eyeheartawk
#1 Enworld Jerk™
Best
OD&D/Basic: Rules Cyclopedia 100%. Everything you would ever need in one book.
1E: Gotta go DMG here like everybody else. Damned difficult to read at times, but so many great nugs.
2E: This is a three way tie between Priest's Spell Compendium, Encylcopedia Magica and Wizard's Spell Compendium. Such a great reference and so convenient to have everything collected in one place with background notes and even telling you which setting it is from. Beautiful, to boot. Really hope 5E does something like this in the future, as I don't relish the thought of carrying 20 books in my backpack five years from now.
3E: Not really a FR guy at all, but the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting is pretty great. I consider this and its following books in the line the high point for Forgotten Realms.
4E: Didn't play a ton of 4E, but for sheer convenience probably gotta go with the Rules Compendium.
5E: No 5E product has really blown me away to such a degree to be a clear favorite over another but if I had to pick I would say Xanathar's Guide to Everything. Just because it has a little bit for everything and everybody and some neat new options.
Worst
OD&D/Basic: Probably Swords & Spells. It was a backwards looking supplement to turn D&D back into a wargame, and nobody I have ever met or heard of ever used this.
1E: The Dungeoneer's Survival Guide and Wilderness Survival Guide were probably the low point in 1E hardbacks. Filled full of useless junk nobody used.
2E: So many bad books in this edition, if for no other reason, the amount of books published. But I gotta go with WG7 Castle Greyhawk. People waited so long to see what Gary's Castle Greyhawk looked like. Eventually, we got this and lo, it was bad.
3E: The Slayer's Guide to Female Gamers. This exemplifies the worst of the 3E era: third party splatbook glut and terrible gamer stereotypes. Of course it's written by James Desborough, what a surprise.
4E: I mean, it's gotta be the Monster Manual, right? Errata and math updates made this book worthless.
5E: Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. Not at all surprising. Mechanically, only offers a few things of value. Lore wise it's as deep as a puddle.
OD&D/Basic: Rules Cyclopedia 100%. Everything you would ever need in one book.
1E: Gotta go DMG here like everybody else. Damned difficult to read at times, but so many great nugs.
2E: This is a three way tie between Priest's Spell Compendium, Encylcopedia Magica and Wizard's Spell Compendium. Such a great reference and so convenient to have everything collected in one place with background notes and even telling you which setting it is from. Beautiful, to boot. Really hope 5E does something like this in the future, as I don't relish the thought of carrying 20 books in my backpack five years from now.
3E: Not really a FR guy at all, but the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting is pretty great. I consider this and its following books in the line the high point for Forgotten Realms.
4E: Didn't play a ton of 4E, but for sheer convenience probably gotta go with the Rules Compendium.
5E: No 5E product has really blown me away to such a degree to be a clear favorite over another but if I had to pick I would say Xanathar's Guide to Everything. Just because it has a little bit for everything and everybody and some neat new options.
Worst
OD&D/Basic: Probably Swords & Spells. It was a backwards looking supplement to turn D&D back into a wargame, and nobody I have ever met or heard of ever used this.
1E: The Dungeoneer's Survival Guide and Wilderness Survival Guide were probably the low point in 1E hardbacks. Filled full of useless junk nobody used.
2E: So many bad books in this edition, if for no other reason, the amount of books published. But I gotta go with WG7 Castle Greyhawk. People waited so long to see what Gary's Castle Greyhawk looked like. Eventually, we got this and lo, it was bad.
3E: The Slayer's Guide to Female Gamers. This exemplifies the worst of the 3E era: third party splatbook glut and terrible gamer stereotypes. Of course it's written by James Desborough, what a surprise.
4E: I mean, it's gotta be the Monster Manual, right? Errata and math updates made this book worthless.
5E: Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. Not at all surprising. Mechanically, only offers a few things of value. Lore wise it's as deep as a puddle.
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