What supplements do you recommend I get? (3.5)

[xanaphia]

I have been considering getting some supplements lately. At present I have PHB, DMG, MM 1, 2, and 4, and XPH. Which supplements do you think are the best and most balanced?

Also, are there any supplements based on animals?

[thegurullamen]

Here's what most people will say:

PHBII
Tome of Battle
Magic Item Compendium

Personally, I'd add in the Comp series, the Races series, Dungeonscape*, and Dragon Magic.

Of everything I've suggested, I recommend the PHBII the most.

*Edited for momentary lapse into idiocy.

[kamikasei]

PHBII and ToB are probably the most generally applicable and balanced. Spell Compendium and Magic Item Compendium will be very handy but contain a lot of exploitable material.

What do you want relating to animals? There's Savage Species, but there's no book about animals (the creature type) other than the various MMs and a smattering of material in other books.

Personally, I'd add in the Comp series, the Races series, Dungeonomicon, and Dragon Magic.

The Completes and Races are a large investment unless you focus on specific character types of interest to you. There's also a good bit of variability in quality and balance.

Also, it's Dungeonscape.

[Mr. Zook]

For animals you maybe want to look for Races of the Wild or any one of the supplementary Monster Manuals. Realy, supplements are aquired by taste and in-game necessity. Spell Compendium is always nice as it gives you a ton of new spells.

[dyslexicfaser]

None I can think of.

If you like playing a certain type of character, you can't go wrong with the 'Complete' series. Tome of Battle and Tome of Magic are pure fun (even if two of the three classes in Tome of Magic are pretty underpowered). Or maybe PHB II?

[KKL]

Magic of Incarnum, Tome of Battle, Magic Item Compendium, Tome of Magic...Dungeonscape's fun enough.

[Egiam]

If you plan to DM, Heroes of Horror is loads of fun, Draconomicon and Lords of Madness are just plain awesome. Definitely get Tome of Battle. .

[Xyk]

As always I recommend Complete Scoundrel; it adds something for everyone and an entire new ability (I love skill tricks).

[Hida Reju]

Well it kinda depends on what your tastes are...

For character options
Melee or ranged combat types (non magic) Complete Warrior, PHB II, Tome of Battle

Stealth or skill based characters Complete Adventurer and Complete Scoundrel

Magic based characters Complete Arcane, Complete Mage, Complete Divine, Complete Champion, Tome of magic, and Spell Compendium.

Other character options Dragon Magic, Magic of Incarnum, Expanded Psionics Handbook, Eberron Core setting book.

For DM resources PHB II, Dungeonscape, Cityscape, Libis Mortis, Lords of Madness, Manual of the Planes, All Forgotten Realms books, all other Eberron sourcebooks, Dragonnomicon, Book of exalted deeds, book of vile darkness, Unearthed Arcana.

Really there are so many you can use you might as well decide on which ideas are more important.

[FMArthur]

If you want to add significantly to your battles, Tome of Battle extremely high-quality, balanced, and fun. But it doesn't change much for existing characters and is pretty much exclusively used by the classes introduced in the book, though it may have a couple helpful feats for external characters. Basically, it's fantastic for new campaigns and new characters, but can be passed over if you're looking to enhance the experience of a currently ongoing game.

Something that dramatically expands the options of casters (which are common and often vital for a party) is the Spell Compendium. It has almost every non-PHB spell in it up to a certain date (I think PHB II spells will not be in it), and can be phenomenally useful to have on-hand.

If you want something for everyone, something that expands feat choice, contains some of the best spells, and introduces great new classes, you can never go wrong with getting Player's Handbook II.

[Noneoyabizzness]

avoid complete psionic. easy to find for good reason. avoid unearthed arcana best stuff is on the web.

Tome of battle is a no brainer. it offers the best melee options.

phb2=if you don't want to go the tob route. it offers feats tactics and tons of tasty bits.

completes have tasty prcs and feats. spell compendium is higher value than even completes for casters.

heroes are good books for dms and players for just campaign or character options.

campaign setting books are iffy. abusable but tasty if you run the campaign

dragon magic and incarnum are worth it for something completely different

tome of magic is nice too. underpowered is fixed with houserules

[Wih]

For players, Tome of Battle and PHB II - these two give the most bang for your buck for building characters, and making them fun. If you're a DM or no-one in your gaming group has it, the Compendiums (Magic Item, Spell, Rules) - these are invaluable, especially for a GM.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

My suggestions:

PhB II
Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords
The Entire Complete Series

Suggestions you do NOT get/allow:

Book of Vile Deeds/Book of Exalted Deeds
ANY of the Races Of series (most of it is just pure exploitable stuff that gets crazy overpowered)

[Proven_Paradox]

Add another vote for the Tome of Battle; it changed melee for the better in so many ways. I don't want to hold a sword without it anymore.

Player's Handbook II has great stuff for everyone; all of your players will enjoy this one.

Spell Compendium is a great resource as long as you're willing to make sure some of the more broken options are regulated. Same for Magic Item Compendium.

I don't like most of the Races of series, with the exception of Races of Stone. Now, I happen to love playing dwarves, so that may be me being a bit biased here, but it's got great options in it. Goliaths are incredibly well written and as close to a worthwhile LA +1 you'll ever find without being blatantly broken (looking at you, half-minotaur). I always include a place for goliaths in my games now.

Magic of Incarnum is a lot of fun if you're willing to learn a new system with some slightly silly termanology. I'm still looking for somewhere to field a totemist. Easily the most under appreciated book on my list.

Among the completes, I found Complete Scoundrel to be the most fun; skill tricks are great. In descending order, for completes I would recommend Scoundrel, Divine, Arcane, Mage, Adventurer, Warrior, and Champion. That last one gets a bad rep, and it does include some honestly stupid stuff, but it does have some interesting stuff too. Just gotta be able to weed through the stupid stuff.

[TheCountAlucard]

Looks like you didn't get the one good Monster Manual, number 3... I'd recommend it, just for some of the more awesome things that lurk within.

[RebelRogue]

I think the PHB2 is somewhat overrated. Yes, it has a few nice classes, Feats and spells, but some parts of it are next to useless! The advice on Feat choice is horrible, and devoting so much space to retraining just seems wrong to me. But then again YMMV.