Sourcebooks Worth Purchasing

[Timeless Error]

An opportunity is coming up for me to buy some new D&D 3.X/Pathfinder books. I'm not looking for anything specific, so suggest whatever you personally get the most out of. I'm interested in anything from new player options to good adventure modules (preferably low to mid-level) and/or campaign settings. It doesn't even have to be published by Wizards/Paizo - I'm open to looking at 3rd party material as well. So, what are your recommendations?

Books Already Owned:
3.5:
Player's Handbook
Dungeon Master's Guide
Monster Manual
Expanded Psionics Handbook
Player's Handbook II
Complete Adventurer
Complete Warrior
Complete Psionic
Miniatures Handbook
Dragon Compendium
Races of Stone
Races of the Wild
Fiendish Codex I: Hordes of the Abyss
Advanced Player's Manual (3rd party; Green Ronin Publishing)
3.0:
Monster Manual II
Pathfinder:
Bestiary II
Adventures/Settings:
Eberron Campaign Setting
Barrow of the Forgotten King adventure
Red Hand of Doom adventure

*Note: I also have access to Tome of Battle and Tome of Magic, although I don't own them myself.

Suggestions:
Magic Item Compendium
Spell Compendium
Monster Manual III
Monster Manual V
Complete Arcane
Complete Mage
Dungeonscape
Lords of Madness
Complete Scoundrel
Complete Divine
Complete Champion
Fiendish Codex II: Tyrants of the Nine Hells
Heroes of Horror
Magic of Incarnum
Return to Castle Ravenloft
Drow of the Underdark
Stormwrack
Races of Destiny
Unearthed Arcana
Magic of Eberron
Explorer's Handbook
Elder Evils
Dragon Magic
Draconomicon
Secrets/Villains of Pact Magic
Psionics Unleashed
Undead Revisited
Classic Horrors Revisited
Advanced Player's Guide
Book of the Damned: Lords of Chaos
Carrion Crown Adventure Path
Crypt of the Everflame
Great Beyond
Game Mastery Guide
Book of Fiends I
Book of Fiends II
Assassin's Handbook
Supergenius Games (publishing company)
Tome of Horrors
Tome of Horrors II
Tome of Horrors III
Ultimate Magic
Ultimate Combat (when it comes out)
Stronghold Builder's Guidebook
Fiend Folio
Rules Compendium
Cityscape
Frostburn
Sandstorm
Magic of Faerun
Lost Empires of Faerun

[Temet Nosce]

The two that really strike me as must haves that you aren't in possession of or already capable of accessing are the Magic Item Compendium, and the Spell Compendium.

There are several others you might consider as well (Incarnum, the rest of the complete series, etc), but those two have an enormous array of options.

[Nohwl]

in this order

spell compendium
magic item compendium
monster manual 3 (if you are dming-also has warforged if you wanted them in your game but don't have eberron campaign setting)
monter manual 5 (if you're dming)
the rest of the complete series

[Tyndmyr]

MiC, SpC, complete mage, complete arcane, dungeonscape.

[JonestheSpy]

I'd say to forget the "Still yet more Stuff" angle of Spell Compendium etc and go for something interesting. Lords of Madness is an awesome sourcebook for new and unusual ways to freak players out (and it has Stuff, too).

[Thrice Dead Cat]

The two compendiums are awesome for compiling most of the spells/items from a large swath of the 3.5 books. They're awesome to have on hand and add new things for all sorts of casters and characters in general, respectively.

For interesting things and something new, I have to throw down Magic of Incarnum. Takes a bit getting used to, but I love it as a system.

[kharmakazy]

I vote Tome of Battle. It's excellent if you have a player who wants to play a fighter type and not be made to feel bad by the party casters every 30 seconds.

[Timeless Error]

Thanks for the suggestions, everybody.


I vote Tome of Battle. It's excellent if you have a player who wants to play a fighter type and not be made to feel bad by the party casters every 30 seconds.

I already have access to that (although I don't own it myself). Is it worth buying so I can always have it on hand?

[Lord Loss]

Heroes of Horror is great if you like fluff, dark or horrific adventures and/or GMing advice.

Stuff I reccomennd to anyone:

Spell Compendium and Magic Item Compendium are great, as are the Fiendish Codex books (Hordes of the Abyss and Tyrants of the Nine Hells talk about demons and devils respectively. The two books are quite different at times, the second is probably superior in terms of writing, but they're both great).

For more character options, look for the Complete series (Complete Arcane, Complete Scoundrel, Complete Divine, etc.) I own a few of them and I've read some others and most of the books are player gems. Out of those you're missing, I'd say you'll get the most mileage out of Complete Scoundrel, the Prestige Classes are pretty cool, as is the fluff and the skill tricks are great.

