need 3.5 book recomendations

[mr.fizzypop]

I play dnd 3.5 ed and have just the PHB, DMG, and the MM. I was wondering what of the other supplement books are worth buying? The terrain books don't look too bad but I haven't got a good look at them.

Any suggestions?

[sonofzeal]

PHB2 - almost essential
Dungeonscape - very fun and entertaining, great material for encounter-designing and a very flavourful new class
Tome of Battle - without this, non-spellcasters suck horribly in comparison to their magic-weilding teammates past a certain point, somewhere in the 8-11 range (some argue that the cutoff is closer to lvl5 or even lower, but almost all agree it exists). WITH this book, melee characters are far more fun and interesting to play, and can actually contribute in higher level games.

[streakster]

Complete Arcane. Got the Warlock, got the Binder.

Warlock, anyway. That's worth it. I'll second the Tome of Battle as well.

VVV Thanks!

[Reptilius]

Complete Arcane. Got the Warlock, got the Binder.

Binder's in Tome of Magic.

I second Tome of Battle. Completes (Especially Adventurer, Arcane, and Mage) are also good. Expanded Psionics Handbook is a personal favorite, as I think psionics are a little more balanced than magic.

[Fax Celestis]

Expanded Psionics Handbook, Magic of Incarnum, Tome of Battle, Tome of Magic (in that order).

[Qanael]

Complete Mage is nice if you like wizards, particularly because of Master Specialist and the class options. Focused Specialist Master Specialist is yummy.

[Curmudgeon]

It's a pretty good time to stock up on store closeouts and people selling their used 3.5 books. I like Complete Adventurer and Complete Scoundrel. I wouldn't buy any of the books that have been (mostly) released as Open Gaming Content:

• Expanded Psionics Handbook
• Unearthed Arcana
• Epic Level Handbook
• Deities and Demigods

Get most of the three core books, plus the above, at The Hypertext d20 SRD.

[Eldariel]

Expanded Psionics Handbook, Magic of Incarnum, Tome of Battle, Tome of Magic (in that order).

I'd second this, except adding Dungeonscape and PHBII, and perhaps reworking the order a bit (putting ToB first or second - I love MoI, but I find ToB a necessity for an entire archetype to be enjoyable, so it takes priority).

[Thurbane]

I play dnd 3.5 ed and have just the PHB, DMG, and the MM. I was wondering what of the other supplement books are worth buying? The terrain books don't look too bad but I haven't got a good look at them.

Any suggestions?

I would recommend:

PHB II
Complete series
MM series

[sonofzeal]

I would recommend:

PHB II
Complete series
MM series

MM3 is great. The rest I'd give a pass unless you're desperate for monster ideas. You'll get far more mileage out of the other books mentioned.

[Edan]

I will go out on a limb and suggest spell compendium if you do a lot with casters. Plus the expanded spell list for paladins and rangers makes them so much better.

[RTGoodman]

Well, it partially depends on what you do most, play or DM. For players, PHB2, Tome of Battle, and the first Complete series (Complete Warrior, Adventurer, Arcane, and Divine) are all probably good choices. For DMs, the odd-numbered Monster Manuals (especially MMIII), the Environment series (Frostburn, Sandstorm, Stormwrack), and the Fiendish Codex books are all GREAT. If you do a bit of both, Dungeonscape, the Spell Compendium and Magic Item Compendium, and all the above items could definitely be good choices.

[Deepblue706]

I would recommend:

PHB II
Complete series
MM series

I'll second these.

[Paul H]

Hi

My two favourites are Magic Item Compendium & Spell Compendium. But then I play spellcasters so I'm probably biased.......

Cheers
Paul H

[Blackfang108]

Book of Vile Darkness
Book of Exalted Deeds

my current character borrows from both.

very much Chaotic Neutral.

[bosssmiley]

System
Expanded Psionics Handbook
Tome of Battle
PHB2

Setting
Eberron Campaign Sourcebook (for pick-and-mix lulz)
Lost Empires of Faerun

Third Party/Homebrew
The Tome Series by K & Frank

[ocato]

Assuming you want to ease into 'new' material, I'd start with PHB2 and the completes, then some Races books and/or setting books, and then start looking at the Tomes/fiend books/Incarnum/scary scary if it strikes you as interesting. Granted, I might be biased because I don't particularly like the latter, so as always take that with a grain of salt.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

Play or DM?
Players:PHBII, Tome of Battle, Spell Compendium, Magic Item Compendium, XPH.
DMs:Dungeonscape, Frostburn, Sandstorm, Stormwreck, ECS.

[SilverClawShift]

My group would be lost without

- Book of Vile Darkness
- Heroes of Horror
- Manual of the Planes
- Eberron Campaign Setting (even if you don't play Eberron, it gives you a great perspective on how a world can be maleable, and some bitchin races)

Those are just books we would seriously have major adjustment to make without.

The environmental books are great too. Stormwrack, Sandstorm, Frostburn. Great for DMs and players.
The Complete and Races of series are all great for players (generally).

Tome of Magic just for the Binder.

