recommend me a book! [3.5]

[Froogleyboy]

Okay, my friend wants a suggestion on his next book to buy. He has
the complete X series
BOVD
BOED
Cityscape
Dungeonscape
Lords of madness

So, playground, other then those and the core books, what are y'alls favorites ?

[Dusk Eclipse]

Races of (Stone, Destiny, Wild, the Dragon) depending on his preferences.
Or the Eberron Campaing Setting if he is willing to give a try to a new setting.

[Ferrin]

Tome of Magic! It has the Binder, which alone is enough to buy the book for. 1/3 of the book is blank though, and another third needs a bit of polishing.

[The Cat Goddess]

Tome of Battle (for obligitory Unarmed SwordSage Reference #489).

[Greenish]

Tome of Battle.Seconded. Someone once said that if you only buy one splatbook to supplement the core, take The Book of Nine Swords, and I'm inclined to agree.

[Flob]

The Expanded Psionics Handbook (unless you are using the SRD). I love psionics, so... Yeah. Also, by complete Complete series, you are including the Complete Psionic, right?

[Vaynor]

Tome of Battle. Also, the Spell Compendium.

[Boci]

Since not everyone likes ToB, your firend can skim through these links and get an idea of what the book is about:

http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20060802a&page=2
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20061225a

[Optimystik]

I say PHB2, followed by ToB, followed by Magic of Incarnum.

[Amphetryon]

+3 Tome of Battle.

Libris Mortis is a good option if, for whatever reason, ToB isn't your group's style.

[Lycanthromancer]

Tome of Battle

Expanded Psionics Handbook (AKA, the XPH; avoid the 3.0 Psionics Handbook)

Hyperconscious (http://www.montecook.com/cgi-bin/page.cgi?mpress_Hyper_PR) (3rd party, but written by the author of the XPH, and is quite excellent)

Untapped Potential (http://www.amazon.com/Untapped-Potential-Horizons-Psionics-00001/product-reviews/0615169244) (if anything, better than Hyperconscious, 3rd-partiness notwithstanding)

Magic Item Compendium (but avoid the torc of power preservation nerf)

Magic of Incarnum (mmm...incarnum)

Dragon Magic (yay dragonfire adept)

I love them all.

[edit] Oh, and my psionic powers revision, (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=3080.0) especially if you want to play an all-psionics (and possibly incarnum/ToB) campaign. It's not 100% finished, but it's playable. I hope.

[Greenish]

Since not everyone likes ToBBURN THE HERETICS! :furious::furious::furious: ;)

[PId6]

I regard Tome of Battle, Magic Item Compendium, and Spell Compendium as must-haves, above even the completes.

PHB2 is below that, along with the Races books (Wild > Dragon > Stone > Destiny IMO, but they're all pretty good). After that, I'd recommend Eberron Campaign Setting.

[monkey3]

My favorite books in order are:

Spell compendium
Magic Item Compendium
Rules Compendium

I hate to get those other ToB guys mad, but I don't know of any DMs that allow it. Make sure you ok the book with your DM before spending the dough.

[Zore]

I get the most use out of these books in order

Tome of Battle
Magic of Incarnum
Tome of Magic
Heroes of Horror
Dragon Magic
Races of the Dragon
Races of Destiny
Races of the Wild


But then I love alternative subsystems. If you just want to add on to what you already have grab Heroes of Horror or Libris Mortis.

[Enix18]

I have to agree with Tome of Magic, Tome of Battle, and Spell Compendium. Tome of Magic provides some pretty neat magical options (mainly, the always-lovable Binder), Tome of Battle levels the playing field between melee and magic characters with some pretty cool base and prestige classes, and Spell Compendium is simply a must-have for any spellcaster who wants to be awesome and summon spheres of annihilation.

[PId6]

I don't think ToM is worth it, honestly. The binder is awesome, but that's the only section of the book worth caring about, at least in my opinion. The shadowcaster is weak and nothing special, while the truenamer... yeah. There are much better options than getting that for 1/3 of a book.

[Godskook]

Any Dragon-based book is fun. Such as RoDragon, DracoNOMicon, or Dragon Magic.

Tome of Battle is in stock at the store of good-buys.