If you're looking for monsters, Monster Manual 3 has some nice beasties, most of them are quite unusual (although there's a tad bit of overlap with ebberon). If you like Ebberon, though, it has quite a few constructs, which is nice.

Magic of Incarnum is... interesting. I hated it at first and it takes a while to get used to, but there's a cool new magic system and the fluff can fuel a lot of novel campaign ideas.

If you want I long, long adventure, Return to Castle Ravenloft is simply amazing. It has a neat plot, cool villains, a creepy-as-hell setting and can be as long or as short as you want. You'll need to read it a few times before running it, though, at least for the later parts of the adventure.

If I had to reccomend a single book, though? You have your bases covered for classes and races. Monsters seem to be a bit lacking, but you still have an interesting variety. The thing you're missing is something to base a campaign around (assuming you're DMing). I'd take Drow of the Underdark ore Lords of Madness. They help you makes campaigns with a "theme" and give lots of info for adventures dealing with said theme. They also have quite a bit of "crunch" to go with your "fluff".

EDIT: Forgot to mention dungeonscape. It suffers from many presentation issues but has one of the game's more original (or generic, depending hwo you look at it) classes and offers truly great dungeon-designing advice. It also redesigns traps so that they're so much more than "seems fishy, send the rogue" .

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I also vote for SpC and MIC, they're just too handy to not have around.

I'd also vote for Magic of Incarnum, as it is quite a versatile and useful mechanic.

ToB really is that useful. You'd probably want a copy to go over the mechanics, since they can be a bit convoluted at times.

[Eldariel]

Spell Compendium and Magic Item Compendium are indeed very useful. Tome of Battle, Complete Scoundrel & Complete Mage are quality books. Complete Champion and Complete Divine are good books in terms of having playworthy material but also have their broken parts and Champion in particular is terribly edited.

I'm a big fan of Stormwrack; it's the only book that really covers its area and it has quite a bit of useful material. Of course, if you never go to the sea (quite plausible in Teleport Transportation game like D&D), it's completely pointless. But we seem to find a lot of uses for those rules.

Magic of Incarnum & Tome of Magic are also interesting extra systems, but only if you're not opposed to incorporating extra systems. Binding & Incarnum are very interesting though, and function fine in lieu of the basic systems with their own nichés.


Finally, Dungeonscape & Heroes of Horror are auxillary, quality books full of good stuff.

Whether ToB is worth buying depends on your own use of it tho. I'd buy it just out of principle if I didn't own it, but each to thine own. If you find yourself DMing, I'd get it just to make martial NPCs ToB-based though.

[The-Mage-King]

I already have access to that (although I don't own it myself). Is it worth buy, grabing so I can always have it on hand?

YES.


As suggested above me, grab ToM and MoI. Magic Item Compendium and Spell Compendium are awesome too.


Complete Scoundrel is kinda useful, as is Races of Destiny. The former is focused on the shady type of character, while the latter is the Human sourcebook, with very useful stuff in it.

Then maybe Magic of Eberron and Explorer's Handbook (both of which are Eberron focused, you can guess), because they have A) useful vehicles, and B) awesome magical items and a neat race.

[Tvtyrant]

1. Lords of Madness
2. Tome of Magic
3. Tyrants of the 9 Hells
4. Magic of Incarnum
5. Dungeonscape

[Redshirt Army]

Magic Item and Spell Compendiums are of course amazing.
Dungeonscape helps with dungeon design, gives Rouges and Fighters some great ACFs, and adds the awesome factotum.
Tome of Battle is nice, but if you have access to it, it may not be strictly necessary (since maneuver cards are on the Wizards website (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/we/20061225a)).
I never got into Magic of Incarnum, so I can't advise you there.
Tome of Magic has the awesome Binder, but the Shadowcaster and (:smallyuk:) Truename leave much to be desired.
I'd recommend Complete Mage over Complete Arcane, but that's just personal preference (I love gishes, so Abjurant Champion and Unseen Seer are indispensable to me, plus I love reserve feats).

[Curmudgeon]

If you want more options, Complete Mage (lots of alternative class features) and Complete Scoundrel (lots of feats and skill tricks) get my vote.

Edit: For sheer breadth of content, also consider Dragon Compendium. There's a lot of stuff from the history of Dragon magazine, updated to D&D 3.5 where necessary.

[Midnight_v]

YES.


As suggested above me, grab ToM and MoI. Magic Item Compendium and Spell Compendium are awesome too.


Complete Scoundrel is kinda useful, as is Races of Destiny. The former is focused on the shady type of character, while the latter is the Human sourcebook, with very useful stuff in it.

Then maybe Magic of Eberron and Explorer's Handbook (both of which are Eberron focused, you can guess), because they have A) useful vehicles, and B) awesome magical items and a neat race.

