These are the ones I'm most interested in hearing about:
- Blood Bayou
- Blood Sea: The Crimson Abyss
- Echoes of the Past: The Slarecian Legacy
- Edge of Infinity: The Scarred Planes *
- Hornsaw: Forest of Blood
- Strange Lands: Lost Tribes of the Scarred Lands *
- Vigil Watch: Secrets of the Asaatthi
* Especially these two.
I really didn't care for Blood Bayou or Blood Sea very much, so I've got nothing on them. I actively dislike the Slarecian stuff, and Echoes of the Past is pure Slarecian stuff.
Edge of Infinity is useful for what it is. None of my games made it to the 'plane-hopping' stage, so it wasn't anything other than an interesting read for me.
The Hornsaw is a fairly strong adventure setting, and the book was decent, if not quite as evocative as Hollowfaust or Burok Torn.
Strange Lands is a hodge-podge of notes from two or three books that didn't happen, making a very schizophrenic read, but absolutely *teeming* with usable stuff.
Vigil Watch: Asaatthi has some neat PrCs and some awesome ideas (Locus Feats, a concept that appeared in a different, and far less evocative, form a few years later appearing in WotC as 'Reserve Feats'), with a few wild and crazy Technique feats that may be better to just walk on past (since, if the Locus feats could be seen as proto-reserve feats, the Technique feats could be seen as proto-Tome of 9 Swords maneuvers...).
For 3.5 stuff, all of the Players Guides were written with 3.5 in mind, and each has a dozen-ish Prestige Classes, some of which are meh, some of which are things of beauty (Nine-Stings Master, Warrior of White Fire, Master Cabalist, Initiate of the Forge, etc. all make me smile). Each has some new crunch, such as optional rules for Weapon Speed or different types of theurgically-enhanced holy water for each of the gods or specific bardic songs / tales / epics that can be used to teach / perform various bardic spells or effects or Scion feats for Sorcerers who draw power from an affiliation with Chern or Mormo or Mesos. I'm most impressed with the Fighters & Barbarians, Monks & Paladins and Wizards, Bards & Sorcerers books, finding that most of the Cleric & Druid PrCs aren't as good as just taking more levels in Cleric or Druid, and that few of the Ranger & Rogue PrCs really shine.
My personal favorites, combining both evocative crunch and compelling flavor;
Relics & Rituals I & II (love the Summoner, Crypt Lord, etc.)
Creature Collections I, II & III (even if I don't use many of the beasties
exactly as written, they are great sources of inspiration)
Ghelspad & Termana hardcovers (awesome stuff, some crunchy like the Gold and Silver Knights, but mostly just setting and flavor)
Players Guides mentioned above
Hollowfaust & Shelzar, fascinating 'free cities' to operate out of
Fun reads & to pillage;
Burok Torn (avoid that Dark Elf tattoo-artist prestige class! The Rune Master rocks!)
Faithful & the Forsaken
Secrets & Societies (which reprints an updated Incarnate PrC to replace the one in Relics & Rituals I)
Hornsaw
Blood Sea
Edge of Infinity (reading about the zodiac planes is fun, even if I never had reason to use them)
Oldest and potentially most out-dated or mechanically wonky books;
Mithril (the Mithril Knight PrC is over-the-top, and reprinted in more balanced form in the PGtMonks&Pallies)
Warrens of the Ratmen (um, yeah, moving right along...)
Stuff that did nothing for me;
Divine & the Defeated (some new Domains, which are reprinted in Relics & Rituals II, so I've had no reason to dig this out for years. If my games never reached the point where plane-travelling was a concern, it's safe to say that I have zero need for Coreans Armor Class and Hit Points...)
Slarecian Legacy (slarecians, IMO, equal Mary Sue and yet somehow fail to ignite any of the mind flayer goodness they seem to be reaching for)
Blood Bayou (too much irrelevant backstory, and the Jack of Tears seemed to be competing for who had the most buff backstory with the Slarecians. Anyone who *isn't* a fragment of a dead proto-god-thing more powerful than the more-powerful-than-anything-ever we mentioned in the last book, raise a tentacle? Anyone? Anyone at all? I got more Blood Bayou-y inspiration from the Creature Collections and the Son of Mirth / Bayou Alchemist PrC in Relics & Rituals II!)
Penumbral Pentagon (I don't even know what happened here. I loved the idea, I loved the previous work by the writer, and this book just sits there, doing nothing for me.)
