Quintessential Splatbooks vs the Wizards Class Books

[Albert_Fish]

Which do you guys prefer??
I tend to enjoy Mongoosses "Quintessential" series far more plus they tend to be more bang for the buck. The PrCs are not as creative but then again they make more sense ( uhm...slimelord anyone?). The Mongoose books are more expensive as a whole ( about the same price per book but each book only covers one race/class). Of course the Wizard's books have more legitimacy plys the PrCs have ten levels as opposed to Mongoose's typical Five level PrCs.

One final Question, has anyone used the "Fighting styles" from either the Monk's book or Fighter's book from Mongoose? Do they need tweaking? Xp Penalties? GP costs? to make them work?

 

[Crothian]

First off, what's wrong with the Oozemaster? It happens to be one of the more creative in concept of any prestige class.

For the most part, I use them both. Quint books have their strength as do the class books by Wizards. It really depends on what class you are talking about and what you need the books to do for you.

 

[Albert_Fish]

I said that i thought the oozemaster was creative...just a little bizarreand "autre".

i am mainly curious for gameplay rather than reviews. how has it worked for you? watc book was the easiest to integrate into the campaign. I own all the WTC books and about half ofthe Mongoose books. so its not a matter of buyingone over the other, merely a matter of balance, enjoyment and gameplay.

 

[Mr Fidgit]

so far, i haven't seen anything from a Quint book used in a game yet. there's not alot of alt.classes or non-WotC PrCs either.

(*psst! Albert! don't get between Crothian and his Oozemaster. he sure loves them oozes!*)

 

[kiznit]

Where did the term "splatbook" come from, anyway?

I have personally enjoyed the class books from WoTC much more than the Quints... Maybe I'm a little marketing brainwashed because they feel more "official".

Sword & Fist and Tome & Blood rocked my world.
Not just the PrCs, but maps of castles, hideouts, magic ideas, items and whatnot are a real resource - I've used them a lot.

Defenders of the Faith had some nifty stuff too. Cult ideas, Church organizations, etc. A coupla overpowered feats for Paladins, but Paladins are kinda meant to be played that way, that's okay.

But then things went downhill bad. Masters of the Wild and Song & Silence were pretty sad, IMO. It takes me back to those AD&D kit books that outlined the 30 different kinds of instruments a bard can play (including useless ideas like a "pipe organ", who's going to take one of those into a dungeon?) - Talk about wasted page space. Pointless reading, as far as enjoyable gaming resources are concerned.

Yeah the oozemaster is a little ridiculous and probably wouldn't ever be PCed in a serious game, but it's a fun idea. How about an ongoing rival adventurer that's slowly turning into a chosen of lolth? And they brought back the thief-acrobat!

It seems that the Class books are at least reasonably balanced. There's stuff in the Quint books that's just ridiculous. A player tried to argue me into hooking him up with DragonScale armor in my campaign.. Medium-weight armor with a +8 bonus and elemental resistance for under 8k gps? Way powerful stuff.
Of course, it's your game, so you can always rework it for your campaign.

And the Quints have some great ideas. Ultimately that's the best thing you can get from a resource book, published by anyone. Ideas are the commodities of 3rd Ed.

If you walk out of a store and flip through a book and feel a little cheated by content vs. price (and who amongst us hasn't?). I always take solace that if I'm throwing away my hard-earned money, at least I'm throwing it away on a great hobby full of great ideas, and ultimately the amount of fun has been incredibly cheap for the price.

 

[Crothian]

I said that i thought the oozemaster was creative...just a little bizarreand "autre".

i am mainly curious for gameplay rather than reviews. how has it worked for you? watc book was the easiest to integrate into the campaign. I own all the WTC books and about half ofthe Mongoose books. so its not a matter of buyingone over the other, merely a matter of balance, enjoyment and gameplay.

I didn't mean to sound like I was getting on youcase there, sorry I should have posted a smilely with that. I play an Oozemaster and am a big defender of a very misunderstood class.

I've seen the Wizards books used more becasue more people have them. I've used the fighting styles out of Quint Fighter and they worked fine. I currently am using one of the cleric concepts and it is working great (that's actually my oozemaster there). I'm not such a big fan of the Quint prestege classes, but I do like their extra materail like the magical staves from Quint Wizard and the sacrficing materail goods from Quint Cleric. Quint Monk is the best of those books IMO, and offers the greatest flexibility to the Monk.

 

[MeepoTheMighty]

(*psst! Albert! don't get between Crothian and his Oozemaster. he sure loves them oozes!*)

IYKWIMAITYD

 

[Crothian]

IYKWIMAITYD

 

[dreamthief]

What's wrong with the oozemaster? I think it's great fun to play. Hurling slime and molds at your opponents? Makes a change from arrows and sling bullets.

 

[Albert_Fish]

Ok guys...forget the oozemaster. Does anyone have anything to say about the use of the splatbooks? ( "Spat", the sound these books make when they hit the table, as opposed to "whumph")