What book you think is a must have? -- ANY for D&D

[Desdichado]

Monsternomicon -- the monsters themselves are more interesting than most. They come with adventure hooks embedded in them. They also, for that matter, come with formalized adventure hooks written up for them. The differing levels of creature knowledge make them interesting. Few books, if any, have inspired me to use the content they contain moreso than Monsternomicon. Although often (incorrectly) described as "steampunky" most of the monsters in it can easily be used in any setting very comfortably.

And yes, the illustrations absolutely rock.

 

[Nightfall]

Not to knock Monsternomicion...but I felt it was a little too tied to the Steam punkish stuff. as well as being more useful in an Iron Kingdoms game. But I will agree there are some great illustrations.

 

[Hand of Evil]

- Monsternomicon. what is in it? useful at every type of setting? interesting monsters? is it well made and with good pictures?

- Monsternomicon Tell me more plz!

Monternomicom is the monster book for the Iron Kingdoms setting, most people see it as a fantasy Steam Age. Monsternomicom is a selection of monsters, detailed, wrote up and put into a format that is entertaining and useful, they have plot hooks and story.

See the reviews section.

http://www.enworld.org/reviews/index.php?sub=yes&where=active&reviewer=negativtoo&product=pmon

http://www.enworld.org/reviews/index.php?sub=yes&where=active&reviewer=knight_isa&product=pmon

http://www.enworld.org/reviews/inde...ctive&reviewer=d20+Magazine+Rack&product=pmon

http://www.enworld.org/reviews/index.php?sub=yes&where=active&reviewer=Psion&product=pmon

http://www.enworld.org/reviews/index.php?sub=yes&where=active&reviewer=JoeGKushner&product=pmon

http://www.enworld.org/reviews/index.php?sub=yes&where=active&reviewer=Alan_Bengs&product=pmon

http://www.enworld.org/reviews/index.php?sub=yes&where=active&reviewer=Asthinus&product=pmon

 

[Nightfall]

Also check out these links for Tome of Horrors.http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/reviews/index.php?sub=yes&where=active&reviewer=A_Hayden&product=cohcc
http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/reviews/index.php?sub=yes&where=active&reviewer=dok&product=cohcc

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/reviews/index.php?sub=yes&where=active&reviewer=Damien+the+Bloodfeaster&product=cohcc

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/reviews/index.php?sub=yes&where=active&reviewer=Melan&product=cohcc

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/reviews/index.php?sub=yes&where=active&reviewer=Isida&product=cohcc

http://enworld.cyberstreet.com/reviews/index.php?sub=yes&where=active&reviewer=Fortinbras&product=cohcc

http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/9/9135.phtml

 

[Ran]

I know it is a shame that i should know more about the books out there but here in Brazil we can either stick to what Devir translates, only WotC, or else go to the web and give it our best shot.

I try to read the most I can on enworld and the links to other products, that way I found out Midnight and Traps & Treachery but it is hard to decide when you cannot browse the books on a shelf on a store near home...

I would love to see more advertise here on Brazil and would even go as far as translating previews for those who would like to know what is out there that is worthy their money...

Anyway Tome of Horrors, Monsternomicon, Bluffside, Freeport, AEG Toolbox seem nice, I am certainly take a closer look at them on google and their publishers website.

I know this is not very good but i tend to download some books on pdf format with Kazaa, I don't really use them but have a chance to see if i like it and if it will enter my to buys list... so far i haven't even read most of them, and there are thousands. i think previews are the best way to call people to the interest, Morningstar didin't really got me, nice yes, but not my type of setting... an opinion but their preview should be read by ayone looking for a highly magical fantasy, for ideas or a setting to use.

 

[Desdichado]

See, I still don't see the Monsternomicon as particularly steampunky. There's no more than five or six steampunk creatures in it, out of nearly a hundred monsters. Psion makes a good point in that some of the creatures are campaign specific trolls and "orcs" and ogres and the like, but I still like to see basic monsters given a fresh face and fresh look.

Tome of Horrors, on the other hand, converted a lot of creatures that as far as I'm concerned should have died with the earlier editions that spawned them. Scott's original creatures, like his new fiends, for instance, however, were really good.

