Book buying

[Grayson01]

Thinking of buying one of the It's ----- out here books: IE Stormwrack, Frostburn, etc. which of them all is the best to get if you could only have one?

[Vhaidara]

I'm personally very partial to Frostburn. It has a lot of really fun PrCs, and good spells and feats.

Sandstorm is also good, but it's a lot less able to be taken out of its own setting. Though it does have one major redeeming feature: Blessed by Tem-Et-Nu (http://dndtools.eu/feats/sandstorm--85/blessed-by-tem-et-nu--219/), the greatest feat ever printed by WotC.

Stormwrack is vital if you're running a naval campaign, but not too helpful without it.

Dungeonscape (It's Not Outside) has factotum

Cityscape is best used for its web enhancement, which is free online.

[bjoern]

Our group has gotten the most use out of frostburn

[eggynack]

I'm personally very partial to Frostburn. It has a lot of really fun PrCs, and good spells and feats.
Yeah, I especially love call avalanche and blizzard. Both just fantastic chunks of spellcraft.


Sandstorm is also good, but it's a lot less able to be taken out of its own setting. Though it does have one major redeeming feature: Blessed by Tem-Et-Nu (http://dndtools.eu/feats/sandstorm--85/blessed-by-tem-et-nu--219/), the greatest feat ever printed by WotC.

In place of its current text, blessed by Tem-Et-Nu should have as its only ability, "You have, at some point in the past defeated a hippopotamus in single combat. Congratulations." I mean, I guess you lose the part where you get bitten by a hippo if you fail your god, but I think this version just really cuts to the heart of things.

[Vhaidara]

Yeah, I especially love call avalanche and blizzard. Both just fantastic chunks of spellcraft.

I personally prefer Iceberg. Just because it is the ultimate in Hammer Dropping.


In place of its current text, blessed by Tem-Et-Nu should have as its only ability, "You have, at some point in the past defeated a hippopotamus in single combat. Congratulations." I mean, I guess you lose the part where you get bitten by a hippo if you fail your god, but I think this version just really cuts to the heart of things.

I have an idea: Make it an achievement feat that you get for soloing a hippo.

[eggynack]

I personally prefer Iceberg. Just because it is the ultimate in Hammer Dropping.
It's nice, but as a 9th it just doesn't quite have that hyper-efficient feel that something like blizzard does. It's just all the value.


I have an idea: Make it an achievement feat that you get for soloing a hippo.
It's plausible, and obviously the furthest thing from overpowered, especially with that horrific hippo-bite penalty. I gotta say though, the idea of a theoretical feat with no purpose aside from adding a pointless accomplishment to your adventurer resume is an intrinsically amusing thing.

[Phelix-Mu]

Frostburn is really good. I mean just good. It has uldra, rimefire, a bazillion really good druid spells, a handful of decent PrCs (including one with a fey apotheosis capstone, which is pretty rare), some good feats (even if the Searing Spell conjugate is inexplicably worse), and some really interesting monsters. Overall, just high quantity of useful stuff to the normal chaff that populates many splats.

And then it gives that paragon of TO, ice assassin! (A feature or a bug, your pick.)

Sandstorm is not far behind, but is slightly more lacking in some key areas. It does have Sandshaper and Walker of the Waste, two very useful PrCs that achieve/use some pretty novel stuff in their class features.

Stormwrack was a bit disappointing, but aquatic stuff has long been problematic to the game (since way, way back). There is the nereid and a handful of interesting spells, though. Overall, the PrCs were a bit disappointing.

Dugeonscape has Factotum and some pretty cool ACFs. And some useful dungeon-building stuff for DMs. But relatively little if we compare it to either Frostburn or Sandstorm.

Cityscape is perhaps even more narrow in focus, if a bit more useful than Dungeonscape in setting development. There are a couple interesting PrCs, and ofc Invisible Spell (bane of DMs), but then there is tons of stuff that is largely fluff that just expands on basic DMG ideas about setting-building. Which may or may not be what you are looking for.

Special mention of the FR book Underdark. There is a crazy ton of cool in that book.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Keledrath
I'm personally very partial to Frostburn. It has a lot of really fun PrCs, and good spells and feats.

Overall Frostburn is probably the one to get, for all the reasons mentioned so far. You can be Elsa or Jadis, or a bit of both.


Originally Posted by Keledrath
Stormwrack is vital if you're running a naval campaign….

Nope. Ran a seafaring campaign with barely a glance at this one, apart from a couple of druid spells.


Originally Posted by Phelix-Mu
Cityscape is perhaps even more narrow in focus, if a bit more useful than Dungeonscape in setting development.

I've been working on an urban setting for a while now, and I haven't really found much helpful in Cityscape. Books like April Blood (http://www.amazon.com/April-Blood-Florence-against-Medici/dp/019517609X/) work better for me.

:smalltongue:


Originally Posted by Phelix-Mu
Special mention of the FR book Underdark. There is a crazy ton of cool in that book.

This is one of my favorite Forgotten Realms supplements. There's no one thing I can put my finger on, but somehow it all adds up to a fun resource.

(And how to you refer to it? "It's Faerzress Outside"?)

.

[Phelix-Mu]

(And how to you refer to it? "It's Faerzress Outside"?)


Hehe, yeah, that works great.