Book w/ good classes? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Book w/ good classes? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
goawayugh
08-11-06, 02:20 PM I'm not sure what two books I should get next. The main thing I like in books is more classes/PrC's. I have the complete Complete series (cant wait for mage and scoundrel), three Races of..(not dragon), PHBII, XPH...(plus about 22 others)

I'm leaning towards Tome of Magic and either MMIV, Races of the Dragon, or Heroes of Horror (I dont play FR though).

Any other suggestions?
Ralvuimego
08-11-06, 03:24 PM Honestly, I'd go with heroes of horror, since the Archivist and Dread Necromancer both rock. :D (Plus Death Delver is the coolest PRC ever. :P )
AndrasOtto
08-11-06, 04:40 PM Races of the Dragon has some really nice stuff in it. Especially the Dragon Heart Mage. It also has some crazy powerful spells for Dragon blooded casters, Tail Slap, Wings of Flurry, and Wings of Cover in particular.
DM_Greatness
08-11-06, 04:50 PM you know, the 3.5 PHB has some of the best classes ever! Playtested, fun, and balanced!

Somehow though, I get the feeling that isn't what you are looking for though. Just buy the newest book that comes out. That will have the strongest classes in print, fo' sure. Now that is really what you are looking for.
Jerks
08-11-06, 05:48 PM I'm a fan of the Tome of Magic. I find the Binders the most interesting of the three, but they all have their high points.
lint trap
08-11-06, 06:10 PM Only get Tome of Magic if you want a new magic system, and are willing to invest a lot of time. Otherwise, you'll find it a great read and just let it gather dust.

My money would be on Heroes of Horror. Even if you're not running a horror campaign, there's plenty of great classes/spells/ideas to slip into whatever you're running.
Encard
08-11-06, 06:17 PM Get Tome of Battle. It's very well done, and actually gives melee characters a chance to shine without having to focus exclusively on one tactic (like the good ol' tripper builds) or becoming some freakish mish-mash of seemingly random PrC abilities. Also looks like it'd be great fun to play.

you know, the 3.5 PHB has some of the best classes ever! Playtested, fun, and balanced!
...Did you say balanced? Err... let's see... We have fighter. We also have druid and wizard... Wait. Something's not quite right here. Oh, of course - they're not remotely balanced. Got it.
horrorshow
08-11-06, 06:18 PM you know, the 3.5 PHB has some of the best classes ever! Playtested, fun, and balanced!

HELL YES!
scienceman47
08-11-06, 09:54 PM Take a look at the Tome of Magic. Read the binder section. Now, if it manages to rock your socks off, then go with that one. Else, pick up heroes of horror.

Wait. Stop. You dont have tome of battle? Skip heroes of horror. Read tome of magic first, and if it doesnt rock your socks off, pick up tome of battle immediately. In fact, if you like the melee, skip ToM. ToB is goodness incarnate.
a_m0ogle
08-11-06, 10:33 PM Take a look at the Tome of Magic. Read the binder section. Now, if it manages to rock your socks off, then go with that one. Else, pick up heroes of horror.

Wait. Stop. You dont have tome of battle? Skip heroes of horror. Read tome of magic first, and if it doesnt rock your socks off, pick up tome of battle immediately. In fact, if you like the melee, skip ToM. ToB is goodness incarnate.

Agreed. Tome of Battle is my favorite book so far, though I don't yet have Tome of Magic, that is next on my list, but i've looked through it and it looks great.
Calibron
08-12-06, 08:46 AM you know, the 3.5 PHB has some of the best classes ever! Playtested, fun, and balanced!
Balanced? Holy crap no. Maybe at levels 5 to 8. Get below that range and the Full BAB classes completely dominate combat. Get above that range and the full casters dominate everything. Well everything that isn't inside an anti magic field anyway. It is my opinion the the 3.5 PHB is by far the most broken rule book released for edition 3.5. It probably had something to do with the lack of playtesting for the level 10+ material. Books like the Complete Arcane, Heroes of Horror, and PHB II give us more focused casters that are certainly awesome at what they do, but aren't able to replace any other character in the party with a days notice; not to mention Tome of Magic and Magic of Incarnum, both of which give us supernatural classes that are more on par with the poor non-casters and half-casters. While books like Complete Warrior and The Book of Nine Swords give us combat characters that can actually make the difference in Combat after you pass that level 5-8 sweet spot.

