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View Full Version : what kinda books should i get for gaming?



freetobeuandme
2008-02-03, 03:00 PM
i have a player's hand but that's about it....my dm said that i could use different races from other books but i don't have any

bugsysservant
2008-02-03, 03:18 PM
Well, that really depends on what you're going for. You're a player, so that rules out the DMGII and the MM's, though those can be good. I'm a fan of the MM II, and I've heard that MM V is excellent as well. The PHB II is very good, and probably the best all around book a player can buy. The compendiums are good, spell for casters, obviously, and the magic item compendium is also well done. Tome of Battle is pretty much a must if you like Mellee'ers though many think that broken/too anime/insert other objection here. But the general consensus is that its a great book. The Complete series can be good, though those aren't the very best, and opinions vary from person to person. Heroes of Horror is very good, but its mostly fluff, and mostly for DMs, though Archivist and Dread Necromancer are both excellent classes. But really the choice is yours. Some books are widely disliked or considered broken, such as the "Races of ___" books, others are good, but mostly for fluff. I loved both Complete Scoundrel and Heroes of Horror, but they don't have all that great mechanics. Still others, such as Heroes of Battle, are just mediocre. Ultimately the choice is up to you.

Overall: Player's Handbook II
For Mages: Spell Compendium
For Warriors: Tome of Battle
For Scoundrels: I like Complete Scoundrel, but it doesn't have all that much besides fluff, probably better off with PHB II.
Other: Magic Item Compendium is good, and Tome of Magic is pretty good, though widely considered weak mechanically. Also, many swear by psionics, though most of that is online. Finally, if you just want races, the Monster Manual III, IIRC, had such races as Warforged which are some of the best to play, IMHO.

If you also DM, Consider the DMG II, or one of the Monster Manuals. Or, just hold out for a few months and spend your money on 4th edition.

mikeejimbo
2008-02-03, 04:14 PM
Will he allow some of the variants from Unearthed Arcana? If so, these are also included in the SRD. Not a book, per se, but check out http://d20srd.org

Farmer42
2008-02-03, 04:22 PM
The MM does give you a lot of options, as far as other races goes, from variants on the core races to whole new ones, like kobolds, orcs, and minotaurs. PHBII is also nice to have, it give you a lot of new options and ideas.

sonofzeal
2008-02-03, 04:27 PM
I'd stick with the SRD (http://www.d20srd.org/)for now. The "monsters" section has a bunch that can be playable as races (pay special attention to the Monster entry for Elves, Halflings, etc - there's variants and options there that aren't mentioned in the PHB). The Psionic Races are reasonable too, and the whole Psionics section is spiffy if you want something a little original. Best of all, that content is free and doesn't require purchase.

But yeah, as far as books go, PHB2 is your best bet. It'll describe a bunch of the content in other books too, so you'll know what to look for in the future.

Sanzh
2008-02-03, 04:28 PM
It depends on what you play. If you go with warrior types, get Complete Warrior and Tome of Battle. If you're more wizardly, than Complete Arcane (and Mage).
Honestly, the Complete series is pretty good. Just get whichever one fits your character.

CASTLEMIKE
2008-02-03, 04:33 PM
It really depends on what you like to play. Check out the D20/SRD if you aren't familiar with it as it has a lot of Unearthed Arcana variants in it:

http://www.d20srd.org/

Consider checking out Amazon for a used copy of the some of the following:

A used copy of Savage Species would probably give your PC the most race options for the cost to utility as the mechanics are explained pretty well.

A used Races of Faerun is another book with a lot of options for cost to utility.

Races of Wild was interesting.

Unearthed Arcana for a hard copy of a lot of the SRD material.

PHBII has a lot of options for classes.