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Arakune
2009-12-08, 10:20 AM
I'm getting Tome of Battle, I have Complete Mage Arcane, DMBG I, MM I, Spell Compentium.

What else should I get to cover my basis? No setting specific for now.

Tyndmyr
2009-12-08, 10:24 AM
PHB 1, if you don't already have it. MiC is also terrific.

I'd suggest others in the complete line as well, though these are pretty optional. Warrior, mage, arcane. Unearthed Arcana is filled with juicy stuff, but its aimed at a very experienced DM, mostly.

What sort of games do you like to play?

hamishspence
2009-12-08, 10:25 AM
PHB2 is one of the best general, all round books.

Most of the others are focussed on one thing or another, or create a whole new power source and classes.

Expanded Psionics, Tome of Magic, Magic of Incarnum, etc fall into the "new sources and classes" category.

Some of the speciality books though, have a lot of use. Magic Item Compendium is all magic items, but most classes can get use from it.

Emmerask
2009-12-08, 10:30 AM
Complete Warrior, and depending on the setting you prefer some campaign setting books are nice.

Arakune
2009-12-08, 10:38 AM
PHB I, XPB, ELH and Deities and Demigods I can get the basic from www.d20srd.org, so i'm not in immediate need of it.

Eldariel
2009-12-08, 10:45 AM
Well, Complete Scoundrel is really nice, as is Complete Mage. Magic Item Compendium, Dungeonscape, Heroes of Horror all seem good. And of course, some monster book could be nice if you want to expand your repertoire; Fiend Folio (while 3.0) is one of the more versatile means of doing so.

hamishspence
2009-12-08, 10:46 AM
And it had a 3.5 online update (along with MM2 and a few others) online at the WoTC site.

Don't know if the update is still there though- it was a downloadable booklet.

Zovc
2009-12-08, 10:47 AM
I like the Player's Handbook II quite a lot. Both the Beguiler and the Duskblade are among my favorite classes, I like a lot of the alternate class features in the books, and it really has a lot of varied content in it. PHB II is among one of the more dynamic choices, I think.

I am a fan of the complete series.

Eldariel
2009-12-08, 10:48 AM
And it had a 3.5 online update (along with MM2 and a few others) online at the WoTC site.

Don't know if the update is still there though- it was a downloadable booklet.

It should be available; I don't think WoTC has removed any 3.X material from their site. You just gotta Google them. If it's not there, I've got 'em all.

Cyrion
2009-12-08, 10:49 AM
I get a lot of mileage out of the Complete series- Mage, Arcane, Divine and Warrior. People have mentioned everything except Divine so far, and I think Complete Divine is a great resource for clerics and druids.

hamishspence
2009-12-08, 10:51 AM
It was more that Wizards sometimes removes content- and I was wondering if they'd gotten to the 3.5 stuff yet.

I downloaded the booklet way back.

Anonymouswizard
2009-12-08, 10:53 AM
Fiend Folio for the monsters, CS for the amount of options given to most classes (all core classes anyway) and the builds it gives as examples, and then Dragon Magic for the sheer awesomeness between the covers.

But then my collection is PHB 1, DMG 1, MM 1 3.0 (but I can get 3.5 MM monsters (mainly) on-line), Fien Folio, Complete Arcane, Complete Scoundrel and Dragon Magic. The next perchase I will most likely get is Tome of Magic, so I can use the new Vestige in Dragon Magic. After that Races of the Dragon, and maybe the Drconian (or whatever the name is).

Ormagoden
2009-12-08, 11:06 AM
PHBI
PHBII
DMGI
DMGII
MMI
MMIII
All complete books
Expanded psionics
MIC
SC
also
The rules compendium :D

BooNL
2009-12-08, 11:09 AM
In order of general usefulness, you could consider:

PHBII, Magic Item Compendium, Spell Compendium - these are all top choices. At least one of the players on the table should have these books.
Complete X - pick your favourite archetype and bathe in the extra options. Most of the new classes are meh, but there's some nice ones in there.
Races of X - season to taste.
Tome of Magic, Magic of Incarnum: these offer new mechanics, which may take some effort to learn. Good books though.
Dragon Magic, Draconomicon, Libris Mortis, Fiend Folio, whatever else monster book out there: good for extra options, more useful for a DM. Dragon Magic is an exception here, the book is made of pure awesome.

Tyndmyr
2009-12-08, 11:10 AM
The rules compendium :D

Don't get me wrong, I own it...but I wouldn't put it very high on the list of books to get. Most of the stuff can be found elsewhere, so it's not of much use until you've been playing enough to care about errata and such. In my experience, not many people do.

Eldariel
2009-12-08, 11:13 AM
Don't get me wrong, I own it...but I wouldn't put it very high on the list of books to get. Most of the stuff can be found elsewhere, so it's not of much use until you've been playing enough to care about errata and such. In my experience, not many people do.

The only thing to care about in the book is the Anti-Magic Field reworking, and that was published online. Otherwise it's just restating the rules. Handy, to be sure, but if you know the rules well, you have no need for it and if you have a decent grasp of them and access online, or just lots of on-the-fly rulings, it isn't really very relevant.

It's mostly useful for arena players and the like where RAW is exceedingly important and you need a quick reference point when arguments come up.

Anonymouswizard
2009-12-08, 11:39 AM
Dragon Magic is an exception here, the book is made of pure awesome.

:biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin: :biggrin:

Translation of Dragon Magic: Awesomesauce.

deuxhero
2009-12-08, 11:42 AM
Note that despite the name, Complete Scoundrel contains many things useful for non-skill monkeys.

Draz74
2009-12-08, 01:18 PM
Putting in another vote for Magic Item Compendium (MIC).

Gnorman
2009-12-08, 07:54 PM
Monster Manuals III and V. Ignore II and IV. The Fiend Folio has some good ideas, but it is pretty shoddy when it comes to correctly-assigned challenge ratings (like II, but not as bad). If you're only going to get one other Monster Manual, make it III.

Fiendish Codex I and II are brilliant. Perfect intersection of fluff and crunch. Not very useful if you don't plan on using extraplanar or fiendish campaigns, but if you do - they're practically required.

Complete Scoundrel and Complete Mage are the best in the series.

Races of Stone is generally awesome.

PHB II has, as mentioned, something for just about everyone.