P.S. I am giving suggestions for books to pick up diguised as a rant about people who think Core is balanced while Non-Core is broken disguised as a serious discussion; ya know, in case you couldn't tell.
Witch
08-12-06, 08:51 AM you know, the 3.5 PHB has some of the best classes ever! Playtested, fun, and balanced!

Somehow though, I get the feeling that isn't what you are looking for though. Just buy the newest book that comes out. That will have the strongest classes in print, fo' sure. Now that is really what you are looking for.
Drop the arrogant attitude, because you're coming over condescending, not to mention that the statements you're making are flatout wrong. Core is not balanced.
Vestigial_Thumb
08-12-06, 09:54 AM you know, the 3.5 PHB has some of the best classes ever! Playtested, fun, and balanced!
You fail. (http://www.youfail.org/)
wolfie-kun
08-12-06, 09:58 AM Has anyone else realized DM_Greatness just loves trolling around? He's easily ignored, don't clutter up the damn thread. :bored:

I agree that Tome of Battle has some of the most awesome material WotC has ever published. It's also gotten the most attention of the WotC books, at least here on the boards it seems to...
malisteen
08-12-06, 10:50 AM I'm not trying to defend DMgreatness, but if you don't go out of your way to max them Druids are pretty fun and cool, and if you work them right so all the PHB non-casters bar fighter. Heck, I'm having great fun with a straight-fighter right now, and not even one built on a single gimmick. I'm not at all claiming they're balanced, but even with all the options out there, sometimes it's cool to go back and play, I don't know, an elven ranger with a bow.

That aside, you want Tome of Battle and Tome of Magic. They are awesome. Heroes of Horror, is full of fun stuff, although its classes work better within a world that uses its own material (imo), and the Dread Necromancer at least works way better as an NPC (I'm not talking about alignment, I'm talking about how the class encourages you to travel with an entourage; a character with an entourage can really bog down combat), so all in all, I would reccomend it behind the Tomes. You do have PHBII, and XPH, right? ::reading back:: Oh, good, you do. They've got some great classes in them.

Oh! Magic of Incarnum! That's a great alternate magic system, with fun, fun classes. Get that, right after the tomes, but before Heroes of Horror.
goawayugh
08-16-06, 09:41 PM I love magic, but I'm not that crazy about wanting to implement a new magic system. I've heard Magic of Incarnum is awsome, but I havent really checked it out because of that.

Tome of Battle, sounds good if you like melee. Like I said, I love casters. Next is rogue types, melee tanks I have no use for, as my PC or in my party.
Elbethamore
08-16-06, 10:20 PM So many choices. Heroes of Horror is a great read. The classes can be tough to fit into a typical party, however, and there's a lot of info on Taint that I'm sure you'll never use. But it's a great read.

Libris Mortis has a few good PrC's, feats, and spells that every player could love. Also, does your collection of "Completes" include the recent Complete Psionic?

Tome of Magic is really interesting, but as someone pointed out, tough to implement. But as a player, it's not too much to devote some attention to learning the mechanics of one of those types and playing one of the classes. Shadowcaster looks interesting to me, even if it's not the pinnacle of class design.

