Which books to get next

[madtinker]

With Christmas around the corner, I have an opportunity to acquire some new books. I usually play with just core, and I LIKE core. I'm not ready for stuff like Tome of Battle and the like, I just want some stuff that makes the original stuff better; more feat selection, maybe some prestige classes. Right now I have PHB, DMG, MM, and maybe two Eberron books.

I've looked a little into the complete books (complete divine, complete warrior, etc). These seem like good options, but are they any good? Are there better books out there? What about PHBII? And MMII and MMIII; a little more variety in monsters might be fun sometimes. I don't have oodles to spend, but I'd like to know if there are any must-haves out there for the basic core gamer who's looking to expand a little.

[lytokk]

Personally, I'd recommend the completes. Smaller books, but a lot of good options in there. At least my point of view.

If you're the DM, and your players are getting bored with the monsters you send at them, I'd say go for more monster manuals. Also, since you mentioned eberron books, I have a tendancy to look at the MM3 as sort of the monster manual of eberron. I think every creature has a paragraph at the end as to where the creature would work in the campaign setting. In addition, if you do mostly play in eberron, the Races of Eberron book is useful.

PH2 I think is worth it.

I'm sure other people are going to recommend other things, but my money is in for the completes. If you're going to expand your class/feat/ability base, best to do it slowly so you're not learning all of the new rules and options at once.

[Red Fel]

From what I've heard - and I tend to agree - priorities seem to radiate outwards.

First, the group commonly referred to as "Core": PHB, DMG, Magic Item Compendium, Spell Compendium. (PHB II optional, recommended.)

Next, the Completes, to help capitalize on the basics. In particular, Scoundrel for skill tricks and Champion for ACFs. Divine, Warrior, and so forth are also excellent. (Complete Psionic gets mixed reviews, you're probably better off with Expanded Psionics Handbook, below.)

Next, campaign settings, but only if you use that setting. As Lytokk said, for example, if you play Eberron, get Eberron books.

Lastly, alternative mechanics systems. This includes the Expanded Psionics Handbook, Tome of Battle, Magic of Incarnum, and Tome of Magic, all of which are extremely useful, but introduce an entirely new way of doing things.

Anything beyond that is icing.

Arranging your shopping list this way will keep you covered for a long time.

[HalfQuart]

I think the Spell Compendium and Magic Item Compendium are must-haves, and are affordable now as reprints. Tome of Battle and some of the other obscure books are pretty insanely priced in the aftermarket world. Most of the complete books are kind of spotty -- some really good stuff mixed in with a lot of fluff. They're generally worth having, but kind of frustrating.

You should also check out the Guide to Free D&D (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=513) -- you can get a lot of good stuff for free (legally).

[Raezeman]

how about races of the wild --> has raptorans
or races of the dragon --> has dragonfire adepts
or races of stone --> has the goliath
All 3 of course of more intereseting stuff, such as monsters and prestige classes

[Kelb_Panthera]

The completes are a great place to start expanding.

I'd start with either complete champion or complete mage. The former is for warriors and divine casters the latter for arcanists and divine casters, though more the arcanists.

If skill types are your thing then complete scoundrel or complete adventurer are what you want.

Completes arcane, divine, and warrior are for just what you'd expect. I favor the later completes, myself, but there's solid stuff in all of 'em.

[HalfQuart]

how about races of the wild --> has raptorans
or races of the dragon --> has dragonfire adepts
or races of stone --> has the goliath
All 3 of course of more intereseting stuff, such as monsters and prestige classes
Funny you should pick those three examples, since they're all included in the Guide to Free D&D (http://www.minmaxboards.com/index.php?topic=513) and available without the books. But certainly you are right that the Races Of books do add a lot more fun both functionally and with flavor. I don't know if they're "must haves", and don't think they're the first place to go after Core, but I do like them.

[Kelb_Panthera]

how about races of the wild --> has raptorans
or races of the dragon dragon magic --> has dragonfire adepts
or races of stone --> has the goliath
All 3 of course of more intereseting stuff, such as monsters and prestige classes

Fixed a little error there for you.

[Raezeman]

Fixed a little error there for you.

ah yes, i often mix those up...

