Top 3 All-Time RPG Supplements

[aramis erak]

What is your list of all-time Top 3 RPG supplements (i.e. books specifically written as supplements for RPGs)? These are those books that are awesome, multi-utility, supplements that you get a tremendous amount of use out of, regardless of the system they were originally designed for. In no specific order, mine are:

All my favorites are pretty much worhless outside their own systems.

I collated a book of names for my L5R games, complete with Kanji and rough meanings, making use of SCA source lists as well as several that are modern (and thus not used by the SCA). I've done similar in TOR and in Pendragon. These three contribute more to verisimilitude in play than any other supplements I've ever bought.

Now, for within their system uses... World Builder's Handbook (Digest Group) - world detailing for Traveller. It's the MegaTraveller era combination of Grand Survey and Grand Census from the CT era.
Close second is Starship Operators Manual Vol 1. (Vol 2 never came out.) Same company, same game and era, a detailing out of life on Traveller Starships.

Third? it's for Albedo 1e/2e: The Ship Sourcebook. If you want a simple yet realistic fusion torch era starship paradigm, this is your book.
The stat range for Albedo is vaguely compatible, too. And Chessex (or perhaps Paul Kidd) got Albedo up on Drive Thru... as well as the ship sourcebook. Albedo does presuppose FTL. but leave off the FTL decks for system ships if you want...

Honorable mention to Character Law/Campaign Law for Rolemaster - Campaign law includes some really awesome advice on geography; in many ways, it's why I minored in physical geo. (Unfortunately, the uni didn't approve the minor program until AFTER I graduated.)

 

[sunkzero]

Cyberpunk 2020's Night City sourcebook

 

[R_J_K75]

In no specific order...

2E AD&D Forgotten Realms

1) Lands of Intrigue
2) Empires of the Shining Sea
3) Toss up between Calimport or Sea of Fallen Stars

Regardless Dale Donovan and Steven Schend wrote some really good stuff in the mid to late 90s for TSR.

 

[Emirikol]

Dnd 3 Sandstorm - I've used the heck out of this (and Frostburn) over the years.

WFRP3 Lure of Power - massive eye-opening about non-combat special actions

Dragon Magazine - while it was in print, this was the single greatest resource for art and ideas.

 

[aia_2]

I have more than 3 items to mention... I'd love to list all the gems created in the early days (between 1975 and 1985), those that are the granfather of todays "indie"... Just few examples which deserve a special mention:
1. All the Arduin books by D.Hargrave
2. The Islandian campaign published by The Companions
3. Authentic Taumaturgy by P.Bonewits

...but these are only the top of the iceberg: there are so many gems which an entire website should be deserved!

 

[Blue]

13th Age Bestiary - hands down the best monster manual for any game. Every entry drips lore and hooks. Foes are presented with variations and multiple levels of challenge. And the book never forgets that it's primary purpose is to facilitate the GM to run adventures, so it's full of likely allies, adventure hooks, tactics, RP for intelligent foes, and other things specifically to incorporate them into adventures and run them entertainingly.

Deities and Demigods (1st printing) - the venerable AD&D reference, with the mistake that once you stat something up for combat that players will want to fight it. But still, for the time it was a broad introduction to so many different mythos that I didn't have any visibility into even existing.

Aurora's Whole Realm Catalog - another AD&D suppliment, this was supposedly an in-world listing of everything available in Aurora's Emporium similar to the Sears catalog (for any other ancients). Full of all sorts of mundane and not-so-much gear and items. It vastly expanded beyond just adventuring gear in what for the time was an eye-opening experience.

 

[jdrakeh]

Deities and Demigods (1st printing) - the venerable AD&D reference, with the mistake that once you stat something up for combat that players will want to fight it. But still, for the time it was a broad introduction to so many different mythos that I didn't have any visibility into even existing.

I still use this as the primary source for roleplaying in Newhon. Later TSR products for Newhon/Lankhmar were, IMO, poor, heavy-handed, adaptations to AD&D. The Deities & Demigods entries were less mangled in their implementation. Good stuff!

 

[jdrakeh]

I have more than 3 items to mention... I'd love to list all the gems created in the early days (between 1975 and 1985), those that are the granfather of todays "indie"... Just few examples which deserve a special mention:
1. All the Arduin books by D.Hargrave
2. The Islandian campaign published by The Companions
3. Authentic Taumaturgy by P.Bonewits

...but these are only the top of the iceberg: there are so many gems which an entire website should be deserved!

I've long been a fan of the original Arduin books and Authentic Thaumaturgy is a book that I've owned both in its original incarnation and, later, the SJG printing. I.P. Bonewits was a fascinating guy!

 

[Random Task]

Sprawl Sites (for Shadowrun) is a great collection of adventure seeds and story-starters that is good for both reading and practical use in cyberpunk settings in general (it doesn't take much adaptation to use them in non-Shadowrun settings).

Yes, a great piece of work.

 

[GreyLord]

I'd say for D&D it would be

Fiend Folio

Creature Catalogue

And from S&S...

Advanced Players Guide (better advancement levels over 20 than other D20/3e systems for my games, or what I prefer to utilize more).