Magic of Incarnum is confusing as hell, but once learned, is quite fun.

Tome of Magic gets you the great Binder, so its not an all-bad book.

Dungeonscape has Factotum, and that's a fact.

[Thurbane]

PHB II has stuff for almost every class. I recommend it.

[Draz74]

Magic Item Compendium has stuff for every class. I recommend it.

Tome of Battle gets my secondary vote.

[The Dark Fiddler]

Tome of Battle (for obligitory Unarmed SwordSage Reference #489).

Do you actually count the references?

Anyway, I also say Tome of Battle, or Expanded Psionics Handbook.

[Zergrusheddie]

Rules Compendium. It is so damn useful for when you get in moments that you spend 15 minutes trying to figure out how something would work.

Tome of Magic is good, if only for the Binder. Really fun class.
PH2 is good. It has two of my favorite classes in there. Beguilers are great and Duskblades make decent gish types.

However, I have to join the Tome of Battle train. Once you realize how stupid spells are compared to every other thing in the game, it becomes clear that the changes to melee are needed. Also, it gives melee characters this thing called "options." No longer is it the charge for full Power Attack or swing 3 attacks. The maneuvers had so much variety to the classes.

[Zaq]

1/3 of the book is blank though

I want to laugh, cry, and sigh. So we'll just say that 1/3 of me is laughing, 1/3 of me is crying, and 1/3 of me is sighing in resignation. (Just like Tome of Magic! Thank you, I'll be here all night.)

Anyway, Dragon Magic has seriously cringe-inducing fluff but delightful crunch. Tome of Battle is of course indispensable, but paper copies are hard to come by. I adore Magic of Incarnum, but a lot of people have this weird animosity against it that I don't understand. Magic Item Compendium is kind of a godsend, even if you can't make new characters out of it alone. Complete Adventurer is my favorite Complete book... kind of underpowered compared to the rest of them, but a lot of fun.

[herrhauptmann]

Okay, my friend wants a suggestion on his next book to buy. He has
the complete X series
BOVD
BOED
Cityscape
Dungeonscape
Lords of madness

BoEF!! :D
Seriouslynow,
Magic Item Compendium,
Players Guide to Faerun

[Nidogg]

Races of (Stone, Destiny, Wild, the Dragon) depending on his preferences.
Or the Eberron Campaing Setting if he is willing to give a try to a new setting.

Seconded all of these. If You get the ECS you could also get magic of ebberon for a few cool PRCs with not much potential but are fun to play.

[Emmerask]

Okay, my friend wants a suggestion on his next book to buy. He has
the complete X series
BOVD
BOED
Cityscape
Dungeonscape
Lords of madness

So, playground, other then those and the core books, what are y'alls favorites ?

Magic Item Compendium +5 (I think it is now)

[true_shinken]

I'd say Magic Item Compendium, Dungeon Master's Guide II (this book is amazing! a must for any DM) and Tome of Battle.
Enemies & Allies has always been a faithful companion of mine as well; I have used most NPCs from the book across the years.

[huttj509]

Aren't we required by fandom to fanatically recommend dungeonscape on this site?

Think that's the one...:-)

[Ferrin]

Aren't we required by fandom to fanatically recommend dungeonscape on this site?

Think that's the one...:-)

Except that he allready owns that book.

I agree with the people saying Tome of Battle, Expanded Psionics Handbook, and Magic Item Compendium. All really nice books which add a lot. Still, consider Tome of Magic for the binder for something innovative. :smallbiggrin:

[Greenish]

Aren't we required by fandom to fanatically recommend dungeonscape on this site?We're excused since it's one of the books Froogle's friend already has.

[Kroy]

ToB, PH2, then probably the races series (Wild, Stone, etc.).

[nedz]

Spell Compendium
Fiend Folio

[Warpwolf16]

Races of Dragon, Draconomicon, Player Handbook 2, Dragon Magic.

I swear to every dragon god I know of...these are my favorite book to make a dragon shaman and sorcerer -> dragon disciple.

The suggestion of Tome of Battle depends on your DM. I've heard of problems between players and DM's while using that book and that's all I must say. Unless I provoke a attack of opportunity.