What book should I get? Suggestions, please.

[DreadArchon]

Alright, I'm playing D&D 3.5, and I'm thinking of getting two books (this is based on cost, of course). I currently have the PHB and Libris Mortis. Any suggestions? I've had a few chances to look though the Player's Handbook II, and despite being able to borrow it frequently I'm thinking of buying it (I like it a lot). For my second book I was thinking it would be nice to have something useful as a DM, possibly a Monster Manual (using the SRD for monsters is inconvenient, IMO).

I do NOT want campaign settings, Complete Adventurer, Complete Scoundrel, Complete Arcane, Complete Warrior, or Complete Divine. Also, no psionics.

I like feats, spells, items, base classes, maps, and monsters. Crunch is good.

1) Are MM III or IV any good for entire level spreads, or would the basic be better?
2) Are there any other WotC books that are good for DM's?
3) I don't think I need a DMG I (am I wrong?), but is the DMG II any good?
4) Other suggestions?

 

[bento]

If you're thinking about DMing, you need DMG1 to start. There are many basic rules not covered in the PHB which the DM must decide on - environmental factors, creating NPCs, use and creation of magic items, giving out XP, which you're only going to find in the DMG.

I have the DMG2 and its great. Even if you're old to D&D, the first chapter in the book is a MUST READ because it tells you how to be a better DM. It's not rules, just how to deal with people, build adventures you're players will like, and improve your game. The rest of the book is interesting as well, like the Saltmarsh chapter provides you a medium-size town you can use over and over.

If you're going to get a MM, I'd suggest getting the first. Besides all the lists of Monsters, there's lots of little rules, such as type, special attacks, special qualities, which you'll only find info about in the first book. It's also got more monsters than you'll ever run through.

The MM2 isn't up to date for 3.5, and the MM3 has some intersting monsters and provides you with information on inserting them into FR or Eberron games. But they won't have that "go-to" information that the MM1 has.

As for any other books out there, I'd suggest reading the reviews on this site. Books are expensive and I always read the reviews and sit in the bookstore with the item before I ever purchase it. Most books beyond the core three are written for very specific things (iconic monsters, specific character types, unique enviornments, etc.).

Beyond this, if you're looking to invest some in youre game, as a player, why not buy some miniatures of the kinds of characters you play?

 

[rgard]

Alright, I'm playing D&D 3.5, and I'm thinking of getting two books (this is based on cost, of course). I currently have the PHB and Libris Mortis. Any suggestions? I've had a few chances to look though the Player's Handbook II, and despite being able to borrow it frequently I'm thinking of buying it (I like it a lot). For my second book I was thinking it would be nice to have something useful as a DM, possibly a Monster Manual (using the SRD for monsters is inconvenient, IMO).

I do NOT want campaign settings, Complete Adventurer, Complete Scoundrel, Complete Arcane, Complete Warrior, or Complete Divine. Also, no psionics.

I like feats, spells, items, base classes, maps, and monsters. Crunch is good.

1) Are MM III or IV any good for entire level spreads, or would the basic be better?
2) Are there any other WotC books that are good for DM's?
3) I don't think I need a DMG I (am I wrong?), but is the DMG II any good?
4) Other suggestions?

Look at the complete series.

 

[DreadArchon]

Look at the complete series.

Which ones did I not name? Anything besides Complete Mage? (Is Complete Mage any good?)

Bento: Most of the contents of your post seem to be available in the SRD. What, from all that, isn't?

 

[Stormborn]

Yes, you do need the DMG if you are new to DMing, and I think that the DMG 2 is a perfect accesory for a new DM. There are a lot of things in it that really should have been in the DMG, particullary advice for new DMs. PHB 2 is nice and useful as a player, but not neccesary. MM is the one to get for monsters, although personally I have saved the SRD and use it rather than the MM when creating adventures.

So my suggestions are:

1. DMG without question

then either

2a. the DMG2 if you think you will be a DM in the near future
2b. the MM if you think you will be a DM in the near future and just really dont want to use the SRD for monsters. (However, if you are going to be a DM and think you will focus on a certain type of monser and you already have Liber Mortis then you might consider Dragonomicon, Book of Aberrations, or Fiendish Codex 1 and 2. IMO in that order)
2c. the PHB2 if you think you are mainly going to be a player in the near Future.

 

[DreadArchon]

2a. the DMG2 if you think you will be a DM in the near future

I've been DM'ing for over a month, actually. I might get the DMG II, but I'm not spending money on the DMG I if all it has is EL-building and... wait, that's it, isn't it?

I'm not terribly interested in having a dragon-centered campaign, but I hadn't heard of the Book of Aberrations. I like aberrations, maybe I'll look into that.

