Tome of Horrors - DnD 3.5

[Enceladus]

I was looking at Tome of Horrors today and I was blown away. I must have this book.

How different is it going to be from 3.5? Am I going to have a hassle converting everything? has this been discussed to death already?

 

[zoroaster100]

I know how you feel

I was looking at this book at the bookstore this weekend and was sooo tempted to buy it, but I'm afraid it will become obsolete to me when I convert over to 3.5. I think I'll at least have to wait to see 3.5 monsters in final form to see how much conversion would be needed. Or else maybe I'll just break down and buy it anyway.

 

[Wolf72]

I'm sure scott and gang will be all over any modifications necessary ...

 

[Pants]

It'll be easy to convert the monsters, so I wouldn't worry about it being obsolete. It's a great book.

BTW, those Two Headed Trolls are mean buggers.

 

[Monte At Home]

Having seen the 3.5 PH and the Tome of Horrors, if I could have only one of them, I'd choose the Tome of Horrors.

(This is not a slam against the 3.5 PH. It's praise for the ToH.)

 

[Nightfall]

Having seen the 3.5 PH and the Tome of Horrors, if I could have only one of them, I'd choose the Tome of Horrors.

(This is not a slam against the 3.5 PH. It's praise for the ToH.)

So true! Tome of Horrors truly rocks! I'm glad I have it. Congrats to Scott, Erica and the rest of the Necrofreaks. They truly rock.

 

[Zander]

FWIW I agree: ToH is fab. If you only ever buy four 3E products, three should be the core rules (PHB, DMG, MM) and the fourth should be ToH. It's that good.

 

[Gez]

FWIW I agree: ToH is fab. If you only ever buy four 3E products, three should be the core rules (PHB, DMG, MM) and the fourth should be ToH. It's that good.

Allow me to temper a bit -- it's an excellent and useful book, full of things that the MM cruelly missed (like more fey IMO, archfiends ISEO, flumph ISRWO, etc.), but in the end, it's just a monster book. One that will helps you have a richer world, one that will allow you to flesh out more things and cultures, but just a monster book.

I would put the Psionics Handbook or the Manual of the Planes as more useful.

But it's definitly better than the MC Monsters of Faerûn, or than Deities & Demigods.

 

[Zander]

I would put the Psionics Handbook or the Manual of the Planes as more useful.

I can't really comment on the specific contents of the Psi Handbook because I don't use psionics and don't have the book. At the risk of sidetracking this thread (which is not my intention), I don't think that psionics are an integral part of mainstream fantasy. You can play D&D perfectly well - or even better - without them.

I buy D&D books for two basic reasons: they're fun to read or they're useful. MotP is definitely a great reference work but unless you play in a planes or epic level campaign, MotP isn't all that useful.

ToH on the other hand is great in both regards. It's both useful and interesting. It isn't just another monster book. It captures many of the most imaginative monsters created for D&D over the last 25 years or so. Just flipping through it conjures all sorts of encounter ideas in a way no other monster book does.

 

[Psion]

I would put the Psionics Handbook or the Manual of the Planes as more useful.

Well, yeah.

But for those who have been playing the game for a while, it is nice to overcome the frustration of having to "fake" or come up with substitutes for creatures that have been in your games for years.

But it's definitly better than the MC Monsters of Faerûn, or than Deities & Demigods.

That's REALLY not saying much...