (and if you like d20 modern especially) I'd recommend Second World Simulations. The Second World Sourcebook was a massive piece of work, and realizing that pretty much everything but the art was done by Steve alone makes it all the more impressive.

I'll second that. He has some neat, thoroughly thought out ideas in his books.

 

[buzz]

My advice is basically in line with what Psion will tell you: don't worry about publishers.

I mean, as you can see in the previous posts, there are obviously some companies that are "doing things right": Malhavoc, Green Ronin, Atlas/Penumbra, etc. Still, even though I really like these companies, I'm not going to buy everything they put out. I think it's much more effective to cherry-pick products that really shine, and that are relevant to the games you want to run.

E.g., I really love Malhavoc's products in general. When Monte & Co. are *on*, there's no other company that can touch them, IMHO. If you buy any third-party product, you need to buy their new Complete Book of Eldritch Might. Stop reading this post and either surf to Amazon or run to your FLGS and buy it right now. I'll wait.

...

Back? Okay, anyway... OTOH, there is a good swath of Malhavoc's product line that I'm just not interested in: the character books, most of the event books, and the psionics stuff to a certain extent. I know they're probably great products, but I just don't see myself using them.

Ditto Green Ronin. They're very consistent in quality, but outside of Mutants & Masterminds, nothing of theirs has really piqued my interest outside of Book of the Righteous and Book of Fiends. Again, ditto Atlas/Penumbra... I think they make some of the best adventures around (Mearls' Belly of the Beast is brilliant), but no matter how many awards Dynasties & Demagogues wins, I just don't think I'll have much use for it.

Anyway, I'd read reviews, look at past Ennie award winners, and think about what types of material interest you. Then, when you start finding products you like, make a note of who's writing them and look for more of those author's work.

 

[Desdichado]

And see, I don't have a particular interest in The Complete Book of Eldritch Might. Then again, I don't really like playing spellcasters either...

 

[der_kluge]

Publishers with 10 or more products:

Mongoose Publishing 		140
Wizards of the Coast 		119
Alderac Entertainment Group 	77
Fantasy Flight Games 		53
Green Ronin Publishing 		49
Kenzer & Co 			49
Sword & Sorcery Studios 	48
Mystic Eye Games 		39
Bastion Press 			38
Atlas Games 			34
E.N. Publishing 		34
Necromancer Games 		33
RPGObjects 			33
Fast Forward Games 		32
Malhavoc Press 			32
Fiery Dragon Productions 	29
Monkey God Enterprises 		25
Goodman Games 			24
Creative Mountain Games 	23
Troll Lord Games 		23
Avalanche Press 		21
Pinnacle Entertainment Group 	18
DireKobold.com 			17
Paradigm Concepts 		16
Ronin Arts 			16
Vacuum Elemental Games 		16
0one Games 			15
OtherWorld Creations 		15
Sovereign Press 		15
Terra Ferax Innovations 	15
Arthaus (White Wolf) 		14
Dark Quest Games 		14
Silverthorne Games 		14
Darkfuries 			12
Grinning Goblin 		12
Holistic Design 		12
QuikLink 			10
The Game Mechanics 		10

 

[der_kluge]

The same list sorted by average rating. (Vacuum Elemental, Terra Ferax, and Grinning Goblin have no rating yet).

DireKobold.com 			5.00 Superb 
Holistic Design 		4.50 Good 
QuikLink 			4.33 Good 
Malhavoc Press 			4.21 Good 
Darkfuries 			4.20 Good 
Green Ronin Publishing 		4.13 Good 
Paradigm Concepts 		4.08 Good 
The Game Mechanics 		4.07 Good 
Kenzer & Co 			4.04 Good 
Fiery Dragon Productions 	4.04 Good 
Necromancer Games 		4.02 Good 
Creative Mountain Games 	4.00 Good 
Dark Quest Games 		4.00 Good 
Fantasy Flight Games 		3.99 Average 
Silverthorne Games 		3.94 Average 
E.N. Publishing 		3.90 Average 
Sword & Sorcery Studios 	3.87 Average 
Mystic Eye Games 		3.81 Average 
Atlas Games 			3.79 Average 
Goodman Games 			3.74 Average 
Pinnacle Entertainment Group 	3.74 Average 
Wizards of the Coast 		3.69 Average 
Monkey God Enterprises 		3.62 Average 
Bastion Press 			3.61 Average 
Sovereign Press 		3.61 Average 
Mongoose Publishing 		3.60 Average 
Alderac Entertainment Group 	3.60 Average 
RPGObjects 			3.60 Average 
Ronin Arts 			3.52 Average 
0one Games 			3.33 Average 
Arthaus (White Wolf) 		3.29 Average 
Avalanche Press 		3.08 Average
Troll Lord Games 		3.04 Average
OtherWorld Creations 		2.81 Poor
Fast Forward Games 		2.58 Poor

 

[DaveMage]

I'm quite the monster book fan myself, but I think you're leaving off some classic ones, and some of the ones you have listed I'd say are strictly optional.

Noticably abset are the Green Ronin monster books, Jade Dragons and Hungry Ghosts and the Book of Fiends, just recently recompiled, issued with many new creatures and updated for 3.5. Also, the Monsternomicon is (almost) universally acclaimed as the best monster book in production. I'd agree with that assessment as well. Creatures of Rokugan is another one that I like quite a bit.

Good points!

Leaving off the Green Ronin monster books and Monsternomicon was definitely an oversight on my part.

I pretty much like most monster books with the exception of the ones from Fast Forward. Their Encylopedias of Demons and Devils are awful with regard to playability. (I mean, a CR 9 creature that can summon balors?!? Right. That's balance. *rolleyes*)