Best fluff of all the 3.5 And 4th books?

[Otogi]

I'm pretty convinced it's the Tome of Magic for 3.5, but it's harder to pick in 4e. It's either the PHB or the first Draconomicon. What do you guys think?

[Yora]

Please elaborate what you want to hear from us?

[Dr Bwaa]

I think the fluff on Chaos Magic (3.0 and Mongoose, but whatever. SUBVERTED.) is fantastic. The book itself was obviously playtested and proofread by a bunch of anemic spider monkeys on heroine, but the fluff is awesome.

[Optimystik]

"Best fluff" is very subjective, but I agree that Tome of Magic is very nice in this regard.

This is especially jarring with regards to the Truenamer - the most bizarre combination of excellent fluff and horrible mechanics I've ever seen.

[NEO|Phyte]

4e, I'd have to say Psionics, because being the world's autoimmune response to the Far Realms because The Burning Hate opened the door to them is pretty neat.

3.5... going with Pact magic (ToM), screw your complex learnings and elaborate gestures, I'mma get magics the easy way!

[Optimystik]

4e, I'd have to say Psionics, because being the world's autoimmune response to the Far Realms because The Burning Hate opened the door to them is pretty neat.

I agree, that was a very nice part of 4e.

3.5... going with Pact magic (ToM), screw your complex learnings and elaborate gestures, I'mma get magics the easy way!

Easy? Binders give the DM a license to screw with them at every opportunity. You can be forced to roleplay the binding check, and suffer the penalties for a poor performance.

[arguskos]

Tome of Magic, hands freaking down. After that, Lost Empires of Faerun, for having such an amazingly rich and detailed history that was somehow engaging at the same time.

[NEO|Phyte]

Easy? Binders give the DM a license to screw with them at every opportunity. You can be forced to roleplay the binding check, and suffer the penalties for a poor performance.

The fluff on binding is very specific on that it is remarkably easy to do, all you need to do is squiggle a pattern on the floor and call out a name, if you're worthy, they appear.

[Gorbash]

4e, I'd have to say Psionics, because being the world's autoimmune response to the Far Realms because The Burning Hate opened the door to them is pretty neat.

I'm not at all familiar with 4e, so could someone elaborate on this for me?

[NEO|Phyte]

I'm not at all familiar with 4e, so could someone elaborate on this for me?

tl;dr

Mysterious gate out in the astral sea, guarded by something neither God nor Primordial. Pelor, Ioun, and an unnamed god sneak past the guardian and peek into the gate. They end up swearing to never speak of what they saw, or to seek out the gate.

Some time later, one of those three came back and killed the guardian, which woke up the gate. Cue Far Realm invasion, which was stopped by shattering the gate, destroying Pelor's divine realm in the process.

After this, psionics began to appear in the world. Nobody knows for sure why, but the most popular theory is that it's reality's way of fighting off the unreality of the Far Realm.

[Optimystik]

The fluff on binding is very specific on that it is remarkably easy to do, all you need to do is squiggle a pattern on the floor and call out a name, if you're worthy, they appear.

Yes, you are guaranteed the pact. You are not guaranteed a good pact however, and a bad pact at the wrong time can make your life (and your party's) considerably difficult.

[NEO|Phyte]

Yes, you are guaranteed the pact. You are not guaranteed a good pact however, and a bad pact at the wrong time can make your life (and your party's) considerably difficult.

There are the occasional complications, yes, but it is still far easier than spending years learning to fling bat poo.

[hamishspence]

In the section of PHB3 on how the psionic power source came into being, it mentions the Living Gate, first found by Pelor, and woken by Ioun. It had a guadian, but a third nameless god distracted the guardian so all three could catch a glimpse through the Living Gate.

They took a vow never to speak of what they saw.

At some point later, in the Dawn War between the gods and the primordials, one of three (assumed by scholars to probably be the nameless god) returned and killed the guardian, causing the Living Gate to open.

The resulting eruption of energy (and alien invasion) destroyed several astral realms before Pelor & Ioun shattered the gate (at the cost of Pelor's verdant dominion)

Around this time, psionic powers first started to be seen.

Of the several theories as to why:

"Others, including most practicioners of the psionic arts, believe that their power is the world's response to the intrusion of the Far Realm, similar to a mortal body's reaction to disease"

So, it is one theory. There are others though.

EDIT: Ninjaed.

[peacenlove]

Tome of Magic, hands freaking down. After that, Lost Empires of Faerun, for having such an amazingly rich and detailed history that was somehow engaging at the same time.

Gonna second this opinion and add the forgotten realms campaign setting for i have spent nights reading this book for almost 10 years

[hamishspence]

Forgotten Realms sourcebooks in general tend to be fun (even though which have not-so-good rules).

[arguskos]

Forgotten Realms sourcebooks in general tend to be fun (even though which have not-so-good rules).

It's a byproduct of one man giving his life to the world (Ed Greenwood). If you give a single thing that level of dedication, it's gonna turn out very intricate and detailed, which is awesome to read and learn about.

[Kobold-Bard]

Personally I like Magic of Incarnum.

Yes I just hit you with my soul, you have a problem with that?

[Optimystik]

There are the occasional complications, yes, but it is still far easier than spending years learning to fling bat poo.