 

[MoonRaven]

Speaking of monsters...
Khan's Press (www.khanspress.tk) should be releasing any week now a book called Fringe Fauna. This book is about 50 or so pages and will have monsters that are derivitives of real creatures that could, technically, exist, but don't. It can be used in any campaign and provides a lot of monsters that aren't reliant on spells and spell-like abilities. It should be an interesting addition to any campaign, in any time frame.

 

[Olive]

Does that help?

It's more or less what I did with it as well, for my homebrew pantheon... still is more of an interesting and inspiring read than a essential purchase. Personally, while not superbly well done, Deities & Demigods had more in it about actually designing a pantheon, and while I'm not stating my gods, I've found that the salient devine abilities are very useful for helpign to give myself an understanding of what a god's powers are, which ties nicely into writing up legends and the like. See here (http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=17319) for more exmples. KM is a genius.

So I'd still love to here from people (Psion?) why BotR is so essential, if you're not using the pantheon described inside.

- Western europe: A Magical Medieval Society. What is it? What is IN it? how well done is it?

It's a book describing what medieval europe would be like, if magic existed. It uses assumptions from the DMG, but doesn't provide new feats or PrCs. If you're using the realms or SL or whatever, it's irrelevent, but if like a lot of us you're running a homebrew loosely based on medieval europe it is a god send. Lots of examples of crimes and appropriate punishments, etc. Very very good book, but not necessarily what people expect from a book with the d20 logo on the front. Has changed the way I DM my homebrew.

- Tome of Horrors,

Here's the rub: ToH is a good book. Lots of cool monsters have been updated, including heaps that almost certainly never will be by WotC, and some that it was claimed wouldn't be and now have been. I find myself almost always looking to the WotC versions of these creatures, rather than the ToH versions. The ToH versions are almost always more powerful, and if you're usign the MM as the base line, this causes some problems for me in terms of feel and consistancy in outsider heirarchies etc. So again, good book, but I don't use it that much, and I don't think it's essential.

For my campaign I think that the BoVD, WE: MMS, Magic of Faerun (for spell book rules), and T&B (for the alienist class) are the only books other than the core three that would make my campaign significantly different if they didn't exist... and of those, T&B only because a player took a PrC from it, and MoF only because I think it's spell book rules should be core, but to be honest I've barely used them.

 

[Psion]

So I'd still love to here from people (Psion?) why BotR is so essential, if you're not using the pantheon described inside.

If you are NOT using the pantheon? I refer you to my original caveat; if you already have a well established and detailed pantheon, it might not be worth it.

That said, many people have lackluster and/or poorly detailed pantheons, lacking the time to give them sufficient attention. In these cases, I recommend that you take a look at BotR and see what you can use.

In my own case, I did have a well established campaign that was fairly tightly integrated into my campaign history. I will admit, though, that the depth of the mythology of BotR had a much more authentic feel to it than my own. However, the campaign history still limited what I could do with it.

That said, it was compelling enough that I did it anyway. I mapped a few BotR deities onto some of the less well defined deities in my own pantheon and made the rest into "old deities" still worshipped in some parts of the world, quite simply so I could use the material, because I found it that interesting.

I find myself almost always looking to the WotC versions of these creatures, rather than the ToH versions.

Not I. In some cases I might (I forget which version of the shadow demon I ended up using...), but for example, I find WotC's half-ogre a little silly. I don't think any Large creature should have no "race" HD. I think the ToH is much better.

 

[jgbrowning]

Wow, go away from EN World for a while and miss a chance to shamlessly plug yourself!

A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe helps GMs make and run their own worlds. If your at all interested in a quasi-medieval world, I'd call it a must buy. It's really the book I've been wanting to read for the past 20 years, but no one ever wrote it.

Check our website [u]www.exp.citymax.com[/u] for more information and go here (rpgnow.com) [u]http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=1678&[/u] to pick up a sample from the book (the entire chapters 3 and 4 from MMS:WE).

As to the books I think are must haves...
ToH
MotP

almost must haves...
Monsternomicon
Book of the Righteous (if you doing Gods this moves into must haves)

and any of the other books that have been mentioned so far rate in the "very cool" category.

joe b.