[aboyd]

As a player, I'd say there are 3 non-core books that I absolutely want. They are:

1. Complete Adventurer - tons of good feats, makes the bard a worthwhile class, aids rogues, allows for more trickery, etc.
2. Player's Handbook 2 - lots of new spells, lots of good feats, new classes are interesting, etc.
3. Spell Compendium - nothing but spells -- and many are rebalanced versions from other books, so it's a good way to get all the cool spells without worrying that it'll unbalance everything.

As a DM, my needs are a little different from other DMs. All I use are the core books and lots of monster books, usually in PDF format. I like:

1. Tome of Horrors - 3.5 revised edition - old 1st-edition monsters re-done with 3.5 rules (flumphs, and so on) along with new monsters that are very well done.
2. ENWorld Critters series - NOT as good as Tome of Horrors, but I got all 6 books in the series for $1 each -- so I got a 350 page monster manual for $6. It has advantages. Every monster comes with a "Knowledge check" table, which shows what you can reveal to the players if they make a decent check. There are monster counters for each monster presented. And some creatures, such as the undead leeches that have been spliced so that they just suck out blood without ever filling up -- well, that's pretty clever, and scary for a player who goes in the water and comes out feeling a little... drained.
3. Dungeon Crawl Classics - Hardcover low-level adventure compilation (a few dozen short adventures that you can sprinkle in your campaign world, and they'll take players from level 1 to level 3 or 4 without seeming "on rails" because they're short, optional, and intuitive).

[Crow]

I play dnd 3.5 ed and have just the PHB, DMG, and the MM. I was wondering what of the other supplement books are worth buying? The terrain books don't look too bad but I haven't got a good look at them.

Any suggestions?

If you only have the core 3, I would reccommend Unearthed Arcana. You won't use all of it (and you're not intended to), but there's so much value in that one book that you'll find something you like and enjoy. Probably many such things. Crunch-wise, you'll find more in that one book than many other splatbooks combined.

[ianus]

• Faiths and Pantheons, honestly i wonder why didn't anyone suggested it so far , this book is a MUST for decent Roleplaying.
• Player's Handbook II
• Spell Compendium
• Expanded Psionics Handbook
• Complete series, whichever u want

[Eldariel]

• Faiths and Pantheons, honestly i wonder why didn't anyone suggested it so far , this book is a MUST for decent Roleplaying.

Mostly because it's...uhh, not? I mean, first of all, it's Forgotten Realms-only (and thus doesn't apply a majority of the games). Second, basic FrC supplements include enough material on the deities to play the settings. I can't really see how it's a must-have.

[Xenogears]

I like the Fiend Folio. But thats mostly cuz I think the grafts are awesome.

[Marlamin]

• PH2
• MM2,3,4
• Complete Arcane, Warrior, Divine, Adventurer...
• Fiend Folio
• Dieties and Demigods
• Libris Mortis is fun...
• Oriental Adventures

Not many others come to mind...

[Xallace]

Add another for Player's Handbook II and the Complete Series. At least the first wave of Completes; Mage and Scoundrel have some good stuff, but Psionic and Champion don't give as much as they should.

The Environmental series is a very well done collection. It's definitely good to get one or two from there.

The Races Collection is actually really nifty. Races of Stone is especially good, in my opinion, but pretty much all of them are worth-while in some respect. Drow of the Underdark (which I include here) is not something I can comment on, though. Haven't read enough of it. Race of Destiny struck me as a little "eh," as well.

Picking up the Monster Series (Draconomicon, Libris Mortis, and Lords of Madness) can spice up the game pretty darn well if you use any of the monster types contained therein (Dragons, Undead, and Aberrations, respectively) with frequency.

The "Heroes" books (Heroes of Horror and Heroes of Battle) are both great fun, even if you aren't playing in a Horror or War campaign; the provide enough options that even just a single PC can get a lot out of it. Although lots of Heroes of Horror is about the Taint system (also present in Unearthed Arcana and Oriental Adventures), it doesn't take up a significant chunk of the book (but it does take a significant chunk of the feats). Plus Dread Witch is one of my favorite PrCs ever.

Tome of Magic is definitely worth looking into. Binders are great, and Shadowcasters aren't bad when you get one of the fixes online. Tome of Battle is also a great choice; the entire book is designed around feeling like you're in a kung-fu action movie, so it's there for being strong and feeling cool.

Of the Forgotten Realms books, Magic of Faerun comes out to be useful in any campaign setting. Heroes of Valor is also a fun one if you like Good Aligned characters. Faiths and Pantheons can also lend inspiration to your campaign's religion, or maybe just the cleric.

When it comes to Eberron, I heavily suggest Magic of Eberron. It's neat-o, and filled with lots of good stuff that's easily workable into other campaign settings. In fact, the Eberron Campaign Setting may do you a lot of good, even if you never play an actual Eberron Game. Faiths of Eberron is also a great book, as it can lend inspiration to your characters or world, and has good mechanics (Classes, feats, cyborg parts) thrown in.

If you are playing an Eberron game, I also suggest Dragonmarked, which is fantastic, but only if you're, well, Dragonmarked.

Unearthed Arcana is good for variant rules, but I would suggest that as a DM more than as a player. There's fun alternate class features for PCs, but you really won't be getting the most out of it unless you're running a game.

Oriental Adventures is also a great one if you're into that kinda thing. Lots of classes, races, feats, monsters, new items, new spells, and dripping with its own flavor.