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Message: <blockquote data-quote="GregoryOatmeal" data-source="post: 5687474" data-attributes="member: 6667661">Must:   A gaming mat (especially for 4E) and markers for the mat. This is by far the most effective way to map combat. It's cheap, you can draw whatever, and you don't have to manage a bunch of knick-knacks  The monster manual/DMG/PHB or essentials versions.  Something to represent players and monsters. Could be chess pieces or old toys.  You really don't need much.Highly Recommended  Both Dark Sun books. This setting is full of awesome ideas. I tend to incorporate the ideas into my Gamma World/space sci-fi campaign. Not a must since the apocalyptic desert may not be for you but easily some of the best books in my huge collection of roleplaying books.Avoid  The original series of modules (H1-E3). They're slogs - endless boring combat. They require a lot of work to make fun and are really slow to read. Do research before you buy any 4E module, as most are terrible.  Maps/tiles - these are cool for limited uses but become clutter. Tiles take a long time to set up and slow down the game. If you don't have many tiles you can't depict much and if you have a lot you need to start thinking about a way to organize your maps and tiles. Drawing on a grid is much betterHonestly I wouldn't try to buy too many knick-knacks for the table. They're just expensive clutter after a while.Without starting an edition war - most 4E mechanics and monsters are based on the same mechanics with a different layer of paint. Now if the flavor is good enough it shouldn't matter. I used to collect 4E books but spent so much time flipping between them for stats of the three different monster types from three different books. I started tagging pages but man, that's just more work. I'd recommend ad-hocing the monsters - just imagine in your head what you think their HP and armor class should be and make up attacks. This requires a little knowledge of the system - but you can just reskin existing monsters if you're not comfortable winging it. That way you can pull monsters from anywhere - novels, movies, ideas. If you go with this method, rules system be damned, I'd suggest the Pathfinder Bestiary 2 (it's a big book with awesome ideas) and the Planescape Monster Appendices (most creative monsters ever - a race that speaks pictures).In my mind settings are edition neutral as well. Planescape, Dark Sun, and Ravenloft are just full of awesome ideas. I wouldn't apply this to old adventure modules because they tend to be more combat-focused and 4E doesn't really shine if you have a bunch of unimportant combats and random encounters.</blockquote>

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