What d20 products do you think are truly the best?

[Eternalknight]

I really have no idea what is BEST, but I'll list my favourites:

Wheel of Time: Slick, well done, great art, excellent mechanics. Love the magic system. Something like this should be standard D&D.

Relics and Rituals: Some really great ideas.

Both Books of Eldritch Might: Again, great alternatives to the current standard. I'd like to see a lot more of this type of thing actually.

Deities and Demigods: I like the treatment that mythical icons got. Now, i would like to see the same in monsters

 

[Sam]

Let's see. Personal favs? Here goes:

Personal Best:

Oathbound: Domains of the Forge - I don't even plan on running in this setting for quite a while, but I love the book and the content. Bastion Press did a tremendous job with this one and made me rethink looking at some of their other products.

Dragonstar - Great setting from Fantasy Flight Games. Love the concept. Living Dragonstar is great and I can't wait for Raw Recruits to come out.

Honorable Mention:

Mythic Races - Another great FFG product. Good variety of races. Making it's way into use in my campaign.

Wild Spellcraft - Really like the way the magic system is extended.

Not d20, but a favorite:

Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting - Another campaign setting that I don't even use, but I love the richness and the book.

Dragon Magazine - Great variety of content delivered to your doorstep each month. Who can beat that?


That's it,
--Sam

 

[chatdemon]

Sovereign Stone: Codex Mysterium (Sovereign Press) IMO, a truly innovative approach to D20 magic, and the only book I've seen to actually detail how to design spells.

Freeport: City of Adventure (Green Ronin) An excellent campaign setting, period.

Shaman's Handbook (Green Ronin) A great take on pimitive spellcasters, and not afraid to slaughter a D20 sacred cow (the tendency of most people to not introduce new core classes).

Legions of Hell / Armies of the Abyss (Green Ronin) Excellent looks at demons and devils, without the disneyfication that the core books have. Erik Mona presents a system for the mechanics of demon worship that pulls no punches and avoids the vile for the sake of being vile trap that Cook fell into. These books show what a little reseearch can accomplish.

Hero Builder's Guide (Wizards of the Coast) Yes! I'm serious! Let's assume you've never played a pen and paper RPG before. Assume also that noone in your group has played either. Yet, you want something more than hack and slash. This book really gets the creative gears moving if you let it. A must have for any newbie, IMO. I make it required reading for anyone who wants to join my game, and also use it as a 'npc background machine' for those supporting characters who i dont want to bother giving a 2 or 3 page history from scratch.

Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (Wizards of the Coast/Role Playing Gamers Association) and Scarred Lands Gazetteer: Ghelspad (Sowrd & Sorcery Studios) These are what campaign setting books should aspire to IMO. Lots of information and plot hooks, little to no new rules crunch. A campaigns supplements can introduce a bunch of new rules later, that's fine, but in order to define the setting and make it appeal to the masses, I think it should be rules lite and flavor heavy. (and btw, in response to the 'sorcerors dont fit in greyhawk' comment, you've either not read the GH material and examined all the diversity and options in the setting, or you're afraid to bend the rules here and there in a setting to make things fit. To me, the fun of adapting to 3e has been fitting the new mechanics into the setting and my campaign. Anything, well almost anything, you want to fit into a setting, any setting, not just GH, can be fit in without ruining the setting if you do so logically.)

 

[chatdemon]

Oh, and I almost forgot:

Vigil Watch: Warrens of the Ratmen (Sword & Sorcery Studios) This book kicks so much ass, I am at a loss for words. When the Slitheren were introduced in CC and CC2, I was impressed and added them to my game. now that VW:WotRM is out, Im ready to ditch orcs and goblins and make these guys the primary humanoid baddies in my campaign. The level of detail and sheer volume of tasty plot hooks is incredible. Even if you don't play Scarred Lands (I don't), you must get this book!

 

[Maggan]

I know what I like, and I like what I know

In no particular order:

* Any core D&D hardback from WotC
* Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting from WotC
* Wheel of Time RPG from WotC
* Relics & Rituals, Creature Collection II, Hollowfaust and Warrens of the Ratmen from S&SS
* Traps & Treachery from FFG
* Necropolis from Necromancer
* Swashbuckling Adventures and Rokugan from AEG

Looking forward to Kalamar Atlas from KenzerCo and Tome of Horrors from Necromancer. And a certain Book of Naughty Murkiness... and the Book of the Righteous.

