D&D 5E Tome of Beasts+ 3pp Books

[jayoungr]

I own all three but have only used Fifth Edition Foes in play so far.

The stuff in the Book of Lost Spells would be mostly monster/NPC only for me. I might consider allowing a few of the more flavorful low-level spells for PCs, but definitely not the save-or-suck stuff. And I'd use it sparingly for monsters as well. That said, I can imagine some of those spells and abilities making for very cool encounters when saved for Big Bads.

I used a couple of creatures from Fifth Edition Foes in a low level one-shot last spring. Ice drakes and some kind of ice wisps, I think. I really like the flavor text and background on each creature. The ice drakes were actually an RP challenge, rather than combat. Once again, though, watch out for some of the more extreme effects, as some of them could lead to real death spirals for your PCs. Then again, some DMs like the possibility of death spirals.

I have had Tome of Beasts for the shortest time, and it's also the longest, so I've looked at it in the least detail. It's certainly a beautiful book with a great variety of creatures, lovely art, and excellent flavor in the descriptions. I can't comment on the mechanical stats or what to watch for in using them, though.

 

[Zardnaar]

I own many 3PP books; Book of Lost Spells, Fifth Edition Foes, Tome of Beasts, entire Deep Magic series by Kobold PRess, and Race Compilations from Kobold Press plus a few others.

I'm in agreement with the opinion that the Book of Lost Spells should be limited in it's inclusion with just hand selected spells dished out. The book is great for ideas, but some things either don't work for me, my world, or the general balance of current spells.

Tome of Beasts is a must own in my opinion, the book is just awesome at adding new and unusual monsters to any campaign. I also highly recommend anything else form Kobold Press as the work is good.

Fifth Edition Foes before Tome of Beasts this was my go to for monsters that kept my veteran players guessing. They might recognize a monster from 1e or 2e but what does it do to me now? I still like and use it in my campaign but not as often as the last one.

Deep Magic is a good series for player options and new spells to add to the game. I was looking for something extra to spice up the feel of spells in Eberron so I've included Clockwork Magic and Void Magic and am considering possibilities of others of the series.

The races books are all very good, I don't really use them often only when a player wants something different. I've been toying with the idea of a centaur character for a game in the future and the books deliver interesting options.

Hope my thoughts on these help some.

I have Midgard and Southland Heroes from the Kobolds are those the race books you are talking about?

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

The stuff in the Book of Lost Spells would be mostly monster/NPC only for me. I might consider allowing a few of the more flavorful low-level spells for PCs, but definitely not the save-or-suck stuff. And I'd use it sparingly for monsters as well. That said, I can imagine some of those spells and abilities making for very cool encounters when saved for Big Bads.

Some of them are also pretty good MacGuffins. Death Bringer (8th level voodoo-type spell that kills every sleeping creature with less than 25 HP within a mile if they fail a Con save, when the caster stabs himself in the chest for 5d8 + stunning), for example, would be useless to a PC party except under very unusual circumstances, but "we need to stop Voldemort from getting the Death Bringer scroll or he will kill everyone in the capital city!" is a totally valid plot hook.

 

[fixitgeek]

I have Midgard and Southland Heroes from the Kobolds are those the race books you are talking about?

Yes that and Unlikely Heroes

 

[Zardnaar]

Yes that and Unlikely Heroes

Whats Unlikely Heroes like? Worth picking up as a PDF?

 

[fixitgeek]

Whats Unlikely Heroes like? Worth picking up as a PDF?

If you enjoy having the antihero in a game Unlikely heroes is good for you. Even maybe if not as the backgrounds are interesting. I like the Dhampir, the jinnborn are interesting and resemble genasi while being distinct enough to have their own space and the lamia are pretty cool as well. It could also make for interesting NPC's, I used Dhampir and overlayed it on stats form RPGTinker to make a quick recurring NPC baddie from Karrnath in my Eberron campaign.

 

[Kite474]

Anyone know of any other big hardcover books? I remember about a year ago there were kickstarters getting funded left and right but nothing has actually seem to have been made out of them, outside of Tome of Beasts.

 

[Saplatt]

Tome of Beasts is a wonderful resource. Double the fun by re-skinning the monsters inside.

 

[Zardnaar]

Tome of Beasts is a wonderful resource. Double the fun by re-skinning the monsters inside.

Yes I am looking forward to it.

 

[flametitan]

Some of them are also pretty good MacGuffins. Death Bringer (8th level voodoo-type spell that kills every sleeping creature with less than 25 HP within a mile if they fail a Con save, when the caster stabs himself in the chest for 5d8 + stunning), for example, would be useless to a PC party except under very unusual circumstances, but "we need to stop Voldemort from getting the Death Bringer scroll or he will kill everyone in the capital city!" is a totally valid plot hook.

I can think of one reason for players to use it, though it wouldn't be a common situation. Namely, in your combat as war scenarios, that sounds like an excellent means of disrupting the industry of an enemy city. Evil, probably, but effective.