Yep.
and +1

[Jude_H]

It's easy to sketch out a new monster, feat, magic item, spell, etc. to do model an idea, if you have one. It's much harder to build a complex mechanical engine. I'd support Magic of Incarnum and Tome of Battle, accordingly.

EDIT: I'm omitting ToM because the Truenamer is a dysfunctional mix of the Spellmaster rules and Wizard fluff, the Shadowcaster is just a themed Sorcerer and the Binder is a Cleric with louder flavor text and a fetish for system mastery.

[thompur]

I highly recommend Feindish Codex II for DM's especially. Devils make great opponents for any kind of encounter, and there are plenty of adventure seeds in there. Plus, it's just plain fun to read.

Also, Complete Arcane and Complete Mage 'cuz Warlocks are just that awesome!:smallbiggrin:

And, of course, as stated by many, the two compendiums are very useful, and recommended.

[Ryu_Bonkosi]

Unearthed Arcana, Spell Compendium, Magic Item Compendium, Unearthed Arcana, Tome of Battle, The Complete Series, Unearthed Arcana, Races of Destiny, Dungeonscape and Unearthed Arcana.

Did I mention Unearthed Arcana?

[Yora]

With those books you have, why do you want any more? :smallbiggrin:

I agree with the suggestions for Lords of Madness and Heroes and Horror. I liked them a lot, and you seem to have all the other books that I like most.

[peacenlove]

My favorites:
Secrets of pact magic/Villains of pact magic (Dario Nardi)
Psionics Unleashed (Dreamscarred)
Dragon Magazine (Paizo, Great fluff)
Undead Revisited, Clasic Horrors revisited, Advanced Player Guide, Book of the damned : Lords of Chaos, Carrion Crown adventure path, Crypt of the Everflame, Great Beyond, Game Mastery Guide (Paizo)
Book of fiends 1-2, Assasin Handbook (Green Ronin, sadly 3.0 material)
Anything from Supergenius Games for PF
Tome of Horrors 1-3 (Necromancer)

[Kojiro]

Unearthed Arcana is great for variant rules and such, and has a lot of neat, interesting options. Complete everything (except maybe Champion, I'm a little iffy there) is also great. Spell and Magic Item Compendiums are nice too. After that, well, it sort of depends on what you want, really, although the votes for Lords of Madness and Dungeonscape are both good in my book.

Elder Evils is interesting, but may not fit in your campaign (it's a book about making world-threatening monsters and great cosmic horrors and such, which is by definition awesome but admittedly not everyone's cup of tea).

Dragon Magic has nice stuff too, and heck, if you like dragons there's the Draconomicon too. Both have their uses for non-dragons too, especially Dragon Magic and its, well, everything.

Monster Manual III also has a bunch of neat stuff and stats for some neat player races; other Monster Manuals are also good if you want, well, monsters. If you're looking for more PC races and various things for the different races meanwhile, Races of <whatever> are all pretty good, in my opinion; Races of Eberron has stats for Changelings and Warforged and such, but the MMIII does too, although it lacks the variant classes.

Really, there are a lot of options here, and sadly they tend to get expensive too depending on where you're getting them.

[Lastgrasp]

Advanced Player's Guide: Six new classes, archetype systems, bunch of feats, prestige classes, combat options, new spells. If I had to pick one it would be this one if you have the Pathfinder Core. 320 pages of sweet crunch. Plus the summoner and alchemist are sweet classes.

Ultimate Magic: New spells, feats, archetypes, alternative spellcasting system, new class, bunch of other options.

Ultimate Combat: Coming out end of July. Three new classes, archetypes, boatload of feats, firearms rules, etc.

Lords of Madness: If you like Cthulhu type villains. Awesome book.

Fiendish Codex I/II: Nice details on Hell/Abyss

Spell Compendium/Magic Item Compendium: Can't go wrong with either.

Any Monster book (Monster Manual I-V, Bestiary I/II, Book of Fiends by Green Ronin is sweet too)

[Alabenson]

In addition to the books mentioned here, you may also want to consider the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook. Its a 3.0 softcover that's generally considered one of the better 3.0 books out there.

[HunterOfJello]

As pretty much everyone above me has mentioned, the two extremely important books that you're lacking are the Magic Item Compendium and Spell Compendium. My players and I have both of these books open constantly throughout our sessions and make great use of them while playing the game.

The MiC is great for pretty much every class in the game. It introduce TONS of new items and many new types of items. It has updated versions of items from the Complete Series, Races Series and more. It also contains rules for some of my absolute favorite items: Runestaffs, Eternal Wands, Armor Crystals and Weapon Crystals.