I got a chance to flip through a copy of Tome of Battle. That book could make me want to play a martial character, and that's really saying something for me.
frasmage
08-16-06, 10:24 PM I just purchased ToB today... and, well ... I STILL CAN'T FIND WHERE MY SOCKS LANDED :P

Wow that is some cool stuff. My only warning to you is that it is all centered around one idea and does not provide too much other material - so hopefully you will like the classes enough to play them, otherwise you will not get too much use out of the book

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
goawayugh 08-11-06, 02:20 PM	I'm not sure what two books I should get next. The main thing I like in books is more classes/PrC's. I have the complete Complete series (cant wait for mage and scoundrel), three Races of..(not dragon), PHBII, XPH...(plus about 22 others) I'm leaning towards Tome of Magic and either MMIV, Races of the Dragon, or Heroes of Horror (I dont play FR though). Any other suggestions?
Ralvuimego 08-11-06, 03:24 PM	Honestly, I'd go with heroes of horror, since the Archivist and Dread Necromancer both rock. :D (Plus Death Delver is the coolest PRC ever. :P )
AndrasOtto 08-11-06, 04:40 PM	Races of the Dragon has some really nice stuff in it. Especially the Dragon Heart Mage. It also has some crazy powerful spells for Dragon blooded casters, Tail Slap, Wings of Flurry, and Wings of Cover in particular.
DM_Greatness 08-11-06, 04:50 PM	you know, the 3.5 PHB has some of the best classes ever! Playtested, fun, and balanced! Somehow though, I get the feeling that isn't what you are looking for though. Just buy the newest book that comes out. That will have the strongest classes in print, fo' sure. Now that is really what you are looking for.
Jerks 08-11-06, 05:48 PM	I'm a fan of the Tome of Magic. I find the Binders the most interesting of the three, but they all have their high points.
lint trap 08-11-06, 06:10 PM	Only get Tome of Magic if you want a new magic system, and are willing to invest a lot of time. Otherwise, you'll find it a great read and just let it gather dust. My money would be on Heroes of Horror. Even if you're not running a horror campaign, there's plenty of great classes/spells/ideas to slip into whatever you're running.
Encard 08-11-06, 06:17 PM	Get Tome of Battle. It's very well done, and actually gives melee characters a chance to shine without having to focus exclusively on one tactic (like the good ol' tripper builds) or becoming some freakish mish-mash of seemingly random PrC abilities. Also looks like it'd be great fun to play. you know, the 3.5 PHB has some of the best classes ever! Playtested, fun, and balanced! ...Did you say balanced? Err... let's see... We have fighter. We also have druid and wizard... Wait. Something's not quite right here. Oh, of course - they're not remotely balanced. Got it.
horrorshow 08-11-06, 06:18 PM	you know, the 3.5 PHB has some of the best classes ever! Playtested, fun, and balanced! HELL YES!
scienceman47 08-11-06, 09:54 PM	Take a look at the Tome of Magic. Read the binder section. Now, if it manages to rock your socks off, then go with that one. Else, pick up heroes of horror. Wait. Stop. You dont have tome of battle? Skip heroes of horror. Read tome of magic first, and if it doesnt rock your socks off, pick up tome of battle immediately. In fact, if you like the melee, skip ToM. ToB is goodness incarnate.
a_m0ogle 08-11-06, 10:33 PM	Take a look at the Tome of Magic. Read the binder section. Now, if it manages to rock your socks off, then go with that one. Else, pick up heroes of horror. Wait. Stop. You dont have tome of battle? Skip heroes of horror. Read tome of magic first, and if it doesnt rock your socks off, pick up tome of battle immediately. In fact, if you like the melee, skip ToM. ToB is goodness incarnate. Agreed. Tome of Battle is my favorite book so far, though I don't yet have Tome of Magic, that is next on my list, but i've looked through it and it looks great.
