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

[woodelf]

Dynasties & Demagogues is, IMHO, one of the best D20 product to hit the market yet, and definitely the best D&D-ish D20 product out there. There have been a lot of good D20 books out there, adding various things to the game. But most of them give, loosely speaking, "more of the same": new feats, new combat variations, new classes, new magic items, new spells, etc. Dynasties not only expands the game in an almost-wholly-new way, but it adds something to the game that it has long needed: as much mechanical depth and detail in social/political interactions as combat/physical. And it does it with high marks all 'round--it's very much in an appropriate flavor for D&D, and also meshes well with the existing D20 mechanics. And it couples all the crunchy goodness with excellent advice on running political games, much of it specifically targeted at those who haven't really tried this before. I strongly dislike the D&D3E implementation of D20, and rarely run games as crunchy as D20, so i don't buy many D20 books--but i had to spend money i didn't have for Dynasties & Demagogues. If i loved D20 as a system, it'd be that much better.

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Oh, for those who like the toolkit elements of MotP: try and find a copy of The Primal Order: Chessboards. It's the same basic idea, except moreso, going into more depth on similar topics, and with more breadth, thus covering possibilities that MotP doesn't get near.

 

[jgbrowning]

Dynasties & Demagogues is, IMHO, one of the best D20 product to hit the market yet,

Yes. I was remiss in not mentioning this one. It's another almost must have that is a must have if you plan on doing a less combat oriented game.

joe b.

 

[woodelf]

Dynasties & Demagogues is, IMHO, one of the best D20 product to hit the market yet, and definitely the best D&D-ish D20 product out there. There have been a lot of good D20 books out there, adding various things to the game. But most of them give, loosely speaking, "more of the same": new feats, new combat variations, new classes, new magic items, new spells, etc. Dynasties not only expands the game in an almost-wholly-new way, but it adds something to the game that it has long needed: as much mechanical depth and detail in social/political interactions as combat/physical. And it does it with high marks all 'round--it's very much in an appropriate flavor for D&D, and also meshes well with the existing D20 mechanics. And it couples all the crunchy goodness with excellent advice on running political games, much of it specifically targeted at those who haven't really tried this before. I strongly dislike the D&D3E implementation of D20, and rarely run games as crunchy as D20, so i don't buy many D20 books--but i had to spend money i didn't have for Dynasties & Demagogues. If i loved D20 as a system, it'd be that much better.

-----
Oh, for those who like the toolkit elements of MotP: try and find a copy of The Primal Order: Chessboards. It's the same basic idea, except moreso, going into more depth on similar topics, and with more breadth, thus covering possibilities that MotP doesn't get near.

 

[johnsemlak]

Dynasties & Demagogues is, IMHO, one of the best D20 product to hit the market yet, and definitely the best D&D-ish D20 product out there. There have been a lot of good D20 books out there, adding various things to the game. But most of them give, loosely speaking, "more of the same": new feats, new combat variations, new classes, new magic items, new spells, etc. Dynasties not only expands the game in an almost-wholly-new way, but it adds something to the game that it has long needed: as much mechanical depth and detail in social/political interactions as combat/physical. And it does it with high marks all 'round--it's very much in an appropriate flavor for D&D, and also meshes well with the existing D20 mechanics. And it couples all the crunchy goodness with excellent advice on running political games, much of it specifically targeted at those who haven't really tried this before. I strongly dislike the D&D3E implementation of D20, and rarely run games as crunchy as D20, so i don't buy many D20 books--but i had to spend money i didn't have for Dynasties & Demagogues. If i loved D20 as a system, it'd be that much better.

-----
Oh, for those who like the toolkit elements of MotP: try and find a copy of The Primal Order: Chessboards. It's the same basic idea, except moreso, going into more depth on similar topics, and with more breadth, thus covering possibilities that MotP doesn't get near.

Does Dynasties and Demigogues include rules on running kingdoms?

 

[johnsemlak]

I get really skeptical when trying to label any book except the core books as 'essential'. In fact, I think that's one of the great things about 3rd edition, is that much more effort is put into ensuring that only the 3 core books are needed to play. Unlike 1e, where modules would frequently require access to MMII, FF, etc.