The Spell Compendium takes spells from the previously mentioned books along with a number of 3e sources and updates all of them along with many new spells added in. The book is great for all the traditional spellcasters, but also adds a number of great spells for the partial spellcasting classes like the Bard, Ranger, Paladin, Blackguard, and Assassin. The PHB wasn't too generous with the spells it gave to the Ranger and Paladin, but the Spell Compendium makes up for that and makes the spellcasting of those classes worth finally worth a damn. The Ranger alone gets something like 44 new 1st level spells that they can cast. Here are a few examples to get you interested:

Aspect of the Wolf: You change into a wolf and gain some of its abilities
Detect Favored Enemy: You know if favored enemies are within 60 ft.
Embrace the Wild: You gain an animal’s senses for 10 minutes/level.
Guided Shot: You ignore distance, cover, concealment penalties with your ranged attacks for 1 round.
Hunter’s Mercy: Your next hit with a bow is automatically a critical hit.
Lay of the Land: You gain an overview of the geography around you.
Omen of Peril: You know how dangerous the future will be.
Towering Oak: +10 bonus on Intimidate checks

Several of those spells might not look amazing if you only think of them in the context of the Ranger preparing a very small number of them everyday. However, if you can find a PC or NPC with Craft Wand, then you can help them create a Wands with those spells on them for a measly 750gp each. Transforming into a wolf, gaining supernatural detection against favored enemies, gaining blindsight or sense, beings able to easily shoot arrows at a difficult targets (as a SWIFT action!), or starting a round with an auto-crit on your next shot can all be yours on a wand with 50 charges for the low low price of 750gp and whatever you end up spending to buy the Spell Compendium.


~


The only book I didn't notice listed above was the Fiend Folio. I know some other people don't like the book, but I use it often and really like some of the monsters there. Many of the monsters are less traditional than ones from the Monster Manual and are fun to pull out at random times to confuse your players with.

I used Ethergaunts in one of my sessions and the PCs decided to abandon the entire area competely because they couldn't figure out what the freakishly emaciated outsiders with laser-shooting glaives, arcane spells, enslaving powers, stupefying gaze, and resistance to spells were that kept on popping in and out of the Ethereal Plane. The group did complete the mission they had set out to do, but finally decided that day that there are places in fantasy worlds that are just best to avoid.

[HalfDragonCube]

Several of those spells might not look amazing if you only think of them in the context of the Ranger preparing a very small number of them everyday. However, if you can find a PC or NPC with Craft Wand, then you can help them create a Wands with those spells on them for a measly 750gp each. Transforming into a wolf, gaining supernatural detection against favored enemies, gaining blindsight or sense, beings able to easily shoot arrows at a difficult targets (as a SWIFT action!), or starting a round with an auto-crit on your next shot can all be yours on a wand with 50 charges for the low low price of 750gp and whatever you end up spending to buy the Spell Compendium.

And of course this gets ridiculous when you play an Archivist, because they can scribe those into their prayerbooks provided they get a scroll. A Changeling Factotum/Beguiler with a dip in Archivist can reasonably pass off as just about anything.

Is PHB II noted here? Doesn't seem so. Well, PHB II contains loads of new stuff that fits well into most games.

Also, just in case anyone doesn't know, some of the best bits of sourcebooks were released as free web enhancements. There is a well-made index of them here (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=1109.80).

[Big Fau]

As an owner of the Dragon Compendium, I have to say the only reason I haven't chucked it is because of the last two chapters in it. The rest of the book is a prime example of Paizo not knowing how to balance things out (the feat section being the most balanced outside of the final two chapters, and even that is a poor example).

And screw the critical charts. I don't like nerfing my noncasters any more than they all ready are.




But Magic of Incarnum is a truly amazing book, if only for the Incarnate and Totemist (the PrCs and Soulborn are really lacking, but the fluff is fairly good).

[EccentricCircle]

my recomendations are as follows:

The Rules Compendium.
this is as the blurb says the "One Awesome Book", its not interesting (well some of the sidebars are, but it is insanely useful. as it does have pretty much all the rules of the game listed alphabetically with a clearly laid out page for each and a nice index.

but don't expect awesome fluff, interesting ideas, plot sugestions or new bits of game mechanic. thats not the point. it was pretty much the last book they wrote for 3.5 so has the complete and up to date system errata.

The Environment Books:
(Cityscape, Dungeonscape, Frostburn, Sandstorm & Stormwrack)
these have to be my favourite books (besides the rules compendium)
they are full of interesting ideas for running games in that environment, they are fun to read (if a bit tricky to reference as they are not layed out in the most logical manner.) For anyone who wants to run games which are more than just dungeon delving they are an invauable aid to have at your gaming table.

[Timeless Error]

Woah. That's a lot of suggestions I have by now.

Thanks everyone, this is very useful!

[Alleran]

I'd recommend Magic of Faerun and Lost Empires of Faerun. Both are chock-full of crunch and fluff, especially the former with regard to magic and the like (as you'd expect). Most Faerun books are jam-packed with information, but those two are IMO a particularly good choice.