What DnD book should I get next?

[KenM]

Going to my hometown tomorrow, stoping at my FLGS. I want to pick up a DnD book, I can only afford one, I've narrowed it down to these 3:
1. The Underdark FR book. Lots of fluff, a fun read. Good backround for games.
2. The expanded Psionics Handbook. I have the orginall 3rd edtion book. Not sure if the new one has changed that much. I don't usally play alot of Psionics.
3. Monster Manual 3. You can never have too many monsters.

Those are the main ones I'm looking at. I have all the old 3rd edtion splat books, not sure if the new complete books are worth it.
Thoughts?

 

[haiiro]

Underdark is one of my favorite FR books, and it's pretty high up overall. Maybe it's just because a lot of the fluff really clicked for me, but I've gotten a ton of ideas from it.

I don't have either of the other two yet, but they're also completely different. Is there any paricular need you're trying to fill, or just the (understandable!) "must have new book" need?

 

[Keeper of Secrets]

For what its worth, don't underestimate the PDF market over at rpgnow.com. I am impressed by some of the great products that are available there.

 

[Crothian]

I say look at the non Wizards stuff. But it really depends on what you want out of a book.

For instance get the Underdark Adventure Guide by Goodman Games. Its non Forgotten Realms Underdark. It is very well done by Mike Mearls. Instead of the Wizards psionics, get Green Ronin's Psychic Handbook. Instead oa Wizards Monster book go for Eden's FAntasy Beasteiary, Inner Circles Denizens of Avundu, Privateer Press's Monsterniomicon, etc. All are good books and a little off the gaming radar.

 

[Arcane Runes Press]

Hmmm.... there's been some good advice given on 3rd party stuff, so I'll talk about the three you listed.

I don't have the Underdark book, and haven't looked through it for more than 5 minutes, so I won't comment on that.

The Expanded Psionics book is really enjoyable, in my opinion. I bought it recently, and haven't regretted the purchase. Some of the abilities seem a bit... overpowered, but it's mostly a good collection of stuff. The classes are neat and a lot of the powers are interesting. I find it to be very flavorful, but then I'm a fan of psionic stuff.

MMIII I looked through today, for a good long time (my wife is asst manager at Waldenbooks). I liked it, which is much more than I can say for MMII, or Fiend Folio. There are some really neat, higher CR monsters in MMIII. Problem wise, I can highlight 3 things:

1) Not a lot of flavor in the descriptions. The monsters are neat, but the presentation is bland as hell. A lot of the art's good though.

2) Too many races again. There are now roughly 8 billion humanoidish monsters in D&D land. More lizardmen, more of these goblinish guys, some more guys that look like orcs if you squint, and so on. I'd rather see more unique monsters, those which, like the Tarrasque, represent a solitary beastie of legend.

3) Some *ahem* screwy monsters. There are some great beasts in MMIII, and then there are some monsters which are too little fantasy and too much "As envisioned by the Heavy Metal guys after a 3 day bender of shrooms and opium-den crawling".

Bonus #4 problem) The Loths are sadly weak and flavorless. I loves me some Ultraloth action, and they're supposed to be premiere Hard men of the outer planes - so why the hell are they CR 13?


That said, it's still a really cool book.

IF it were up to me, I'd get the Psionics book, but as I said, I'm a big fan. If you really like monsters, and if you really run your party through heavy combat against a variety of foes, then MMIII will keep your adventures fresh for a long time to come.


Also, you should buy all of my books and PDFs you can find.

Patrick Y.

 

[Ghostwind]

It depends on your needs. Underdark is a really good book, but you have to have a need for it. I'm more of a fan of Green Ronin's Psychic Handbook than the Expanded Psionics Handbook, but it is fairly well written. Of the three, I'd lean towards Monster Manual III.

But if you're looking for a fourth alternative, Arms & Armor v3.5 (Bastion Press) should be on your store shelves within the next week or so.

 

[Li Shenron]

Going to my hometown tomorrow, stoping at my FLGS. I want to pick up a DnD book, I can only afford one, I've narrowed it down to these 3:
1. The Underdark FR book. Lots of fluff, a fun read. Good backround for games.
2. The expanded Psionics Handbook. I have the orginall 3rd edtion book. Not sure if the new one has changed that much. I don't usally play alot of Psionics.
3. Monster Manual 3. You can never have too many monsters.

Those are the main ones I'm looking at. I have all the old 3rd edtion splat books, not sure if the new complete books are worth it.
Thoughts?

I have only seen the Underdark book, and I was not 100% pleased by it. However, it's overall a good sourcebook, as basically all the FRCS regional manuals released so far.

 

[Thanee]

1. The Underdark FR book. Lots of fluff, a fun read. Good backround for games.
2. The expanded Psionics Handbook. I have the orginall 3rd edtion book. Not sure if the new one has changed that much. I don't usally play alot of Psionics.
3. Monster Manual 3. You can never have too many monsters.

Well, I'd not get the XPH, purely because you don't use it much, anyways, and it is available as SRD, too.

The Underdark, like most FR books, is a great asset, if you can use it for your campaigns.

MM3, that's a personal thing, I don't need so many monsters, but some people totally enjoy having more nasties to throw at their players.

Complete Warrior and Divine are both good books, if you are interested in the rules side and they are a lot better than the 3.0 splatbooks.

From your list, I'd probably get the Underdark.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Sammael]

If you play FR, I'd certainly recommend Underdark. It's not as good as some of the 2nd ed supplements, but it's a solid book with plenty of fluff (when compared to Greyhawk-lite books).

The XPH? I use Green Ronin's Psychic's Handbook instead. Much more portable and doesn't use a whole new system of "casting."

MM3: haven't seen it yet, but I may buy it on art merits alone.

 

[Nightchilde-2]

Going to my hometown tomorrow, stoping at my FLGS. I want to pick up a DnD book, I can only afford one, I've narrowed it down to these 3:
1. The Underdark FR book. Lots of fluff, a fun read. Good backround for games.
2. The expanded Psionics Handbook. I have the orginall 3rd edtion book. Not sure if the new one has changed that much. I don't usally play alot of Psionics.
3. Monster Manual 3. You can never have too many monsters.

Those are the main ones I'm looking at. I have all the old 3rd edtion splat books, not sure if the new complete books are worth it.
Thoughts?

That's a tough list to choose from!

The only problem with Underdark comes in if you aren't playing in a FR game...roughly half the book is more or less Realms-specific. Though some/most/all of it could be shoehorned into a different world. Otherwise, it's a great book.

I love the XPH and MMIII. I'll go ahead and throw out the obvious; if you don't play with a lot of psionics, you won't get optimum use out of the XPH.

That leaves the MMIII. Which is a great book, IMHO, best MM since MMI. It's got some really neat undead (along with a buncha other cool beasties).

So, my 2 cents? MMIII would be more useful overall, with Underdark or XPH as second choice, depending on whether you run in the Realms or decide you have a want/need for Psionics.