Favorite book?

[Mike Miller]

I'm interested in hearing what books are people's favorites. My favorite is Tome of Battle. I enjoy the maneuver system, all three initiator classes, the PrCs, everything.
I feel it added a fun new way to play. A close second for me is the Magic Item Compendium for all kinds of crazy doodads to gawk over. What are some other opinions?

[flappeercraft]

SpC, what can I say. I like casters.

[Nifft]

Eberron Campaign Setting, gave us the Artificer, and races including two of my favorites (Warforged & Changelings). Provided a template for a wide-not-high magic setting, which is an environment that I find incredibly fun to play inside. For value per page, it's really tough to compete with this book, and that's equally true whether you come at it from a flavor or mechanical perspective.


Runners-up include:

Expanded Psionics Handbook, gives a new casting system which is overall more balanced and less book-keeping.

Dragon Magic, from the index it reads like tupperware full of leftovers, but the leftovers are somehow way more delicious than they have any right to be. Contains the Dragonfire Adept class, which is a fun T3 not-caster.

Tome of Magic, fantastic book about the Binder, it's annoying that the other 2/3 of the book is just blank pages but the Binder section is just fantastic and well worth a read.

Tome of Battle, virtues already extolled above. Made melee fun again.

[bahamut920]

Probably Tome of Battle. Dungeonscape is a very close second; I've had a lot of fun playing Factotums.


Dragon Magic, from the index it reads like tupperware full of leftovers, but the leftovers are somehow way more delicious than they have any right to be. Contains the Dragonfire Adept class, which is a fun T3 not-caster.
DFA is better than warlock? Most listings I've seen place warlock at T4.

[bahamut920]

EDIT: removed double post

[Celestia]

Tome of Magic. It is just super entertaining to read. The vestiges are the best, of course, but it's all entertaining. I just wish more of it was worth using.

[Zaq]

Toss-up between Magic of Incarnum and Tome of Battle. They're both different, interesting, varied, and reasonably well-balanced. If I have to pick just one, I think I'd go with MoI, but I really don't want to pick.

[digiman619]

Is this 3.5 only? Because I want to say Spheres of Power. A great non-Vancian magic system that makes magic fun and balanced.

[ksbsnowowl]

Unapproachable East

Great feats and prestige classes. Interesting cultures and locations. That book sparked a brainstorm that built an entire homebrew Viking-themed setting, in which I ran an awesome campaign for 5 years. I still have players begging to play in that setting again.

[khadgar567]

agreed with digiman for 3.5 funnly book of erotic fantasy if the damn book writen properly it might be the most used book in 3rd edition

[Mordaedil]

My favorite is probably Unearthed Arcana, if only because it gave me so many ideas and rules to mull over and consider more carefully how I wanted to play D&D and tailor things more according to my players and disregard other books for a bit.

Second runner up is probably Complete Arcane/Mage for the Warlock and reserve feats and giving the wizard something a little more magical he can do when he's not casting spells besides just using a crossbow (which always seemed very non-magey to me, one of the things I liked about 4th edition was giving the wizards at-will powers, I just didn't like what they picked or how that worked)

[Thurbane]

Very fond of PHB II, cause it has a little something for everybody...

[Pugwampy]

My favorite book is PDF,s

[tadkins]

Probably the Book of Vile Darkness.

Some of the things in there are a little ridiculous to me and I sort of skim past them, but there's plenty of other stuff in the book that I find super-interesting.

[noce]

PHB II
I love Beguiler and appreciate Duskblade. Dragon Shaman is a thing I'm not brave enough to play, but I'd love it if it worked. Feats are also quite good in this book.

Races of Stone
I love dwarves. I love goliaths. I love whisper gnomes. PrCs are many and flavourful.

Honorable Mention: Unearthed Arcana
We always use flaws and traits. Plus, I truly like elemental and environmental racial variants, I never play a human and these variants help me build my concepts.

[thelastorphan]

For 3.5 = Heroes of Horror or Lords of Madness.

For Pathfinder = Inner Sea Gods.

I tend to like fluff heavy books with lots of ideas. ISG is probably my favorite rpg book period.

[lylsyly]

For me it is a tie between PHBII and Dragon Magic, but I have a very specific reason. With one of the DMs I play with, we run gestalt every other reset and I love me some Duskblade/Dragonfire Adept (last two resets he gave us LA+4 for free and Red Dragonspawns make great gishes ROFLMAO).

[Amphetryon]

Heroes of Horror. Dread Necromancer, mmm

[daremetoidareyo]

City of Stormreach.

It's a port city of thieves and hucksters near an amnesia inducing jungle. Some weird mechanics, sabotaging weapons, master pickpocket, a feat that makes you immune to intimidate, and the hollow shards affiliation.

[SirNibbles]

agreed with digiman for 3.5 funnly book of erotic fantasy if the damn book writen properly it might be the most used book in 3rd edition

It's a shame that BoEF has so many missing parts.

___

My favourite is the PHB. I've never played a game without it.

[Luccan]

I like Oriental Adventures. The new races are cool, it introduced some fun classes, and the rest of the book a has some interesting stuff as well. Complete Warrior was always one I enjoyed as well.

[BloodSnake'sCha]

Book of Erotic Fantasy: I don't want to tell you why ;).
(it is because this mechanic is something that I want to exist but I don't want to play or make me players play, maybe later).

Tomb of Battle: I just love the Crusader.

Complete Warrior: I love the Master Thrower and like most of the others.

[Malimar]

Lords of Madness. I enjoy me some aberration fluff.

[illyahr]

Tome of Magic came too late in the development cycle to get proper errata, but the guy who actually wrote the Shadowcaster made some adjustments after play testing it a bit. They never made it into an official book, but the changes can still be found if you look. They streamline the class quite nicely.

My personal favorite is Oriental Adventures and, by extension, the Rokugan Campaign Setting. Many good things for martial characters (such as certain monks being able to take Tattooed Monk tattoos as feats).

[Thurbane]

Very fond of PHB II, cause it has a little something for everybody...

Aside from this, other non-core books I really enjoy (in no particular order): Dragon Compendium, MM3, Miniatures Handbook (even though it doesn't have a lot of material), ToB, ToM & Heroes of Horror...

[AnimeTheCat]

My favourite is the PHB. I've never played a game without it.

Aaaaaaah.... I see what you did there lol.

I think my favorites are the environment books. Stormwrack, sandstorm, Frostburn, cityscape, dungeonscape. In no particular order, but they're fun well written books imo.