Is stormwrack worth it?

[anti-ninja]

I am currently running a naval based campain, and was wondering is stormwrack worth the money?. I have heard mixed opinions on it so I decided to ask the playground.

Some criteria
1.does it make ship to ship combat easier to run/adding an actyual ruleset for ship to ship combat
2.actually that's about it anything else is icing on the cake but really i just want fleshed out ship to ship combat.

[Pluto!]

It has shipbased combat rules, but they're not great. They do give a resolution system for fighting ship-to-ship, but they don't add a very compelling minigame. The monsters are pretty cool, and I like a coup,e of the prestige classes, but I don't think it quite holds up to Frostburn/Sandstorm.

[Hiro Quester]

We are playing a fairly nautical campaign right now, using Stormwrack plus core. SW has lots of nautical goodies for players and DM, besides details on ships and nautical battles.

It also has spells and such that are useful for nautical encounters e.g. for controlling winds and water, tracking ships, helping those who need to swim, and aquatic animal companions for a Druid, as well as aquatic monsters, PRCs, and so on to challenge players with.

[LTwerewolf]

I like most of the stuff in stormwrack minus the naval combat section. Tbh the best ship to ship combat I've seen is from the star wars rpg, so we've ported that over and use that, plus the stormwrack stuff.

[DrMotives]

If budget is a concern, you may go for Arms & Equipment Guide. It's 3.0, but most of what's in it has never been superseded by 3.5 material. The vehicle section does have rules for naval combat, Stormwrack expands on those and offers another alternative. A&EG also has several ship types listed, although if you only had SW I believe it reprints all but gnomish submarine, and SW certainly has lots that A&EG doesn't have, as well as couple more crew-served weapons.

[Darth Ultron]

No it is not worth it.

At least if your talking about buying the book for it's full cover price.

But you should have no trouble finding a good deal on an out of print book. If you live near a Half Price Books, you should be able to find it for half price(and 30% off that with a coupon). The same can be said of buying it one line.

The ship combat rules are OK. But D&D has always had a problem with big combat rules as they just don't fit. And it only gets worse at higher levels.

Really, there are tons and tons of naval games out there....and you can really pick anyone for ship to ship combat.

[anti-ninja]

If budget is a concern, you may go for Arms & Equipment Guide. It's 3.0, but most of what's in it has never been superseded by 3.5 material. The vehicle section does have rules for naval combat, Stormwrack expands on those and offers another alternative. A&EG also has several ship types listed, although if you only had SW I believe it reprints all but gnomish submarine, and SW certainly has lots that A&EG doesn't have, as well as couple more crew-served weapons.I actually do own the arms and equipment guide but never really used it for much ,i guess ill have look through that again.
but basically the feel i'm getting from this thread is that stormwrack isn't worth its current amazon asking price of $45 ,is that correct?

[Pluto!]

If you're interested in it specifically for ship battle rules, it's going to come up short.

The prestige classes are pretty cool (Scarlet Corsair and Stormcaster specifically), the monsters section requires an aquatic campaign, but is meaty both in DM tools and player summons.

The races are goofy, but not weak.

It has less usable info but better production values and presentation than Bastion Press's Into the Blue, which is the closest competition for its niche that I can think of.

I like the book more than most D&D books, but I wouldn't honestly recommend it for any practical purpose.

EDIT: I'm beating around the bush because whether it's worth $45 depends on you and your budgeting. I enjoyed reading it and browsing through it, but even in a couple aquatic campaigns, I only ever used it for the flying Orangutan men, two of the PrCs and a a few summons.

[Troacctid]

Definitely not worth $45. It is cheaper as a PDF (http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/28313/Stormwrack-3e?it=1) though.

[anti-ninja]

Definitely not worth $45. It is cheaper as a PDF though. I think ill buy it as a pdf then I don't think i really have $45 to spend on a physical copy if it not gonna give me what I really want out of it.

[LTwerewolf]

I got mine for $15 at a used book store. Shop for a deal. It's never worth it to pay more than you need to for anything.

[Grod_The_Giant]

Tbh the best ship to ship combat I've seen is from the star wars rpg
Which one?

[LTwerewolf]

McKay. (http://www.mckaybooks.com/) It's where I got most of them, most expensive I've ever paid for one was $38 there. Not exactly a national chain though, so not everyone has access, but still shows there are used book stores out there with cheap books.

[anti-ninja]

To my knowledge their are no used bookstores near me where I could reliably locate D&D manuals especially a specific manual from an older edition.:smallfrown:

[Alex12]

If you're open to using Pathfinder stuff, the Skull and Shackles Player's Guide (http://paizo.com/products/btpy8rwc?Pathfinder-Adventure-Path-Skull-Shackles-Players-Guide) has a system too. I've never used it, so I'm not sure how well it holds up in practice, but it's a system, and the price is certainly right (because it's free).

[ksbsnowowl]

If you live near a Half Price Books, you should be able to find it for half price(and 30% off that with a coupon).
Don't know about your location, but the HPB's near me have wised up. All out-of-print D&D books are now AT LEAST cover price, if not well more.

For example, just tonight I stopped by HPB's and saw a copy of The Sunless Citadel (paperback module), and it was priced at $20.00

Many others are just as bad, or worse.

[anti-ninja]

If you're open to using Pathfinder stuff, the Skull and Shackles Player's Guide has a system too. I've never used it, so I'm not sure how well it holds up in practice, but it's a system, and the price is certainly right (because it's free). pathfinders designed to be portable to 3.5 right? I will definitely try that if its free I don't see a reason not to!
Don't know about your location, but the HPB's near me have wised up. All out-of-print D&D books are now AT LEAST cover price, if not well more.

For example, just tonight I stopped by HPB's and saw a copy of The Sunless Citadel (paperback module), and it was priced at $20.00

Many others are just as bad, or worse. I don't think any used book stores near , even have D&D supplements , trust me I have checked

[Alex12]

pathfinders designed to be portable to 3.5 right? I will definitely try that if its free I don't see a reason not to! I don't think any used book stores near , even have D&D supplements , trust me I have checked

Pathfinder is kind of a fix/outgrowth of 3.5. It should be mostly compatible. The CMB/CMD (Combat Maneuver Bonus/Combat Maneuver Defense) stuff is, I think, pretty much the biggest difference you'll see in that section of the rules, and that's basically a unification of a bunch of different fiddly mechanics nobody likes (Grapples, Bull Rushes, Disarms, Trips) into a single number that governs all those things as a marginally less fiddly mechanic that some people like, and frankly probably won't matter much unless someone in your party decides he wants to pull a Sabin or something.

[anti-ninja]

Pathfinder is kind of a fix/outgrowth of 3.5. It should be mostly compatible. The CMB/CMD (Combat Maneuver Bonus/Combat Maneuver Defense) stuff is, I think, pretty much the biggest difference you'll see in that section of the rules, and that's basically a unification of a bunch of different fiddly mechanics nobody likes (Grapples, Bull Rushes, Disarms, Trips) into a single number that governs all those things as a marginally less fiddly mechanic that some people like, and frankly probably won't matter much unless someone in your party decides he wants to pull a Sabin or something. Thanks for the explanation