What book should I get? Suggestions, please.

[Nightfall]

HoH is decent. I liked it for some bits, but not all of it.

If you truly want to make a horror game, go with Ravenloft.

 

[Nightfall]

After that, the DMG2 is a really good book for a relatively new DM.

Not to mention a decent starting place.

But I heartily recommend, as I've said before, Advanced Game Master's Guide and Advanced Beastiary.

 

[Pants]

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

PHB2 is fantastic in the feats and spells section. Really good, but there are... more useful books out there. I *like* the base classes too, but others do not.

1) Are MM III or IV any good for entire level spreads, or would the basic be better?

IMO, the basic is the best and you really should get it IF you want illustrations and ip-protected critters that aren't in the SRD (Slaad, Mind Flayers, Yuan'ti, Beholders). If getting monsters from the SRD is not that big of a deal, then, well you have to decide what you really want. I'd certainly want it, but it depends upon your priorities.

1) Fiend Folio has a great spread of monsters, from the low CR's to the mid 20's. It's probably my favorite non-Core Monster book. Unfortunately, it's a hybrid 3.0/3.5 book so you'll have to convert the DR of a lot of critters.

2) Monster Manual III has a nice range of CR's, from the fractional to about 20. It has some very creative monsters, but it is plagued with errors. Most won't bother you, but I thought I'd mention it.

3) Monster Manual II is a really mediocre book, but it does have lots of high CR critters and while it doesn't have as many 'omg cool' monsters as FF or MMIII, it DOES have a few creatures that I use over and over again. Downsides: it's fully 3.0, you can run most on-the-fly but some will require some conversion, the high CR creatures really don't deserve their CR's, and it has some butt-stupid creatures in there.

4) Monster Manual IV gets a bad rap, but it DOES have some worthwhile stuff. It has sample lairs for some creatures (maps included), more info on each creature, and sample advanced creatures from the MMI (gnolls, drow, orcs, ogres, lizardfolk). This can be good or bad depending upon your preferences. It has has some really cool monsters, but overall much less than the other books. Also, the sucky monsters tend to stand out more because of the overall low quantity.

The other creature focused books (Draconomicon, Libris Mortis, Lords of Madness, Fiendish Codex I & II) are all pretty good, but you have to be really interested in the creature-type to make it a worthwhile purchase.

Lords of Madness and Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss are my two favorites from the series, both because of new creatures and the flavor contained within.

2) Are there any other WotC books that are good for DM's?

A subscription to Dungeon Magazine.
Not from WotC (nor is it a book!) but it kicks all sorts of ass!

3) I don't think I need a DMG I (am I wrong?), but is the DMG II any good?

I refer to it on a regular basis because some stuff is not in the SRD. It's also handy to have at the table.

DMGII is okay... the first chapter has some good advice and the sample town might be pretty useful, but overall... not sure about it.

4) Other suggestions?

Advanced Bestiary (by Green Ronin) is good with one caveat: it's all templates. Sure you can use the sample creatures but using the book will require much more work than using... say Fiend Folio or MM3.5. The usefulness of this book will depend upon how much work you want to do.

The Tome of Horrors series (I, II, and III, by Necromancer Games) all are chock-full of interesting critters. They have lots and lots of monsters, many of which are pretty cool.

Get a subscription to Dungeon Magazine. Seriously, even if you don't use the adventures you at least have maps, sample statblocks, plots, and new monsters to spice up your games with.

 

[Nightfall]

*agrees with Pants* Dungeon and Dragon Magazine have seriously stepped up their game in the past 2-3 years. There's plenty for DMs AND players to enjoy (mostly players in Dragon.)

Pants is also right, stay FAR way from MMIV. III was alright but no way as good as it's predecessors.

You're also forgetting that MM II had Spellweavers and Spawn of Kyuss my friend.

*doesn't bother with the SRD when the DMG is always on hand*

 

[Aus_Snow]

The two books I would recommend before all others, given your situation and plans:

Dungeon Masters Guide
Monster Manual

 

[Nightfall]

AND then DMG II, Advanced Game Master's Guide, Advanced Beastiary, Tome of Horrors II, III and Revised.

 

[Pants]

*agrees with Pants* Dungeon and Dragon Magazine have seriously stepped up their game in the past 2-3 years. There's plenty for DMs AND players to enjoy (mostly players in Dragon.)

Yep, though I now find Dungeon much more worthwhile than Dragon... most of the time. I'd certainly recommend Dungeon over Dragon.

Pants is also right, stay FAR way from MMIV.

I never said that. It's not a bad book, but I don't consider it particularly good. Prolly on par with MMII.

You're also forgetting that MM II had Spellweavers and Spawn of Kyuss my friend.

Yeah, then look at the rest of the crap in the book...
Bee people! Crappy high-HD undead! Horribly out-of whack High CR creatures (and CR in general).

I'd recommend MMIII ANY DAY over MMII even if MMII has a few good critters.

 

[Nightfall]

MMIII had better statted creatures but I liked MM II for some of the "revised" old school monsters.

*thought that MMII was WAY better than MMIV*

Well for a would be DM, Dungeon is certainly becoming more essential now.

 

[rgard]

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?

It just depends on what you like to play. Complete Mage is great, but so is the Complete Arcane if you like playing arcane spell casters.

Personally, I'd go with Complete Arcane as the Complete Mage builds on stuff in Complete Arcane.

Thanks,
Rich

 

[Pants]

MMIII had better statted creatures but I liked MM II for some of the "revised" old school monsters.

You're entitled to your opinion of liking poorly statted out creatures then