Which book to get?

[RavynsLand]

My brother let slip that someone's planning to buy me a couple extra 3.5 books for my birthday. I definitely want the Spell Compendium since it'll end up being invaluable I'm sure (so tired of fishing through 30,000 books to pick spells).

But that leaves another possibility. Some of the ones I was thinking of were:

Magic Item Compendium
Races of Destiny
Races of Stone
Unearthed Arcana
Monster Manual III
or possibly another recommendation from you guys. To help out, these are the books I already have

Ultimate Edition PHB
DMG
DMGII
MM
MM2
Monsters of Faerun
Complete Warrior/Adventurer/Scoundrel/Arcane/Divine/Mage
Expanded Psionics Handbook
Races of the Wild
Races of the Dragon
Tome of Battle
Magic of Incarnum
Arms and Equipment Guide

[Morbis Meh]

Lets see here are a few:
Tome of Magic: Seriously the binder is worth it even if the other two are lack luster

Magic of incarnum: It is a little confusing to read but incarnum is pretty interesting and rather versatile

PHB II: Beguiler is a solid class and it comes with some other goodies as well

Dungeonscape: Has some fun ACF's and the Factotum

[Rubik]

Oh, definitely the MIC. Magic items are FAR too expensive in general, making mundane types all the worse. I mean, look at how ludicrously expensive gloves of storing are, when a wizard can get the same basic effect multiple times per day for free?

[RavynsLand]

I actually have MoI (knew I'd forget one).

Was leaning towards item compendium since it got really nice reviews.

Does Tome of Magic have anything else good in it, like spells and feats?

[Morbis Meh]

I actually have MoI (knew I'd forget one).

Was leaning towards item compendium since it got really nice reviews.

Does Tome of Magic have anything else good in it, like spells and feats?

It has great Prestige classes for binder (Anima mage, Knight of the Sacred Seal, Tenebrous Apostate), new items (some are quite good), and the feats aren't too bad. Shadow Magic is an interesting spin but it is quite underpowered, there was an unofficial fix from the creator that made it much more viable in a low level game (mid/high levels it does alright). Truenamer is the worst of the three and is generally disregarded as a whole.

[NoACWarrior]

I'd second both PHBII and ToM.

MM3, MiC, and SpC I think should be purchased in digital format - they are more like dictionaries you refer to when you need something.

ToM is a nice little read, and has some goodies - especially binders, but also has cool mechanics as well (if you don't mind doing house rules and using community fixes).

PHBII gives you alternate rules on character building, more ACFs, several additional base classes, and some neat spells (also gives the celerity line, but just ignore those).


I get the same dictionary feeling from UA.

If you really like the RP aspect of races, either of the listed races books are good too.

[ryu]

Stronghold Builder's Guide. For ALL your industrial strength magic architecture needs.

[Rubik]

Stronghold Builder's Guide. For ALL your industrial strength magic architecture needs.Mostly just for basic ideas. You never want to use the pricing in the book, because spellcasting can get most of it for free (rather than, you know, the millions of gp it suggests).

The Arms & Equipment Guide is pretty awesome, but it's very badly organized.

[madtinker]

Here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?315510-Which-books-to-get-next)'s a good list.

[Kennisiou]

MiC and Spell Compendium are great. I'm a huge fan of Complete Champion and Unearthed Arcana, too, since they have tons of valuable alternate class features. Tome of Magic may just be "tome of Binder," but Binders are neat so it's still pretty good overall. Races of Destniy is pretty neat as well.

[ryu]

Mostly just for basic ideas. You never want to use the pricing in the book, because spellcasting can get most of it for free (rather than, you know, the millions of gp it suggests).

The Arms & Equipment Guide is pretty awesome, but it's very badly organized.

Except for a few gems like wondrous architecture.

[VoxRationis]

I'd have to go for Draconomicon. A lot of quality stuff in there, in my opinion, including a nice random art object generator in the appendix. Plus, it provides you with a lot of source material for dragons without the "everyone is a dragon-blooded magic-user" effect that Dragon Magic has.

[RavynsLand]

I glanced through a few PDF's and I think I've narrowed it down to:

Tome of Magic
PBH2
and Magic Item Compendium

[Phelix-Mu]

I glanced through a few PDF's and I think I've narrowed it down to:

Tome of Magic
PBH2
and Magic Item Compendium

If you ever DM, PHB2 has a number of nice resources, including the rules on Affiliations, which are great for adding role playing depth to the societies and organizations depicted in campaigns. Not to mention a nifty mechanic by which a pc can add small, but useful, utility to a character.

Finally, there are a series of awesome tables in the back for quick generation of npcs. While the tables aren't even remotely optimized, they provide a good baseline for default choices, and if you need something with higher octane, you can swap out the sub-par stuff for the classic choices of optimization (Leap Attack, Martial Study/Stance, Knockdown, early access tricks or DMM for casters, etc, etc).

I have found PHB2 an excellent book to have.

[Snowbluff]

I second MoI and/or PHB2. MIC IS really good, though...

[Troacctid]

I get the same dictionary feeling from UA.

Most of UA is already in the SRD.

[Thealtruistorc]

As always, I suggest Eberron Campaign Setting. There is so much in that book and I get more mileage out of it than anything else in my collection.

[RavynsLand]

But I don't like the Eberron Setting...

*casts Circle of Protection from Rotten Fruit*

[Abithrios]

I'd have to go for Draconomicon. A lot of quality stuff in there, in my opinion, including a nice random art object generator in the appendix. Plus, it provides you with a lot of source material for dragons without the "everyone is a dragon-blooded magic-user" effect that Dragon Magic has.

Unfortunately, the art generator produces a lot of junk (e.g. balsa wood ear rings),with the ocassional good thing (crystal music box with etchings of religious motifs). Note: I really have rolled both of those on those tables.

[atomicwaffle]

I got my MiC second hand for 25 bucks (so sweet), and i bought a SC full price. MiC is invaluable if you want to give them something COOL that doesn't cost 3000+ gp. Rogue reaches level 2, let him find boots of landing. Spell Compendium is great if you want 'ancient magicks'. A long-forgotten spell on an ancient scroll that the players have no idea of.