Ultimate Equipment Guide vs. Arms & Equipment Guide: Which one to buy?

[lord irial]

I'm holding out for the World's Most Complete D&D Arms and Equipment Guide from Kenzer & Co.

If WotC ever lets them release it, that is.

 

[Tuerny]

Less is more. It might be cool once or twice, but not all the time. Thus, I don't really need an entire book full of it. For my personal taste, WotC goes overboard in exoticism to the point where it really doesn't feel exotic anymore.

Kind of like when everyone tries hard to be different and then you group them together and they're all really kind of the same...

Eh, but by the same token everyone's going to have different desires as far as exoticism goes. By presenting a wide range of exotic stuff to use you are more likely to fit things that fit your needs.
Besides, I am a fan of things like Planescape and the Scarred Lands that have locations and objects that are quite obviously fantastic in nature.
If I wanted to play a fantasy game that is in what is the equivlant of middle ages Europe with magic thrown in I would play someting like Harn.

 

[haiiro]

Was it UE that had those broken bladed guantlets with an insane crit threat range but still as much damage as a rapier (and no, I'm not thinking of the ones in Sword & Fist)?

I seem to recall browsing UE, seeing that, and then worrying that the book would have the typical Mongoose problem with power escalation.

That sort of thing -- plus what looked to be a whole slew of mundane items providing dubious skill bonuses -- is pretty much what turned me off from UE. As others have mentioned, I've always seen Mongoose's stuff as very power-oriented, and that fact that the two preceding Ultimate titles looked to be sloppy, poorly thought-out and peppered with problems doesn't exactly endear me to the line.

Then again, the initial releases in AEG's "one word" series turned me off that whole line until Mercenaries came along and surprised me by being a great book (and was followed by Toolbox, which also looks pretty cool, etc.). I could see the same thing happening with Mongoose's stuff, but I'm not sure UE is going to do it.

 

[Painfully]

The price of WotC's A&EG is outrageous IMO. It's enough to remind me that I don't need more than the 3 core books to play the game.

Mongoose always towing the "munchkin" side of things, with more powerful classes, more powerful magic, more powerful everything has made them a poor reputation in my mind that I have yet to change.

I'll look forward to a review that can compare and contrast all the different equipment guides once they are all out.

 

[haiiro]

I'll look forward to a review that can compare and contrast all the different equipment guides once they are all out.

This is one thing I really miss about the reviews that used to be in Dragon, and it's not an approach I've seen done elsewhere. There are plenty of areas that have been covered in different books by different companies -- weapons, undead, dragons, seafaring rules, shamans, assassins, etc. -- and I think it would be great to read some comparitive reviews in cases like these.

 

[Olive]

I'm holding out for the World's Most Complete D&D Arms and Equipment Guide from Kenzer & Co.

If WotC ever lets them release it, that is.

i don't see why people are so mad at WotC about this. Kenzer knew the deal when they decided to go for some meaningless 'official D&D' logo to help them sell their products, so it's as much their fault as it is WotC's.

 

[Iron_Chef]

I reread AE&G today at the store and it is bland, uninspired and overpriced. I might have bought it for $19.95 but that's the ceiling of its ability to tempt me to purchase it. That said, it does have rules that should have been in the DMG (hirelings, vehicles, intoxication, etc.). Most of the new equipment and items aren't all that interesting and are too "exotic" for no reason other than to be "exotic".

UEG has its own problems (some bland items, not enough new poisons and herbs), but it has a lot more equipment in it that could prove useful to a wider variety of characters. It doesn't have any magic items or new rules in it.

I quite like the idea of deluxe equipment offering special bonuses. Why shouldn't a 750 gp "star robe" (frex) give a +1 morale bonus to Charisma checks? You look super cool in it and as everyone knows, when you look good, you feel better about yourself. Same with the super powerful looking arcane robe and staff: the bonus is only when you are trying to convince the target of your magical might and by default, your ability to use it against them unless they comply or become more helpful, at least. If I saw two wizards and one was dressed to kill with all kinds of powerful symbols, gold plated dragon head staff, etc., and one wearing a normal robe, holding a stick, I would think the first guy was way more powerful and dangerous. Wouldn't you?

 

[Conaill]

My DM sold his brandnew copy of A&EG at last Sunday's game. Gues that says something

He also let me borrow his copy of UEG... I'm the kind of person who doesn't like to spend too much money on RPG books. I've bought the PHB and DMG at full price, and that's it! I have 4-5 more d20 and splatbooks that I bought second hand... UEG may very well become my third D&D book that I'll buy at full price. It's that good!

Of course, it helps that I'm playing a tinker gnome alchemist right now... just for the oodles of alchemy and gnomish inventions it's worth it.

A&EG on he other hand.. eh. Didn't do much for me. There's so much cool 3rd party stuff out there they could have taken advantage off. For example, do we really need yet another set of rules for ship movement if there's already three great naval supplements out?

 

[Iron_Chef]

Why doesn't WoTC take advantage of all the great third party stuff out there? Often times, it's superior to the stuff their own designers come up with. Why not make the best of it "official" and recognize the contributions of third party publishers? WoTC's idea of "embracing" third party OGL creations is limited to two monsters in MM2 and a big self-aggrandizing paragraph on how wonderfully "committed" WoTC is to supporting third party OGL contributions. That's why there are a whole TWO third party monsters in the MM2!!! *sigh*

 

[Olive]

That said, it does have rules that should have been in the DMG (hirelings, vehicles, intoxication, etc.).

but then it would have been more expensive, larger and people would have complained about that. sometimes i feel sorry for WotC, damned if they do, damned if they don't and often by the same people!!!

Anyway, I think WotC is commited in the sense of committed to allowing 3rd part publishers to use their game system. Personally publishers reprinting each others content bores me to tears. i eant new stuff, not reprints of part of a book i already have!!!