I think aside from the 3 core books, the most essential book would be a campaign setting, and since there are many out there, it's impossible to rate one as essential. Much as I prefer greyhawk, the FRCS comes as close to an essential book as I can think of. Midnight sounds great, I hope to have a look at it soon. It it hardly seems essential if you don't plan to play in it. Oh, and for those who play in homebrew settings, not setting book is needed at all of course.

For players the WotC splattbooks offer very useful ideas on expanding their characters, and offering PrCs. Since very few PrCs are provided in the core rules (though many more in 3.5), that makes it the single most important reason to have them. 3rd party spattbooks can be great too (I'm looking forward to the Player's Guide to Wizards... which I just ordered), but I'd hardly rate any as essential.

Monster books are vert useful too, but there are too many great moster books to label any one/two as essential (save MMI).

 

[ForceUser]

I say MMS:WE is essential because it teaches the DM about what medieval society was really like, and then it offers aids for running a true-to-life medieval setting. I have wanted a product like this for some time, something that condenses medieval society into a general, gamer-useable format.

Sure, you can run games without it; most do. But I doubt those games "feel" very medieval. There are probably many modernisms floating around. I know there were in my campaign.

If, as DM, you are interested in running a game that feels truly medieval, this book is a godsend.

 

[Ysgarran]

I'll second BotR and add in A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe.

I really enjoyed Midnight but my group is so entrenched in FR and Greyhawk I doubt I'll ever have the time to run it.

I tend to dislike most PrC books since (in IMHO and Endure Elements(Fire) and I'm not asking anyone to agree with me) they have a tendency to further Roll-playing instead of Role-playing.

Ysgarran.

Book of the Righteous. It's everything Dieties & Demigods should have been, and more.

 

[Ysgarran]

Adventure hooks...good.
I'll have to take a look at this book then.

Ysgarran.

Monsternomicon -- the monsters themselves are more interesting than most. They come with adventure hooks embedded in them.
And yes, the illustrations absolutely rock.

 

[Buttercup]

If you are running, or even thinking of running a game in a world of your own creation, then Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe is] essential. You will find inspiration on every page. I covers everything one needs to know about the basics of Western European medieval society, but throws in magic. The writing is excellent. And if you can't afford the book, or can't find it in Brazil, you can buy the PDF quite cheaply. There is also a free preview called Magical Medieval City Guide that you can download, so if you really want to try before you buy, there is no need to resort to Kazaa (leaving out the ethical reasons for avoiding it, of course).

If you need or want a book on gods and religion in a campaign, Book of the Righteous is the one for you. I won't repeat what others have said, I'll just agree that this book is excellent.

I won't recommend a campaign setting, since I've come to the conclusion that preferences here are so subjective that you will just have to decide for yourself. There are quite a few that are well written, so it just depends on what flavor you're looking for.

If it's a monster book you want, then again I'll agree with the chorus of recommendations for Monsternomicon. It's what every monster book should be. Not only is it filled with cool monsters and plot hooks, but it's fun to read just as entertainment.

I think these three books are the best that have come out in the past year. There are many other good ones, but these three stand head and shoulders above the rest.

 

[woodelf]

Adventure hooks...good.
I'll have to take a look at this book then.

Ysgarran.

Take a look at Fantasy Bestiary, from Atlas, then, too. Each monster is presented in a 2-page spread, with the monster stats, background, description, etc. in the middle 2/3rds--and plenty of neat stuff, including adventure hooks, there, too. The outside columns are then chock full of adventure seeds, encounter suggestions, etc. Basically, it takes the Medieval Bestiary model they've long used for Ars Magica, and applies it to D20 (that is: a monster is there to further the game/story/adventure; stats are useful for this, but only if you have a use for the monster; so devote as much energy to how to use the creature as you do to statting it up).

Oh, and, personally, i'd buy pretty much any monster book in preference to Monster Manual (and, probably, the other WotC monster books, though i haven't read them in as much detail), precisely for this sort of stuff. IMHO, the biggest change for monsters from AD&D2 to D&D3E was removing all the useful content. All that cool stuff they added in the Monstrous Compendium (habitat, ecology, etc.) is, for the most part, gone.