Calibron 08-12-06, 08:46 AM	you know, the 3.5 PHB has some of the best classes ever! Playtested, fun, and balanced! Balanced? Holy crap no. Maybe at levels 5 to 8. Get below that range and the Full BAB classes completely dominate combat. Get above that range and the full casters dominate everything. Well everything that isn't inside an anti magic field anyway. It is my opinion the the 3.5 PHB is by far the most broken rule book released for edition 3.5. It probably had something to do with the lack of playtesting for the level 10+ material. Books like the Complete Arcane, Heroes of Horror, and PHB II give us more focused casters that are certainly awesome at what they do, but aren't able to replace any other character in the party with a days notice; not to mention Tome of Magic and Magic of Incarnum, both of which give us supernatural classes that are more on par with the poor non-casters and half-casters. While books like Complete Warrior and The Book of Nine Swords give us combat characters that can actually make the difference in Combat after you pass that level 5-8 sweet spot. P.S. I am giving suggestions for books to pick up diguised as a rant about people who think Core is balanced while Non-Core is broken disguised as a serious discussion; ya know, in case you couldn't tell.
Witch 08-12-06, 08:51 AM	you know, the 3.5 PHB has some of the best classes ever! Playtested, fun, and balanced! Somehow though, I get the feeling that isn't what you are looking for though. Just buy the newest book that comes out. That will have the strongest classes in print, fo' sure. Now that is really what you are looking for. Drop the arrogant attitude, because you're coming over condescending, not to mention that the statements you're making are flatout wrong. Core is not balanced.
Vestigial_Thumb 08-12-06, 09:54 AM	you know, the 3.5 PHB has some of the best classes ever! Playtested, fun, and balanced! You fail. (http://www.youfail.org/)
wolfie-kun 08-12-06, 09:58 AM	Has anyone else realized DM_Greatness just loves trolling around? He's easily ignored, don't clutter up the damn thread. :bored: I agree that Tome of Battle has some of the most awesome material WotC has ever published. It's also gotten the most attention of the WotC books, at least here on the boards it seems to...
malisteen 08-12-06, 10:50 AM	I'm not trying to defend DMgreatness, but if you don't go out of your way to max them Druids are pretty fun and cool, and if you work them right so all the PHB non-casters bar fighter. Heck, I'm having great fun with a straight-fighter right now, and not even one built on a single gimmick. I'm not at all claiming they're balanced, but even with all the options out there, sometimes it's cool to go back and play, I don't know, an elven ranger with a bow. That aside, you want Tome of Battle and Tome of Magic. They are awesome. Heroes of Horror, is full of fun stuff, although its classes work better within a world that uses its own material (imo), and the Dread Necromancer at least works way better as an NPC (I'm not talking about alignment, I'm talking about how the class encourages you to travel with an entourage; a character with an entourage can really bog down combat), so all in all, I would reccomend it behind the Tomes. You do have PHBII, and XPH, right? ::reading back:: Oh, good, you do. They've got some great classes in them. Oh! Magic of Incarnum! That's a great alternate magic system, with fun, fun classes. Get that, right after the tomes, but before Heroes of Horror.
goawayugh 08-16-06, 09:41 PM	I love magic, but I'm not that crazy about wanting to implement a new magic system. I've heard Magic of Incarnum is awsome, but I havent really checked it out because of that. Tome of Battle, sounds good if you like melee. Like I said, I love casters. Next is rogue types, melee tanks I have no use for, as my PC or in my party.
Elbethamore 08-16-06, 10:20 PM	So many choices. Heroes of Horror is a great read. The classes can be tough to fit into a typical party, however, and there's a lot of info on Taint that I'm sure you'll never use. But it's a great read. Libris Mortis has a few good PrC's, feats, and spells that every player could love. Also, does your collection of "Completes" include the recent Complete Psionic? Tome of Magic is really interesting, but as someone pointed out, tough to implement. But as a player, it's not too much to devote some attention to learning the mechanics of one of those types and playing one of the classes. Shadowcaster looks interesting to me, even if it's not the pinnacle of class design. I got a chance to flip through a copy of Tome of Battle. That book could make me want to play a martial character, and that's really saying something for me.
frasmage 08-16-06, 10:24 PM	I just purchased ToB today... and, well ... I STILL CAN'T FIND WHERE MY SOCKS LANDED :P Wow that is some cool stuff. My only warning to you is that it is all centered around one idea and does not provide too much other material - so hopefully you will like the classes enough to play them, otherwise you will not get too much use out of the book