[HaikenEdge]

Personally, I tend to prioritize the books like this:


Core (Basically, the SRD, plus the expansion books like PHB2 and DMG2)
Compendiums (SpC, MIC)
Completes
Races X
Oddly Specific PC Options Books (Minis, ToB, ToM, MoI, DM, WoL)
Oddly Specific Monster Books (LM, LoM, FF, FC1&2, DotU, Drac)
Oddly Specific Setting Books (City, Dung, Frost, Ghost, HoB, HoH, OA, Planar, Sand, Storm)
Mature Content (BoED, BoVD)
Specific Setting Books (Anything from a specific campaign setting)
Evil Stuff (EE, EoE)
Variant Rules (SS)
Adventures


I generally like working from general to specific, particularly for player options, so starting with Core, Compendiums and Completes gives players (and the DM, by extension) the most options. The Oddly Specific books provide fewer options for players and a bit more for the DM, so that comes next for me; the mature content books have some stuff for PCs, but it's more designed along the lines for the DM to integrate content into the game. Specific settings books come next (because they're restricted to the campaign setting their from, bar DM intervention). The Evil stuff and variant rules come later for me, because, generally speaking, those are things the players will be least likely to be asking for.

[lytokk]

Personally, I tend to prioritize the books like this:


Core (Basically, the SRD, plus the expansion books like PHB2 and DMG2)
Compendiums (SpC, MIC)
Completes
Races X
Oddly Specific PC Options Books (Minis, ToB, ToM, MoI, DM, WoL)
Oddly Specific Monster Books (LM, LoM, FF, FC1&2, DotU, Drac)
Oddly Specific Setting Books (City, Dung, Frost, Ghost, HoB, HoH, OA, Planar, Sand, Storm)
Mature Content (BoED, BoVD)
Specific Setting Books (Anything from a specific campaign setting)
Evil Stuff (EE, EoE)
Variant Rules (SS)
Adventures


I generally like working from general to specific, particularly for player options, so starting with Core, Compendiums and Completes gives players (and the DM, by extension) the most options. The Oddly Specific books provide fewer options for players and a bit more for the DM, so that comes next for me; the mature content books have some stuff for PCs, but it's more designed along the lines for the DM to integrate content into the game. Specific settings books come next (because they're restricted to the campaign setting their from, bar DM intervention). The Evil stuff and variant rules come later for me, because, generally speaking, those are things the players will be least likely to be asking for.

This actually looks like a good list of prioritizing to me. The only thing I might change would be to prioritize campaign settings books above the DM2. The DM2 really felt (to me) more like a worldbuilding book. If you're looking to make your own world, great, but I don't think most DMs are actually planning to do that off the bat. Better to jump into a published setting first. Then when that setting feels too limiting to your creativity, make your own. But this is my opinion, not written fact and the only reason I state it is to start a discussion over a debate.

[madtinker]

Wow, thanks for all the input. It's good to see lots of consensus on this. I'll keep this thread bookmarked for reference, but for now will be starting with some of the Complete series; the compendiums will be nice if I can find a good deal on them, but I think Complete Champion, Complete Divine, and Complete Warrior (not necessarily in that order) are what I'll be looking for this year.

Thanks all!

[bekeleven]

I really recommend the Magic Item Compendium as the single class that provides the largest power boost to mundanes. Suddenly all the gear-dependent classes have cheap, efficient options!

Remember that Complete Warrior was published early in 3.5 and a lot of it is unbalanced (generally underpowered), although it does have a very small number of popular things like Shock Trooper).

[Falcon X]

Honestly, it depends on what you like playing.

Top Pick: You seem like a meat and potatoes type of DM. Thus, my obvious recommends are:
- Rules Compendium - Monstrously convenient for the Core Gamer
- Players Handbook 2 - Just a ton of stuff that supports what you already have. A few GREAT base classes too (Beguiler, Duskblade).

Flavor: Also, if you want to stick to meat and potatoes, but enjoy flavor expansion, maybe you should try the generalized setting books. These all have tons of fun stuff in it that won't upset your play style:
- Terrain: Cityscape, Dungeonscape, Frostburn, Sandstorm, Stormwrack

Personal Favorites: I know you aren't, but I am a DM that pushes for a balanced game using non-core material. My favorite books have become ones with new, balanced base classes that are tons of fun. I LOVE Tome of Battle. It's Paladins, Warriors, and battle-rogues done right. I also LOVE the Beguiler-Dread Necromancer-Warmage set as they are easy to play and fun at every level. So, someday you might consider:
- Tome of Battle (Paladin, Warrior, Battle-rogue upgrades), Dungeonscape (Jack-of-all-trades upgrade), Heroes of Horror (Dread Necromancer, Archivist), and Players Handbook 2 (Beguiler and Duskblade).

What I don't recommend:
- Complete series. They are built primarily to give you more feats and more prestige classes. A must-have for munchkins and people of certain archetypes, but if you just want to upgrade your game, I think you can do better.
- Campaign Settings (Eberron, Forgotten Realms, etc.) - These just make things complex to me unless you want to go whole-hog into a pre-made setting.