Bat poo becomes remarkably normal next to some of the squick Binders have to deal with.

Oh, and the more I read of Eberron, the more I like it, as well.

[Godskook]

Tome of Battle.

[Starscream]

Not a whole book, but my favorite bit of D&D Fluff of all time is the explanation in RoTW for why a race that worships a Lawful Good deity like the halflings tends to produce so many thieves and scoundrels.

Seems that back in the day, Yondalla had a bit of a naughty side (not like that, you pervs). When it came time for her to create a race, she couldn't decide what their theme would be, so she stole the bits she liked from all of the other races (adaptability from humans, courage from orcs, loyalty from dwarves, free-spiritedness from elves, etc) and infused them in a pixie to create the first halfling.

The other gods were ticked off that she had robbed them, but Yondalla smooth talked them out of punishing her by claiming she just did it because all their ideas were just so darn good. So all the gods did was force her to to remove the larcenous streak from her own personality, leaving her pure LG forevermore.

She did, and it became a deity itself named Dallah Thaun. DT is Chaotic Neutral, but because she is from a part of Yondalla they share the same thoughts and memories. They are literally two side of the same being.

So ever since halflings have been able to be CN while claiming with a straight face (even under magical compulsion) that they worship a lawful good goddess. That is an awesome explanation for their cultural tendencies, and one reason I love playing halflings.

[Kobold-Bard]

Not a whole book, but my favorite bit of D&D Fluff of all time is the explanation in RoTW for why a race that worships a Lawful Good deity like the halflings tends to produce so many thieves and scoundrels.

Seems that back in the day, Yondalla had a bit of a naughty side (not like that, you pervs). When it came time for her to create a race, she couldn't decide what their theme would be, so she stole the bits she liked from all of the other races (adaptability from humans, courage from orcs, loyalty from dwarves, free-spiritedness from elves, etc) and infused them in a pixie to create the first halfling.

The other gods were ticked off that she had robbed them, but Yondalla smooth talked them out of punishing her by claiming she just did it because all their ideas were just so darn good. So all the gods did was force her to to remove the larcenous streak from her own personality, leaving her pure LG forevermore.

She did, and it became a deity itself named Dalla Thaun. DT is Chaotic Neutral, but because she is from a part of Yondalla they share the same thoughts and memories. They are literally two side of the same being.

So ever since halflings have been able to be CN while claiming with a straight face (even under magical compulsion) that they worship a lawful good goddess. That is an awesome explanation for their cultural tendencies, and one reason I love playing halflings.

That is awesome.

[Tehnar]

I rather liked Races of the Dragon (for the Kobold fluff, dang why did they not do the same with Orcs / Goblins). The Lords of Madness is always a good read, as well as both Fiendish codex'es (part 2 more then part 1, but both are good).

[Morty]

Best fluff? Hard to say, I have a firm belief there's no such thing as "good fluff" anyway. But I know I really liked the preface to Magic of Faerun in which Khelben Arunsun explained that magic is neither a tool nor a toy and that he despises those who use it as such. That's for 3rd edition. I know little about 4ed fluff, but I like the primordials vs. gods thing from the core books.

[Godskook]

Best fluff? Hard to say, I have a firm belief there's no such thing as "good fluff" anyway. But I know I really liked the preface to Magic of Faerun in which Khelben Arunsun explained that magic is neither a tool nor a toy and that he despises those who use it as such. That's for 3rd edition. I know little about 4ed fluff, but I like the primordials vs. gods thing from the core books.

There's another option?

[Kobold-Bard]

There's another option?

An ally maybe? I've never read it, but this seems like what it's getting at.

[arguskos]

Khelben feels that magic is an art form, and should be respected as such. His logic is that since magic in Faerun directly stems from a god (who was once a human woman), one should respect it as you would a king or dragon, not abuse it for your own ends. Use it with respect, treat it as an art. There's a reason the Realms calls arcane magic The Art, after all.

[Dusk Eclipse]

Khelben feels that magic is an art form, and should be respected as such. His logic is that since magic in Faerun directly stems from a god (who was once a human woman), one should respect it as you would a king or dragon, not abuse it for your own ends. Use it with respect, treat it as an art. There's a reason the Realms calls arcane magic The Art, after all.

If thats the case? why does the most abusive arcane magic using class comes from the realms? I am talking about Incantrix

[arguskos]

Because the Incantrix is the pinnacle of Abjuration as an art form? Think about it. An Incantrix can make spells do anything they want, can twist and reshape them to their will. That's basically being an artist who can visualize anything they wish, and then make it a reality using only paint and a canvas, and do so masterfully. Just, instead of paint the Incantrix uses magic, and instead of canvas, they use the world.

Really, explaining things is easy. Mechanically, the Incantrix is crazy powerful, and often times waaaaaay overkill for a given game, but flavorfully, they work perfectly.

[Dusk Eclipse]

<awesome way to explain Incantrix fluff>

:openmouth:.... wow... never thought of incantrix as such... kudos to you arguskos

[arguskos]

Ain't hard. I could probably represent most any arcane PrC from the Realms in such a light. However, note that not everyone in the Realms holds Khelben's views, though many powerful mages do. This means that not every PrC is going to be that way. Red Wizard sure isn't. Neither would be something like... Magelord, for example.