D&D 3E/3.5 Help us decide which WotC supplemental D&D 3.5 rulebooks to get

[Dannyalcatraz]

Why bother getting any 3.5e books now? (just wait a few months and there'll be tons of used books.....)

Basically seconded.

As for the books in question:

MIC & Spell Compendium: Useful to have everything in one place. Updates & revises some older material.

CompAdv: I use that one for its combat feats almost as much as the PHB and CompWar.

Races of...: I only own one (Destiny) and hate it. Too much space wasted on previously published races in ways that read more like campaign-specific info. I understand that Goliaths are pretty cool, though. Buy on discount only.

PHB II: like the not-mentioned CompChamp, it is most useful for its Alternative Class Features. Its useful, but not a "must have" IMHO. I got more out of Unearthed Arcana. Buy on discount only.

BoED: Its single most discussed bit of content, Vow of Poverty, is controversial to those who play RAW, and can be overly powerful if the DM doesn't read it. Neither it, nor its counterpart, BoVD, is essential, but they both have nifty stuff. Buy on discount only.

CompArc & CompMage: Both have useful feats. The older book has useful, though not indespensible, base classes. The newer has some good Alternative Class Features, including the very useful Focused Specialist ACF, and the nifty Reserve Feats. If all you're looking for is spells, though, get the Spell Compendium instead- it covers both.

 

[Nail]

If I was going through the discontinued Sale-bin at a local bookstore, and for some reason <shrug> wanted to ignore 4e and instead ramp-up my 3.5 collection from the core 3, I would buy (again):

#1) Spell Compendium (it's got all the extra spells you'll ever need for 3.5e.)

#2) Player's Handbook II (Well-designed new base classes, expanded classes, lots of feats - especially for the Ftr)

#3) Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords (a bit over-powered so needs careful DM over-sight, but really excellent fun for the warrior-types)

......in that order. There are a few feats in various books (Complete Warrior, Complete Arcane, Complete Adventurer), but buying an entire book for just the feats seems excessive.


If I had to buy JUST ONE BOOK besides the core three, I think it would have to be Spell Compendium. It has just been that useful.

 

[Renfield]

Uh.......you know 4e is coming soon, right?

Why bother getting any 3.5e books now? (just wait a few months and there'll be tons of used books.....)

Heh, well, that's a bit of a wait and honestly, I refuse to purchase anything 4e until I'm positive they aren't going to pull the B.S. they did with 3rd ed and suck our wallets dry by creating a revised edition. Hell, in my not-so-humble opinion it's too damn soon for 4th ed. anyway. The only reason why they're even doing it is because people couldn't seem to wait a year or two more for goodies to come out before they started crying out "when's 4th edition coming out when's 4th edition coming out" (imagine that being said in a fashion that mocks annoying obnoxious children)... sorry, ranting, I'm a touch bitter.

That being said I should get back on track.

People are touting PHB 2 and I wholeheartedly agree.

I notice people seem to be squeemish here about things being overpowered. If you're one of those DM's who actually thought spell focus at +2 as it was in 3.0 was too powerful and broken or having Bears Strength last 1 hour a level is over the top, then Book of Exalted Deeds isn't for you. However, if you are able to handle things like that, than you can handle some of the stuff I've seen come out of that.

If you've a mature group Book of Vile Darkness has some fun things to throw at PC's and make villains really earn that killing blow.

As for the complete books, here's my advice: don't worry about them. If you're a DM let your players get them, then, if they want to use something in them make sure you look it over carefully. There's a prestige class in the Complete Mage that gives the Necromancer more crack than the True Necromancer prestige class any day. If you're a player, find a class you enjoy and get the complete books that focus on them.

Anyway, that's my two cents, my D&D book collection is fairly small, but I have access to damn near all the Forgotten Realms, Eberron, and many of the other supplements through my roommate and other players.

Oh, if you're a DM and like the occasional horror game I highly reccomend Heroes of Horror, rarely have I actually *enjoyed* reading a supplement by WotC rather than flip through it looking only for the crack it contained therein. Good stuff.

 

[Aus_Snow]

PHBII is good.
Book of 9 Swords looks great so far (reading thought it right now).
If you get one complete, you need four. Maybe seven. :\