M.

 

[Nightfall]

Beyond my usual love of S&SS products from ALL the guys under the banner as well as just S&SS period:

Book of the Righteous: A book about Religions. Who'd have thunk it?

Oathbound: Neat and well thought out setting, and just plain cool.

Bluffside and Freeport: Cities you just LOVE to explore and fit anywhere.

 

[Kanegrundar]

Here are several of my favorite D20 books:

Mythic Races: Lots of interesting races that range from the weak to the powerful.

Minions: Bastion Press did a great job bringing lots of great monsters to D20 with this book. Just don't focus too much on the art.

Ravenloft Denizens of Darkness: Even if you don't play in Ravenloft, the critters in this book are great additions to any game needing a dark and gothic feel.

Monster: This book from AEG beats WotC to the punch in the monster PC department. I use the rules for immature versions of monsters like ogres, minotaurs, and so on in my own campaign.

Oriental Adventures: This is an amazing book for anyone. The classes and PrC's are top notch and its filled with all sorts of ideas for running a total oriental-flavored campaign or simply adding asian elements to an existing campaign.

FRCS: I always hated FR. That is, until I picked up the 3rd Edition version of FR. While it's still filled with powerful wizards and warriors galore, gone is the feel that even if the PC's can't get something done they can always rely on Drizzt or Elminster to save the day. It's filled with all sorts of information without being too detailed. This is what every campaign setting should strive for.

Call of Cthulhu: This is the ruleset I use for playing in any modern day setting. It really captures the feel of CoC while not making it feel as though there is nothing the PC's can do to survive...as in the old Chaosium game.

Star Wars Revised Core Rules: While I truly liked the first SW ruleset, the revised rules made a simply good game great. This is the SW rules I've been wanting since first playing the old crap WEG system. It's a beautiful book that gives you a lot to play with!

Adios,
Kane

 

[Morrus]

In my opinion, the very highest quality of product is being produced by Green Ronin. BotR, Legions of Hell and Armies of the Abyss are all three in my top 5 D20 products ever, and from what I've seen, M&M may well join them.

I'm not so keen on class/race books in general, but those I have seen from GR are very good.

 

[Khan the Warlord]

In my opinion, the very highest quality of product is being produced by Green Ronin. BotR, Legions of Hell and Armies of the Abyss are all three in my top 5 D20 products ever, and from what I've seen, M&M may well join them.

What, no Freeport in there, Russ?

I'm not so keen on class/race books in general, but those I have seen from GR are very good.

I agree; Wrath & Rage and H&H are just damn sweet!

 

[Buttercup]

For me to choose a book as "truly the best" it has to meet several criteria. First, the production values must be high. Good editing, solid binding, well done artwork. Then, the product has to fire my imagination. The best products take me a long time to read, because so many parts lead me into a daydream about stories I could tell, using the stuff I just read. Finally, the product has to be useful. I know, for example, that lots of people like the Slayers Guides. But I wouldn't rate them as "best products" because I just don't need them. So without further ado, my favorites, in no particular order are:

Book of the Righteous As others have said, this is the ultimate plug & play pantheon. It is so filled with vibrant ideas and stories begging to be told that it ought to win some sort of award.

Kindgoms of Kalamar Campaign Setting Reading this book just gets me all fired up to play in this world. It is beautiful, and internally coherent, and filled with juicy details. I really love all of the Kalamar products, but so far I think this one is my favorite. I'm truly in awe of the creative mind(s) that put this world together.

Relics & Rituals The first time I read through this book, I actually got goose bumps. This book set the bar early on, and still stands in the front of the pack, IMO.

Occult Lore I just love this book. It has given me enough ideas for magic to last me a lifetime of gaming. I've really been impressed with just about everything in Atlas's Penumbra line, but I think this might be the best of their titles.

It isn't out yet, so I can't be certain, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Kalamar Atlas ended up on this list too.