D&D 4E Which 4e books do you think are must-haves?

[raindog308]

I may have an opportunity/calling to run some 4e. I haven't played it a whole lot. I do own the PHB/DMG/MM core books but that's it.

Which other books do you think are essential as a GM/player? Let's leave adventures and campaign settings out of it (unless you think they're really vital). I already have miniatures, battle mat, etc., though not any of those little powers cards or the status tokens I've seen.

Would I be wrong in saying (in addition to the 3 core books):

• DMG2
• PHB2 + PHB3
• MM2 + MM3
• Adventurer's Vault + Adventurer's Vault 2

There's also Martial Power, Martial Power 2, Arcane Power, Divine Power, and Primal Power. I'm including some player stuff because obviously players will want to use it, plus for designing NPCs.

Going a step further out, there's Psionic Power, the Forgotten Realms guide (which I think has some Drow player stuff?), and monster-specific things like Open Grave.

There's also the Essentials line, but I'm hoping that's redundant with what's in the books listed above. Because for God's sake, a role playing game shouldn't cost $500 ;-)

If you were gearing up to run a long-term 4e campaign, what would you choose?

 

[havoclad]

If you have the big 3, you really don't need any other books.

I might make a slight exception for the Rules Compendium (Essentials). It is really nice to have all the rules in one spot with up to date errata. I can find pretty much any rule I'm questioning quickly with it.

What you could really use is a DDI subscription. Instead of buying all the books, put a smaller amount of money into DDI. Character Builder and Monster Builder are worth the cash alone. Plus you get access to all of the Dungeon and Dragon magazine content (and back issues to download). I haven't even mentioned the online Compendium, I might use that more than the rest combined!

With DDI and the Rules Compendium, I don't really use any other books anymore aside from adventures.

 

[Dice4Hire]

Talking books not DDI.

Adventurer's Vault is pretty must-have in my opinion. More magic helps a lot.

MMII or MMIII The monsters are just better.

Otherwise, the PHBII is pretty solid, with a lot of fun classes. PHBIII did not appeal to me much.

You do not need the power books for NPCs as NPCs (that the party might fight) should be built on monster rules, but that is your choice.

If you have a favorite power source, buy the book for it. I thought MPII was very solid for the ranger and warlord. MPI was better for the fighter, and the rogue did ok, but not great, in both books.

But you do not need much.

 

[Jack99]

Assuming you have played d&d for a long time, I would only buy the DMG2 and then invest in DDI sub for yourself and a onetime DDI download for the rest of your players.

That would give you access to all you need, unless you want the PoL fluff, in which case you should also buy Underdark, Plane Above, Plane Below, Manual of the Planes and Demonomicon,

I would perhaps also consider a Rules Compendium, to have all the rules in the same book,at the table. At $20 its a steal.

 

[Mr. Wilson]

DDI sub, DMGs, and maybe Campaign guides if you were playing in one of the settings. Maybe the Rules Compendium if you aren't playing with laptops at the table (we are, so I won't buy it).

Everything else is covered by the aforementioned DDI sub.

Personally, I also would buy the fluff DM books (the ones Jack mentioned) because they are well written.

 

[Psikus]

Not that it will make any difference, since you already have it, but in my opinion, the first Monster Manual can no longer be considered a must-have. It's the book that has taken the largest hit from the monster design evolution: most of its solos and minions feel lacking, and you'd want to make statistics adjustments on every brute, and pretty much everything above 10th level.

The greatest appeal of the book, which can't be understated, is the fact that it contains the most iconic d&d monsters, including chromatic dragons, kobolds, and basic undead. On the other hand, I expect up to date versions of these to be included in the Essentials Monster Vault, making MM1 redundant.

Apart from that, once you have the core rules, you could realistically get all your player options and monsters from DDI, so no non-fluff book can be really considered a must-have. Personally, I'd get PHB2, on account of being my favourite book out there, and consider the rest optional. That hasn't stopped me from buying and enjoying most of them anyways, but I could have done without them

 

[Amphimir Míriel]

Skip the Adventurer's Vaults and the Martial/Divine/Arcane/Primal/Psionic Power books

Those rules, powers and items are available, updated and better organized through the Compendium

Instead, get the "fluffy" books, like Manual of the Planes, Open Grave, and the Draconomicons, filled with interesting concepts, adventure seeds, and all around good writing.

 

[AbdulAlhazred]

Eh, just relying on the Compendium doesn't quite work. Neither does relying on the printed RC, they both leave out pretty close to exactly the same things, which are some rather interesting options.

So it all depends on whether or not you want to use familiars, beast masters, some of the more interesting newer builds, etc. You CAN pretty much get all the dope on builds online, the other stuff could be handy to some players though.

I would get a DMG2, probably an AV, maybe MM3. Honestly I get a lot of use out of my MM1 still, but with DDI and Monster Builder you really don't NEED monster books unless you want all the lore and pictures and whatnot. From what I hear they're talking about how to get that stuff into the Compendium anyway, so we really may just not ever want an MM again...

Make the players get all the Power * books. You may want a PHB2, it has a lot of good stuff. For the rest the players can spring for player oriented books if they want them.

The 4e fluff books are all pretty uniformly decent books with a good amount of story hook kind of stuff in them, some basic mini-adventures, and most have pretty solid crunch as well. MotP was probably the weakest (and first, go figure) but it does give you a HUGE amount of general info on a lot of interesting places and personalities.

 

[geekgazette]

Rules Compendium, MM3 and any PHB (I prefer the Essentials PHBs) and you should have everything you need.

 

[Amphimir Míriel]

Eh, just relying on the Compendium doesn't quite work. Neither does relying on the printed RC, they both leave out pretty close to exactly the same things, which are some rather interesting options.

So it all depends on whether or not you want to use familiars, beast masters, some of the more interesting newer builds, etc. You CAN pretty much get all the dope on builds online, the other stuff could be handy to some players though.

Why?, you can make a perfectly good Summoner wizard or Beastmaster ranger with the character builder alone.

What you don't get through the online tools is the fluff and setting part of the books, which is why I would suggest getting the fluff-oriented books rather than the crunch-oriented ones