If I had the money to buy two books......

[Nightfall]

Doc,

You and think so much alike (in terms of our love of BoIM) it's scary.

 

[Campbell]

As a DM I would advocate Robin's Laws of Good Gamemastering and Denizens of Avadnu.

As a player I'd reccomend the Book of Iron Might and Path of the Sword, although my bias tends to favor sword wielders.

 

[Ghostwind]

As a DM, I'd go for Arms & Armor v3.5 and Torn Asunder: Critical Hits (both by Bastion Press).

As a player and assuming you don't want Arms & Armor, then I'd recommend Complete Book of Eldritch Might (Malhavoc) and Kingdoms of Kalamar Player's Guide (Kenzer) for some interesting player's options.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Unearthed Arcana and The Book of Iron Might. UA provides a ton of variants that help one tailor one's world to one's taste, while BoIM attends to the needs of fighter-types, which are often neglected in favor of spellcasters.

 

[Vigilance]

Well... since you also mentioned the MSRD, I'll point out some Modern books, since no one else has.

Ultramodern Firearms and Modern Player's Companion.

Course if you got Blood and Fists and Blood and Guts it wouldnt break my heart

Chuck

 

[Ry]

Draconomicon and Unearthed Arcana.

Draconomicon because it's the book about dragons I always wished I'd had as a kid. Unearthed Arcana because I think it gives good perspective to DMs who aren't used to tailoring their rules to their worlds. If you have a good DM, then Unearthed Arcana's great for players, too, especially those who have never had the rules tailored to tehir characters, rather than vice-versa.

 

[Nightfall]

As a DM, I'd go for Arms & Armor v3.5 and Torn Asunder: Critical Hits (both by Bastion Press).

As a player and assuming you don't want Arms & Armor, then I'd recommend Complete Book of Eldritch Might (Malhavoc) and Kingdoms of Kalamar Player's Guide (Kenzer) for some interesting player's options.

On second thought, buy those two above. Steve needs the cash.

 

[Romnipotent]

BoEF and Stronghold Builders guidebook (its cheap), and Seas of Blood.

 

[Ghostwind]

On second thought, buy those two above. Steve needs the cash.

Ain't that the honest truth. Freelancing does not make much money these days at all...

 

[CRGreathouse]

I'd buy the Complete Book of Eldritch Might, the most used book in my campaign (used more than the Monster Manual, DMG or PH) and either the Book of Iron Might (customizing fighter-type characters, good for players or DMs) or Unearthed Arcana (customizing rules, good for DMs).