[3.5] If I were to buy a book...

[Rossebay]

Which book, out of all 3.5 sourcebooks, would be best in expanding my group's collection?

With my roommate(he's our DM), we have:

Player's Handbook
DMG
DMG Leatherbound Edition
Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (We never use campaign settings...)
Complete Warrior
Monster Manual 1
Miniatures Handbook
And we HAD Player's Handbook 2, but it was stolen. :[


So, if I were to buy a new book, which would have the most impact on our range of material?

Not that I have the money for it, more of a thought experiment/wish list idea.

[Keld Denar]

Tome of Battle, first and foremost. It just adds the most to the game for the guys who are least supported.

After that, I like the Magic Item Compendium. Don't laugh, its a great book. The thing I like about it is that it steps up the resource management game a bit. To use 1, 2, or 3 charges, to use this swift action or that swift action or yet a 3rd option...its great and gives more options to everyone, but again, mostly to non-spellcasters who would otherwise have very little to do with their swift actions.

[Orsen]

I would say any books that introduce a new system will expand your options most. Expanded Psionics Handbook, Tomb of Battle, or Magic of Incarnum are the three that come to mind for me. Magic Item Compedium is another great resource to have. I also endorse most the "Races of..." series but the above give more In the way of new options, IMHO.
Edit: swordsage'd on half! But good to know I'm not alone in my thinking.

[Gavinfoxx]

Tome of Battle, Tome of Magic, Player's Handbook II, Spell Compendium, Magic Item Compendium, Complete Divine, Expanded Psionics Handbook, Complete Arcane...

Also, read this, and allow any sources here:

http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=1109.0

[Derjuin]

You could probably pick up a book introducing a new system, which would give you more options when designing characters/campaigns. Magic of Incarnum, Tome of Magic, Tome of Battle and Expanded Psionics Handbook (you probably don't need to purchase the XPH if you can use the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/) during gameplay) are possibilities.

If your group is fond of a specific kind of race, you can probably make use of one of the "Races of" books - Stone (dwarves, gnomes, goliaths), Destiny (humans, half-elves/orcs, illumians), the Dragon (kobolds, dragonborn, spellscales), or the Wild (elves, halflings, raptorans). They also include ACFs and prestige classes for their respective races.

Alternatively, you could pick up more of the Complete Series - Complete Divine/Champion (expands on divine casters, including paladin/ranger), Complete Adventurer/Scoundrel (expands on rogues and stuff), Complete Arcane/Mage.

If none of these strike your fancy, there's always the Magic Item Compendium or the Spell Compendium.

I personally would vouch for the first three mentioned (Tome of Battle/Magic of Incarnum/Tome of Magic), they contain some very fun alternatives/additions to the classes presented in the Player's Handbook.

Edit: Swordsaged ofc :smalltongue:

[The Dark Fiddler]

Tome of Battle, first and foremost. It just adds the most to the game for the guys who are least supported.

After that, I like the Magic Item Compendium. Don't laugh, its a great book. The thing I like about it is that it steps up the resource management game a bit. To use 1, 2, or 3 charges, to use this swift action or that swift action or yet a 3rd option...its great and gives more options to everyone, but again, mostly to non-spellcasters who would otherwise have very little to do with their swift actions.

The problem with this suggest, I think, is that Magic Item Compendium is really expensive, and Tome of Battle's a pretty chunk of money too. Checking Amazon, MIC will run $60 minimum, and ToB is $40 or so at its cheapest. Of course, the OP said this is all hypothetical, so...

I'd like to second the suggestion of getting a new subsystem, if you're getting anything. Magic of Incarnum would be my first suggestion, if only because there's 8 different listings on Amazon for just barely under $12, making it about the best book in regards to cost/usefulness ratios. After that, I'd suggest Tome of Battle, like has been stated many times, and the the Expanded Psionics Handbook. After that, start looking at the Complete series, starting with what your group could use the most.

[Dalek-K]

Which book, out of all 3.5 sourcebooks, would be best in expanding my group's collection?

With my roommate(he's our DM), we have:

Player's Handbook
DMG
DMG Leatherbound Edition
Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (We never use campaign settings...)
Complete Warrior
Monster Manual 1
Miniatures Handbook
And we HAD Player's Handbook 2, but it was stolen. :[


So, if I were to buy a new book, which would have the most impact on our range of material?

Not that I have the money for it, more of a thought experiment/wish list idea.


Tome of Battle! I just got mine on amazon for 25 bucks....and it makes melee tier 3 and fun as hell to play.

[Hirax]

The Magic Item Compendium is one of the few books that can claim to have something for everybody*.

*VoPers and forsakers are nobodies. :smallbiggrin:

[Daftendirekt]

If you care at all about dragons (which I would hope, you're playing Dungeons and DRAGONS), the Draconomicon is an exceptionally well-put together book, with buttloads of fluff on every type of (core) true dragon, and some draconically-flavored prestige classes, spells, items, etc. It's one of my personal favorites.

[Dumbledore lives]

I'd say spell compendium if anyone in your group is like one guy in mine, and will spend hours pouring over spells to find just the right one. Beyond that Magic Item Compendium, Tome of Battle, and if you ever play horror campaigns Heroes of Horror is one of my favorite, for both the fluff and the crunch.

