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View Full Version : Yet another "What book for me?" thread



Gaiwecoor
2008-04-29, 07:07 AM
So here's the deal: We're moving to another state and leaving our regular gaming group behind. I'll be running a game when we get to our destination; there will probably only be 1-2 characters (my wife, who has been in one campaign before, and a friend, who is completely new to the game).

Anyhow, I've recently received some money and was instructed to apply it to a new book for D&D. Knowing that my collection of books is the only collection that any of the players will have access to, what should I get? I want to keep things fairly simple, since my players will be fairly inexperienced, but I still want them to be able to have flavorful sources in character creation / concepts.

I currently have:

Core
PHB2
C. Arcane
C. Adventurer
Stormwrack

What I'm currently considering (although still open to suggestions):

Rules Compendium (for ease of DM administration)
MM3 (for more critters / races)
C. Divine (granting more flavor for those divine casters)
C. Warrior (likewise, for the warrior-types)

We will definitely be sticking to 3.5, so waiting for 4e, then buying core isn't an option. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.

Thanks!

TheCountAlucard
2008-04-29, 07:30 AM
Looks like you have a good book selection already. Many of the other books out there are made to fit specific people. For intance, if you're not a heavy user of the undead, you're probably not going to buy Libris Mortis.


By the way, if you're even thinking about buying BoVD and BoED, don't buy them for their views on alignment.

Oh, and, yeah, Monster Manual III rocks.

SamTheCleric
2008-04-29, 07:30 AM
Of those choices... I'd say go for Complete Warrior. It offers a lot of options for prestige classes and a ton of feats.

What about the Spell Compendium or Magic Item Compendium? Both offer a lot of things for all classes.

Lord Tataraus
2008-04-29, 08:27 AM
I'd go with Tome of Battle or MIC, sure CW has good stuff, but ToB is just so much better IMO, it's more fun and is pretty simple.

Gaiwecoor
2008-04-29, 08:32 AM
Ah, yes. Magic Item Compendium; how could I overlook it? All right - for now, it's looking like Rules Compendium or MIC. Of course, there is something else, too ....

Due to time / creativity constraints (honestly, the contraint is not having much of either), I've realized that I deal best with canned adventures. Is it worth looking at something like Shackled City for these people, or does the low player count make it so something like RC or MIC benefit them considerably more?

Vortling
2008-04-29, 08:46 AM
I'd say go with Magic Item Compendium or Tome of Battle. You can find adventures on the net for free. Even quality adventures from Wizards themselves.

Mr.Bookworm
2008-04-29, 08:52 AM
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/oa/20030530b&page=1

There's a bunch of free adventures there.

EDIT: Oh, yeah.

I agree. The MIC, ToB, or Rules Comp. are all great. Though the Complete series is pretty good.

serow
2008-04-29, 09:52 AM
You have Complete Arcane to up the arcane firepower. It's time for the Book of 9 Swords then :smallbiggrin:

Charity
2008-04-29, 10:49 AM
Weeeeelll... I would wait for 4e personally, even if I were you. Mainly because there will be a glut of 3.5 books swilling around on ebay and excess stock at your local FLGS which will be going cheep. Buying now would be a sucker move IMHO you may as well wait a month or two and buy twice as many books for the same money, heck stick it in a high interest account and earn some interest on your patience.
Up to you, but thats what I'd do... Wanna buy a ToB in a couple of months?

Gaiwecoor
2008-04-29, 11:42 AM
Weeeeelll... I would wait for 4e personally, even if I were you. Mainly because there will be a glut of 3.5 books swilling around on ebay and excess stock at your local FLGS which will be going cheep. ..

Heh - pretty much what I was planning on doing, I just like having an idea of what I'm going to get beforehand. *grin*

Of course, the "money" I got was really in the form of a gift card to Barnes & Noble. I'm not sure they'll be dropping their prices on 3.5 materials any time soon.

Telonius
2008-04-29, 01:29 PM
Shackled City would actually be pretty good for a 3-person adventure. Your typical 4-person crew will mop the floor with the enemies contained therein.

I don't have ToB, so can't comment on it. MiC is fairly good. I would pick CWar over MiC, from the players' perspective. I'd avoid CDiv, particularly if you're running Shackled City. Radiant Servant of Pelor gives them a free coupon for about seventeen "Nyaah, Nyaah, You can't touch me!" encounters in that adventure. Best to ban it outright and not tempt the players. Clerics do not need any more buffing in that module.