But still on the MM's: What about the MM III and MM IV? How do they compare to the MM I and "Book of Aberrations" in terms of number of monsters, spread of CR's, creative new content, and variety? (Is there a "Book of Monstrous Humanoids?")

 

[Kafkonia]

Bento: Most of the contents of your post seem to be available in the SRD. What, from all that, isn't?

IIRC, information about CR, Encounter Level, and experience allotment, for starters. Starting wealth for PCs above 1st leve, and for NPCs.

 

[Joshua Randall]

"Book of Aberrations" is probably a colloquialism for Lords of Madness, which is a monster book focused on... aberrations. Mind flayers, aboleth, grell, stuff like that. Similar to Libris Mortis for undead or Draconomicon for dragons.

There are only a few creatures in the Monster Manual that are not in the SRD. Some of them are really iconic D&D creatures, though, like beholders and yuan-ti. So the MM may be worth it for that alone.

I personally enjoy MM2, but I know lots of people dislike it. It's got a lot of weird evil creatures in it that make a nice change from the usual MM stuff.

MM3 and MM4 seem to be more focused on subsets of monsters, per the reviews I've read. (I don't own either.) Some people like this approach, and some dislike it. I believe both MM3 and MM4 have fewer monsters overall than, say, MM itself. But, MM3 and MM4 give you statblocks for classed monsters, little maps of encounter areas, and suggestions for using the monsters in various settings and adventures. That kind of stuff can be particularly useful for new DMs, or just DMs who are pressed for time.

I will second the recommendations for PH2 and DMG2.

PH2 is probably the best pure crunch book for players, with a lot of strong feats, and some interesting alternate class abilities.

DMG2 has lots of information that will make you a better DM. It's also got a lot of stuff you can use right away, like new traps, magical events (you could build entire campaigns around these), alternate weapon and armor qualities, teamwork rules (introduced here even though more appropriate for a player's book), apprenticeship rules, and... other stuff. I'm actually surprised how much now that I type it out.

Spell Compendium is just that, a bunch of spells collected from other non-PH sources -- including the Complete books, so it would be a good buy for you as you wouldn't be duplicating spells you already own in other books.

Finally, I know you said you are primarily interested in crunch, but you owe it to yourself to check out Manual of the Planes. It's 3.0 not 3.5, which is a slight drawback, but the sheer amount of imagination and coolness packed into this book is astounding. MotP has plenty of solid, rules-based advice on creating your own planar cosmology, new monsters, new spells (most of which are in Spell Compendium now). It also has just brilliant fluff about each of the planes in the standard D&D "Great Wheel" cosmology, plus various planes from alternate cosmologies.

 

[bento]

Bento: Most of the contents of your post seem to be available in the SRD. What, from all that, isn't?

Kafkonia answered the most relevant bits in the DMG1 missing from the SRD. XP table, CR and EL chapter is pretty important and you'll be referring to that section regularly. The NPC chapter I don't believe in the SRD, so it's helpful to quickly stat mooks or higher powered classed encouters.

The only reason I suggested the MM1 was your statement that the SRD is quite unwieldy to use. If you think its a duplication, then don't buy it. I have the MM2 & MM3 and while they're great, I don't refer to them nearly as much as the MM1.

The Abberations book, like any of the iconic series, is great for digging deeper into a specific type of critters (dead, devils, dragons, abberations) and offers some adventures you can run focusing on them, at least for higher level (5-up) parties.

 

[Harm]

Alright, I'm playing D&D 3.5, and I'm thinking of getting two books (this is based on cost, of course). I currently have the PHB and Libris Mortis. Any suggestions? I've had a few chances to look though the Player's Handbook II, and despite being able to borrow it frequently I'm thinking of buying it (I like it a lot). For my second book I was thinking it would be nice to have something useful as a DM, possibly a Monster Manual (using the SRD for monsters is inconvenient, IMO).

I do NOT want campaign settings, Complete Adventurer, Complete Scoundrel, Complete Arcane, Complete Warrior, or Complete Divine. Also, no psionics.

I like feats, spells, items, base classes, maps, and monsters. Crunch is good.

1) Are MM III or IV any good for entire level spreads, or would the basic be better?
2) Are there any other WotC books that are good for DM's?
3) I don't think I need a DMG I (am I wrong?), but is the DMG II any good?
4) Other suggestions?

DnD is at it's best with PHB + DMG + MM and thats it. The more books you add the sillier it gets. The game is better without 500 feats, 1000 pages of spells, 200 prestiege classes, none of which are very well balanced. The only thing I feel the game really misses from the non-core books is additional uses for skills like from Complete Adventurer. Beyond those books the only ones I would recommend for a DM would be a campaign setting book.