I'd actually advise against the Expanded Psionics Handbook simply because so much is on the SRD, that the book itself is unnecessary, if nice to have.

[Rossebay]

Alright! Inspired by the feedback, we're going to go ahead and buy some books!

On our list right now, we've got Tome of Battle, Expanded Psionics Handbook, and Magic of Incarnum. I actually collected up about $42.00 today from my group, which puts us just over halfway there to buying the books.

ToB being $40.00, EPH being $25.00, and MoI being about $15.00.

So, thanks for the feedback. You actually inspired movement.

[DrDeth]

The Compendiums, then PHII. Oddly the Rules Compendium is pretty darn cheap, and can be helpful.

I love the ToB/BoNS myself, but it changes the game quite a bit. I’d put it off for a bit. Magic of Incarnum is really weird. Not that there’s anything wrong with that…. Along those lines, I’d also skip the XPH.

In other words, I would NOT go with your final choices.

[Thrice Dead Cat]

A fair warning: most of the psionic rules (http://www.d20srd.org/) can be found online for free (and legally, too.

[Metahuman1]

In order I think you'd get Bang for your buck for.

Tome of Battle.
Magic Item Compendium.
Magic of Incarnum.
Psionics books.
Dragon Magic. (Gives a new class and gives support for Incarnum and Psionics and Casters.)
Tome of Magic. (For the Binder.)
Spell compendium.
Dungeonscape.

[Rossebay]

A fair warning: most of the psionic rules (http://www.d20srd.org/) can be found online for free (and legally, too.

We know they are, it's just... It gets annoying to have to pass around the laptop between the Psychic Warrior and the Psion as they root through it for powers during level-up. There's also something to be said for owning the books, and being able to read through them as a group, no computers in the way to lead everyone off topic.

Tome of Battle is something we've been looking at for a long time. Everyone in the group has some exposure to most of the books, but they always seem to ignore psionics and maneuvers. Incarnum has also always been ignored. I feel as though throwing these into the limelight as our newest 3 books, so everyone ends up looking at them and they get used more often.

We've been playing for a year and a half, and we haven't bought any new books, though we've scraped together what we could of information on other books.

Now, I'm finally starting an initiative to expand our source list and expand our game.

Magic Item Compendium I would get, but it's $65.00 in itself, and I feel like getting 3 books for the same price is a much better choice.

We'll get it... Just... Later.

[Hazzardevil]

I recommend you steer clear of tome of battle, you can get what I think is the best base class of the 3 and all 9 disciplines online, check the web enhancements on WOTC.

[sreservoir]

I recommend you steer clear of tome of battle, you can get what I think is the best base class of the 3 and all 9 disciplines online, check the web enhancements on WOTC.

is one of the better ones, though crusader has its pros and swordsage has certain uses.

[Metahuman1]

Pluse, you know, you can read through all the maneuvers to get an idea what you want on what ever melee build your favoring.

[Gavinfoxx]

I recommend you steer clear of tome of battle, you can get what I think is the best base class of the 3 and all 9 disciplines online, check the web enhancements on WOTC.

I completely disagree! It's a great book, all around...

[Vattic]

i think you will be very happy with the expanded psionics handbook, it's what i would have suggested first. it just opens up a whole new world for your players. i'd hold off on magic of incarnum though, and actually suggest that phb II is a much better buy. so many great options and ideas in that book that i can't even begin to tell you. for a third choice, the complete scoundrel really packs a major punch.

[Rossebay]

i think you will be very happy with the expanded psionics handbook, it's what i would have suggested first. it just opens up a whole new world for your players. i'd hold off on magic of incarnum though, and actually suggest that phb II is a much better buy. so many great options and ideas in that book that i can't even begin to tell you. for a third choice, the complete scoundrel really packs a major punch.

Well, I'd hold off on Incrnum too, but it's pretty cheap from some of the places I can get it at, so it's a bit of a, "Why not?" situation.

And alright. I mean, I know that all of the XPH stuff is on the SRD, but it's still a lot cooler to have in person.

I know what PHB II's like, we owned it until it got stolen. We remember most of the recommended options inside it, so we can operate on a basis of what we try to remember. :[

[Slipperychicken]

Remember that the SRD is pretty much Core For Free. So PHB/DMG/MM1 aren't really necessary.

[Rossebay]

Remember that the SRD is pretty much Core For Free. So PHB/DMG/MM1 aren't really necessary.

All of which we already own.

[Chronos]

Are these established characters who want to add a little something extra, or would you be starting new characters to use the new books? It makes a difference. Most of the "new system" books work best if you're making a character that focuses on the new system full-time (a Binder or Psion, for instance, works better as straight levels, rather than dips). Incarnum, by contrast, is the other way around: Any character can get nice benefits by a dip, or via the Shape Soulmeld feat, but going straight Incarnate or Totemist doesn't give you much more benefit than dipping does. And Tome of Battle is in between: It works best if you stay in a ToB class for all or most of your levels, but they designed the system to also be dip-friendly.

[Rossebay]

Well guys, as an update, today I purchased the Magic Items Compendium, the Expanded Psionics Handbook, Tome of Battle, and Magic of Incarnum.

I feel pretty accomplished. :D

Next up, I'm thinking Monster Manuals 2 and 3. Would that be a good decision?