Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
What's the best and worst D&D book you own from any edition?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 7824740" data-attributes="member: 996"><p>Thanks to [USER=6727715]@eyeheartawk[/USER] for the formatting and edition-by-edition precedent. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p>(I'll bet I've posted before, and given different answers, too, but whatever, this version looks like fun.)</p><p></p><p><u><strong><span style="font-size: 22px">Best</span></strong></u></p><p></p><p><strong>OD&D/Basic: </strong>Men & Magic, for reasons that'll become evident.</p><p></p><p><strong>1E: </strong>Gotta go <em>DMG </em> here like everybody else. You've got the definitive explanation of what hps really represent and how they really work, that has never been questioned since. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p><strong>2E: </strong> <em>Complete Priest's Handbook, </em>easily the best thing ever written for 2e, expanded the Priest into a highly customizeable class, a great resource for DMs and players who could get their ear, and a level of design openness we'd not see again until 3e. It was written by the late great Aaron Alston, who also did a lot of writing for Hero Games, and published a few novels that are worth a read.</p><p></p><p><strong>3E: </strong>I'm going to go with the 3.0 PH because, well, I don't own a huge number of 3e books (the group I was in at the time shared books a lot, and I didn't end up holding many of them), but I really did like some of the things that 3.5 ended up changing.</p><p></p><p><strong>4E: </strong>Like Retreater said, 4e books were better references than memorable reads. Suppose we'll have to go with the PH1, again, for introducing the revolutionary (even if the revolution has been successfully suppressed) take on martial characters, especially the Warlord. I really don't much go in for setting/cosmology books, but Plane Above/Below and HotFw deserve mention, too.</p><p></p><p><strong>5E: </strong>Nothing about the 5e rules much stands out, as befits a well-crafted compromise, but Curse of Strahd seems like the best adventure so far.</p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 22px"><u><strong>Worst</strong></u></span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px"><strong>OD&D/Basic: </strong>Greyhawk Supplement I, for introducing the Thief and thus ruining the game forever. ;P (Oh, and it also introduced the Paladin.) </span></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px"></span></p><p><span style="font-size: 15px"><strong>1E: </strong>A close contest between the "flaming dumpster fire" (c)Lowkey13 of <em>Unearthed Arcana </em>and the flaming <em>gomi-xiang </em>(which is exactly like a western dumpster, but superior in every way, and has Ki powers) fire of <em>Oriental Adventures</em>. Really, nothing to salvage from 1e after those fiascos. </span></p><p></p><p><strong>2E: </strong>My regret here is that I don't own the notorious most broken complete books of the line, like the Complete Book of Elves - well, regret only in the context of this post, since I really, really don't regret not spending money 'em. I guess I'll have to go with the giant multi-volume compendium of magic items that included the hilarious search-and-replace editing error that changed every instance of "damage" to "dawizard." Though, for format alone, that nice idea that didn't work out so well, the loose-leaf Monstrous Compendium also deserves a nod.</p><p></p><p><strong>3E: </strong>Again, don't own a lotta 3e for logistical reasons, but, I did end up holding the execrable <em>Sword & Fist</em>, which featured both what was perhaps the worst cover art in D&D history, and truly pathetic content, so I'm golden.</p><p></p><p><strong>4E: </strong>I ended up not owning KotSf, or HoS or HotFL/K nor much of Essentials at all beyond the RC, so... </p><p>...oh, y'know: all the adventure tools after monster builder: <em>for being vaporware</em>. (But, you don't own them! ... no, but it was a subscription service, so I <strong>paid for them</strong>. But I'm not bitter, no, not me.)</p><p></p><p><strong>5E: </strong><em>Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. </em>Not at all surprising. Mechanically, only offers a few things of value. Lore wise it's as deep as a puddle. (No I didn't stop, I just had to agree - and I don't actually own HotDQ, or that would obviously win.)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 7824740, member: 996"] Thanks to [USER=6727715]@eyeheartawk[/USER] for the formatting and edition-by-edition precedent. ;) (I'll bet I've posted before, and given different answers, too, but whatever, this version looks like fun.) [U][B][SIZE=6]Best[/SIZE][/B][/U] [B]OD&D/Basic: [/B]Men & Magic, for reasons that'll become evident. [B]1E: [/B]Gotta go [I]DMG [/I] here like everybody else. You've got the definitive explanation of what hps really represent and how they really work, that has never been questioned since. ;) [B]2E: [/B] [I]Complete Priest's Handbook, [/I]easily the best thing ever written for 2e, expanded the Priest into a highly customizeable class, a great resource for DMs and players who could get their ear, and a level of design openness we'd not see again until 3e. It was written by the late great Aaron Alston, who also did a lot of writing for Hero Games, and published a few novels that are worth a read. [B]3E: [/B]I'm going to go with the 3.0 PH because, well, I don't own a huge number of 3e books (the group I was in at the time shared books a lot, and I didn't end up holding many of them), but I really did like some of the things that 3.5 ended up changing. [B]4E: [/B]Like Retreater said, 4e books were better references than memorable reads. Suppose we'll have to go with the PH1, again, for introducing the revolutionary (even if the revolution has been successfully suppressed) take on martial characters, especially the Warlord. I really don't much go in for setting/cosmology books, but Plane Above/Below and HotFw deserve mention, too. [B]5E: [/B]Nothing about the 5e rules much stands out, as befits a well-crafted compromise, but Curse of Strahd seems like the best adventure so far. [SIZE=6][U][B]Worst[/B][/U][/SIZE] [SIZE=4][B]OD&D/Basic: [/B]Greyhawk Supplement I, for introducing the Thief and thus ruining the game forever. ;P (Oh, and it also introduced the Paladin.) [B]1E: [/B]A close contest between the "flaming dumpster fire" (c)Lowkey13 of [I]Unearthed Arcana [/I]and the flaming [I]gomi-xiang [/I](which is exactly like a western dumpster, but superior in every way, and has Ki powers) fire of [I]Oriental Adventures[/I]. Really, nothing to salvage from 1e after those fiascos. [/SIZE] [B]2E: [/B]My regret here is that I don't own the notorious most broken complete books of the line, like the Complete Book of Elves - well, regret only in the context of this post, since I really, really don't regret not spending money 'em. I guess I'll have to go with the giant multi-volume compendium of magic items that included the hilarious search-and-replace editing error that changed every instance of "damage" to "dawizard." Though, for format alone, that nice idea that didn't work out so well, the loose-leaf Monstrous Compendium also deserves a nod. [B]3E: [/B]Again, don't own a lotta 3e for logistical reasons, but, I did end up holding the execrable [I]Sword & Fist[/I], which featured both what was perhaps the worst cover art in D&D history, and truly pathetic content, so I'm golden. [B]4E: [/B]I ended up not owning KotSf, or HoS or HotFL/K nor much of Essentials at all beyond the RC, so... ...oh, y'know: all the adventure tools after monster builder: [I]for being vaporware[/I]. (But, you don't own them! ... no, but it was a subscription service, so I [B]paid for them[/B]. But I'm not bitter, no, not me.) [B]5E: [/B][I]Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide. [/I]Not at all surprising. Mechanically, only offers a few things of value. Lore wise it's as deep as a puddle. (No I didn't stop, I just had to agree - and I don't actually own HotDQ, or that would obviously win.) [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
What's the best and worst D&D book you own from any edition?
Top