What d20 Purchases to you Regret?

[Buttercup]

The Hero Builder's Guidebook gets a bad rap. Sure it's of limited use to those who have been playing RPGs for years, but it's of great value when teaching people who have never played a roleplaying game before. I think people tend to forget that when they bash it, they may not be the book's target audience.

I agree 100%. I'm a completely self-taught DM, and I used it to learn how to create backgrounds for NPCs. I've also taught two people how to create their characters using it. I wouldn't trade Hero Builder's Guidebook for anything.

 

[Staffan]

OK, I give up. What the %#$@ are the "splatbooks"?

Splatbook is a generic and slightly derogatory term for class/race/clan/tribe/caste/whateverbooks. While it wouldn't be correct to call Quintessential Psion a race book, or Hammer & Helm a class book, they are both splatbooks.

 

[Knightfall]

And on the very next thread comes an unfavorable Oathbound mention... and from someone I've known for years. Knightfall1972, you will contemplate this on the tree of woe.

Don't get me wrong. The book is one of the best high-quality, well thought out books I've seen. It just doesn't fit with my cosmology.

I got bogged down while reading it and realized as I got further and further in, that if I wanted it to work with Kulan it would mean rebuilding my cosmology from the ground up.

Sure it would be a great campaign setting on its own but that's not how I use products I buy. Everything I buy is to be incorporated into one of my homebrewed settings (Kulan, Time of Ages, or my Dragonstar campaign). I bough Oathbound to go with Kulan and found out it really didn't fit the way I'd hoped it would.

I still haven't sold it yet but I have a feeling its only a matter of time.

KF72

p.s. This is why I haven't bought Dawnforge yet, although I'm the one who started the Dawnforge yahoo group. I just can't bring myself to buy stuff that isn't 'portable' into one of my settings.

 

[Knightfall]

Did I mention that I contributed actually very little to the core book?

Actually, one of the decisions that was made early on was that oathbound would feature monsters from Minions: Fearsome Foes. I think this worked out well for the core races since all the applicable information that was needed was included in the book. The monsters, maybe not so much so.

The interesting thing is that I bought Oathbound before I bought Minions. I was ticked that I had to buy Minions to get 'statted' versions of the creatures for Oathbound.

And while OB is likely to go 'bye-bye', Minions is a book I really like. Minions allows me to incorporate the creatures and races into my homebrews, without having to have access to Oathbound.

So in the end, I got the book I needed - Minions. (It was way better than, say, Creature Collection I.)

 

[Treebore]

Purchases I regret:

Lost City of Barakus: I ordered this online, so I didn’t have a chance to flip through it first. Holy crap, the font is huge! This could easily have been 32 pages or more shorter, instead of a $35 hardback. I also found the backstory so convoluted so as to be utterly ridiculous.

Yes, the font is large, but this is in no way a 32 page module. I read somewhere that downsizing it to the "normal" font size would only knock its page size down by 4 to 7 pages. Second, the book/adventures would make more sense if you read the pages in the order they are numbered. Since i have, I can in no way see how you could possibly have that as a opinion. Which surprises me all the more considering how much i agree with most/all your other opinions in this post. Did you truly give it an honest read through? If not i think you would be glad if you were to do so.

 

[Turjan]

Yes, the font is large, but this is in no way a 32 page module.

He's not saying anything like that .

 

[Alaric_Prympax]

Some of the things I would not have bought if I would have put some thought into it.

1. Unfortunately most of my Mongoose purchases. Especially the Quintessential Books. They have been a waste for me and have seen no use at all.

Their B5 line, I only have the first 3 books but no one wants to play.

I like their Slayers Guide but once again I just haven't been able to use them.

I'm interested in their Classic series but at $34.95 a book... well I can't get everything.

Though a few of their Encyclopedia Arcane books have seen some use.

2. Anything by Fast Forward Entertainment, complete disappointment- rules, editing, art, ect.; though I do find some of the 'story' ideas interesting.

The product of theirs that I'm interested in the most is one that has been delayed for well over a year... 1492: Conquista del Magico.

3. Avalanche Press, I like their historical books but I once again I just haven't used them.

4. WotC Star Wars line, see my B5 reference above.

5. I was excited when I got the splat books but no one in my group has yet to take a PrC, even the one that I made. Though some of the feats and spells have been used.

6. Hero Builders, enough said.

Things I've used and happy I got...

Core books- 3.0 & 3.5 (wouldn't have a D&D game without them)
I use Psionics so the PsiHB, the expanded PsiHB is on my 'must buy' list.
NG, GR, Malhovac (though I have AU I haven't used it yet), and Bad Axe Games (best books for the price I've seen yet ) products.


My goal this year is debt reduction so I won't be buying much this year. I only have 3 left on my 'must buy' list: Book of Fiends (GR), ExPsiHB (WotC), and now NG's Tome of Horrors II, I just got Fields of Blood (Eden). Anything else I'll have to justify to myself (and others now that my life has gotten more complacated for the better) to purchase anything over $20.

 

[Bagpuss]

Purchases I regret:
Anything by Mongoose: They are the kings of crap. Only FFE had a lower overall level of quality but they never matched Mongoose for quantity. Someone in that company must be really rich for them to still be in business. A damn shame they have Conan too. That property belongs with a decent company.

Weird I've never had a duff product from them, but perhaps that's because I've only bought their Slaine and Judge Dredd lines?

 

[Voadam]

I think this is actually something we've moved away from somewhat. Oathbound Arena is probably my favorite oathbound book to date (I contributed about 30 pages to it), and not as many monsters showed up from other sources.

Really? There are a lot of different monsters in Arena. One lord is a Dragori from MEG's dragon sands empire, one sub leader is a Ramzadi from Bastion's Torn Asunder, and there are a lot of the oathbound/minions creatures running around from pickers, fausts, asherakes, nightlings, etc. There is even a warlord with a class from Librum Equitis. The impression I got was that Oathbound seems to be running strong on using outside (or at least other bastion) material. If you mean minions only monsters in the adventure I guess I could see that.

 

[WizarDru]

Fiend Folio: Much better than MM2, but sadly 3.0.

You might want to check that again...FF is mostly-3.5 compatible. Look at the stat-blocks. The only real difference is that the DR-system changed after it was completed. WotC provides a PDF, which is really just a list of DR conversions and two pages of conversions for the Swarm type.