Favorite 3.5 Book

[Stegyre]

Like the title says: Outside of core, what's your favorite 3.5 book, and why?
(This is by no means a purely disinterested question. I'm wondering what I should focus on adding to my collection. )

Mine has got to be ToB: martial adepts, maneuvers and stances that I can re-fluff to whatever I want.

Second place goes to CPsi, just because I love psionics and more powers == great! (And having come to it all quite late, I can easily live with the occasional retrenchment from XPH.)

EDIT: Going to tally up the votes (an excellent suggestion by Ernir, below). Just to avoid endless recounts (because I don't live in Florida or Minnesota), I'll tally votes page-by-page, as each page is filled. For reference, here's how votes will be tallied: if it receives a positive reference, it's a vote. For example, "Favorites are ToB and PHB 2, with SC close behind," is a vote for all three (ToB, PHB 2 & SC). For relative newcomers (like myself), I think this best highlights the "keepers" a player should seek out.

Votes, as of page 1 (my apologies: these are not necessarily the standard abbreviations; corrections will be graciously accepted):

BoED 1
CAr 1
CPsi 1
CSc 1
Dun 1
Frost 2
HoH 3
LM 1
LoM 1
MIC 6
MoI 2
PHBII 5
Sand 1
SBG 1
SC 7
Sw&F 1
ToB 10
ToM 3
XPH 1

Not tallied (poster):
IK (Slaanesh): this is third party, isn't it? I'm tentatively restricting the list to WotC, whether or not that's a good idea.
Expedition modules (Akal Saris) & Eberron Campaign Setting Books (Slaanesh): too general (name specifics) and, with regard to modules, not really within the scope. There is a separate thread for modules here.

[jiriku]

Frostburn. I ran a campaign set in a fantasy Russia setting, with all sorts of monsters and fey appropriate to Russian myth and folklore. Frostburn actually had all of them statted out so I didn't have to homebrew them! The cold-themed feats, spells, and prestige classes were also perfect for a lich antagonist I created as the BBEG. The material was really tremendously valuable in providing rules to go under the fluff of my setting.

[Edwin]

Sandstorm has got some pretty good stuff in it too, namely the Sand Shaper. Free resurrection, free healing, free just about everything as long as there's sand nearby. Awesome!

If you count 3.0, I loved Savage Species. What can I say, I have a soft spot for monster classes.

[Fax Celestis]

Magic of Incarnum, closely followed by Tome of Magic.

[Anonanimal]

Tome of Magic by far. No book has ever given me so many ideas, and the Binder is just awesome. The Truenamer has awesome flavor, at least, and with Kellus' rewrite, it works just fine.

[Wereling]

Spell Compendium. So many WONDERFUL toys...

[Ponce]

Tome of Battle or Spell Compendium. Depends on how I'm feeling.

[Edwin]

Spell Compendium. So many WONDERFUL toys...

But also, so full of evil!

The orb spells are in it, though, so it's a must if you want to play a blaster.

[sonofzeal]

Magic of Incarnum, closely followed by Tome of Magic.

........really? I'd generally rather nominate a whole book rather than a third of a book...


ToB and PHB2 for me. MIC and SC are close behind.

[Shadwen]

PHB2 followed closely by Sword and Fist

[jokey665]

Expanded Psionics Handbook.

[Mongoose87]

I <3 teh ToB

[Tanaric]

PHB2 and ToB are tied in my book, I think. Spell Compendium ranks shortly behind.

[Person_Man]

Magic of Incarnum, closely followed by Tome of Magic.

I'll second Magic of Incarnum (minus the Soulborn), PHBII (minus the Dragon Shaman), and Tome of Battle (minus the Legacy weapons).

But Tome of Magic? The Binder fluff is pure awesomeness, but the crunch is overly complicated. The Truenamer fluff is interesting, but the crunch is pretty much unworkable without houserules, an Item Familiar, and/or custom magic items. I'll be honest and say that I've only read the Shadow Magic section once, so I don't really grok what it's all about. I'm honestly interested to hear why you picked ToM Fax.

[Ernir]

ToB and the Magic Item Compendium, I think.

EDIT: Oooo, wouldn't you just love to count the "votes" and post the results in the original post?

[Aldizog]

Lords of Madness. Great fluff and some good crunch. As a 2E fan of Spelljammer, I like the attention given to illithid, beholders, and neogi.

Second place probably Heroes of Horror, though the archivist's spell list can be problematic and I don't like the arms race aspect of "super-duper fear that affects fear-immune creatures."

[Telonius]

PHB2, followed by Magic Item Compendium and Complete Scoundrel.

ToB's crunch is superb. The layout, however is ... very much not. It would be one place ahead of MiC otherwise.

[Tyndmyr]

MiC, followed by Stronghold Builders Guide.

I dunno why, I just get a kick outta building stuff.

[Mordokai]

I love Heroes of Horror to pieces, since it has given me so many ideas and I keep coming back to it and always finding it as interesting as it was the last time I put it away.

[Akal Saris]

Tome of Battle! (Yeah, I'm jumping on the bandwagon, but it's such a great book)

Tome of Magic and all of the Expedition to XYZ modules come in at a close second though =)

[Temet Nosce]

Spell Compendium/Magic Item Compendium. I get use out of them for basically every character I make. Other than those, the ToB followed by the XPH.

[aje8]

Spell Compendium. Though Heroes of Horror is a close second.

[Stegyre]

EDIT: Oooo, wouldn't you just love to count the "votes" and post the results in the original post?

Yes, I would / will!

[Inhuman Bot]

I really liked the IK World guide/Charcter guide, and the Ebberon Campaign setting books.

[DarthCyberWolf]

My heart will always be with Frostburn, even though I’ll probably never get to play in a campaign with that setting.

[Fax Celestis]

But Tome of Magic? The Binder fluff is pure awesomeness, but the crunch is overly complicated. The Truenamer fluff is interesting, but the crunch is pretty much unworkable without houserules, an Item Familiar, and/or custom magic items. I'll be honest and say that I've only read the Shadow Magic section once, so I don't really grok what it's all about. I'm honestly interested to hear why you picked ToM Fax.

The Binder is amazing, but it is complicated. The Truenamer is a lost cause mechanically but is amazing fluff. The Shadowcaster is a 9th-level caster that's not ohmaigawdit'sastralfire broken, which in itself is impressive--and with some minor tweaks (mostly involving a simple refresh mechanic akin to ToB classes) it can be brought in line with Tier 2. It can also be refluffed very easily to other planes--Flamecaster for elemental plane of fire, for instance, or Abyssbringer for the Infinite Layers of the Abyss.

[Gametime]

I'm tempted to say Dungeonscape even though I barely use any of the book, just because I love the Factotum that much.

Tome of Battle is probably the most impressive as an example of excellent design, though.

[Maryring]

Me, I'm quite fond of Complete Arcane and, surprisingly, Book of Exalted Deeds. The classes may be so-so, but the monster and planar sections are fun and the spells are even more fun.

[ErrantX]

I'm gonna have to say Libris Mortis is one of my favorite books. Lots of awesome feats, monsters, and templates. Some fun classes and spells as well. Overall, just a really fun book. Followed very closely by the Tome of Battle, which yeah... martial adepts rock my socks. And so much great fluff!

Tome of Magic would be 3rd, Shadowcasters and Binders are just awesome.

-X

[NoldorForce]

Another vote for Magic of Incarnum. Minus, of course, the soulborn.