Third-Party Books and Doomstriders

[Callos_DeTerran]

The topic is a bit clear but I've wondered this for quite awhile...how many people use third-party source books? How balanced, generally speaking, do you find their content to be? Which companies make the best supplements to 3.5 D&D? My general experience is with Bastion Press. Some of their material is a wee bit over-powered at times but has otherwise been usable and flavorful (though sometimes they leave out important information in stat blocks by accident and I don't know if they errata the mistakes).

This is another, rather simple question, that's been bugging me...has anyone else gotten the Doomstriders book? I have and I find it very interesting to use in theory (haven't gotten a chance to actually use it in game yet) so I've been wondering on other people's experiences with it. More importantly I'm just curious about who all has it at all on this forums because I've been itching to try the book out and this has all been one of the best places for me to do so.

[Irreverent Fool]

Most of the 3rd-party books I've seen contain at least some things that look as though they were created without consideration for the grand scope of abilities and classes already existing within WotC material and at times that can be unbalancing. But then, even core isn't balanced and sometimes 3rd-party material can be used to shore up gaps in existing product. It really just depends on the books. If you're the DM, just make sure you look over any 3rd-party material with character options carefully and never be afraid to say no. That should be a general rule for your games anyway though.

We don't get a lot of discussion of 3rd-party material here mostly because the books are not as widely available and there really isn't a good way to index what's available. Given the nature of D&D, houserules and homebrews are pretty normal, so if you and your group want to try something developed by someone other than Wizards, go for it.

Balance be damned!