A kind request. [Archive] - Wizards Community

A kind request. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Galewolf
10-01-05, 07:52 AM Greetings everyone. I'm currently working on a gaming magazine and the editors asked me to write something decent, role playing based of course. So i plan to write an article about the best D&D supplements of all time, even including First Edition and AD&D books. Well, i'm a long time role player with 11 years of experience in both gaming and writing "worlds" but its a big job to handle alone and unadvised. So i'm collecting opinions from friends, old roleplayers and many forum posters on various sites about gaming (both PnP and Computer). So, if any of you got something to say about that matter please feel free to share. But there are basic limitations, like space on the magazine. So maximum of 5 recommendations are fine and enough. And if you add a short (if long you want) information about why do you suggest them, that'll be great too. And, you might even give final note to the product, use stars, numbers whatever you like.

As far as we progressed (just after the bickering and mother insulting phase), there is domination of Planescape books at the list. Most people i talked pointed Fiends: Faces of Evil as it must have the reward for best reading and role playing material. (tough they all point at the horrible artwork too). At the close second, Forgotten Realms' Cult of the Dragon and AD&D Odyysey series of Jakandor . From the 3rd/3.5 Edition books there is FR Lords of Darkness, some mentioned Darksun's İvory Triangle Boxed set as a "silent hit". Some people horribly wounded at the battle of "best 2nd edition "Complete Book of..." series, we buried the guy who nominated some Gamma World books in order to prevent further harm. And i'm getting insane day by day.

And, well it goes like that. I'm collecting data from every possible place and i think there is a good core of veteran players and active book reader newbies comibined.

So, get wild and write something about stuff i dont even heard about

Thanks in advance.
Escef
10-01-05, 09:39 AM 1. The Forgotten Realms Campaign Sourcebook. An overall well done book, it set the standard for 3e/3.5 campaign sourcebooks.

2. Eberron Campaign Sourcebook. The setting itself is a wonderful alternative to the quasi-medeival settings the game and most of the players have been, quite bluntly, doing to death for the past 30+ years. (Not saying it's a bad thing, just that everyone and their cousin has done it.)

3. AD&D Unearthed Arcana (1st edition). Perhaps the earliest and most profound example of power creep in the game.

4. AD&D 2nd Edition Monstrous Manual. A welcome departure from the packets of binder sheets that previous 2e monster supplements had been.

5. Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed. Forget the setting. Forget the races. Forget the classes. The tweaks to the magic system alone merit this book's inclusion.
rbrt_Spade
10-01-05, 10:28 AM 1-sword and fist- a great book with the prcs,info,gear i love this book
2-tome and blood-love the spells, prcs and just the flavor of this book
3-unearthed arcana 2e-a cool book with all of the things in it
4-expanded/psionics handbook-the idea of putting these all together into one system and the flavor of psionics is cool
5-fiend folio 2e-cool with all of the evil creatures
Escef
10-01-05, 10:54 AM 3-unearthed arcana 2e-a cool book with all of the things in it

Someone post a link to this one. I do not recall there being a 2e Unearthed Arcana.
rbrt_Spade
10-01-05, 11:21 AM here it is (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0880380845/qid=1128180122/sr=8-3/ref=pd_bbs_3/103-3416440-8130216?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)
Taeldrin Laesrash
10-01-05, 11:24 AM 2nd. Ed. Fiend Folio-Some of the plain coolest monsters around.

Faces of Evil: The Fiends-An amazing compilation of information on the evil outsiders. Everything I ever needed to know about Yugoloths, I got from here.

Frostburn-While most of the book was crunch, it was very informative. Providing rules for many types of cold weather and afflictions, this began the series of environmental Books.
Escef
10-01-05, 11:51 AM here it is (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0880380845/qid=1128180122/sr=8-3/ref=pd_bbs_3/103-3416440-8130216?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)

Dude, that's 1st edition.
rbrt_Spade
10-01-05, 11:53 AM i thought 2e started in the mid 80s? are you sure?

oldschool gamers help!
Escef
10-01-05, 12:00 PM i thought 2e started in the mid 80s? are you sure?

oldschool gamers help!

2e was released in '88. I am an old school gamer. (Not as old school as some others, granted, but I know my 1e hardcovers pretty well.) Note that the book in question does not have "2nd Edition" emblazened below the words "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" as all 2e books did. It also has the word "Official" just before the word "Advanced", a practice done away with in 2e.
rbrt_Spade
10-01-05, 12:02 PM thanks sorry about that
Galewolf
10-01-05, 06:35 PM Thank you everyone, for your time and effort. I still have time (about 15 days to deadline) so feel free to add more books. And here is my five:

-Factols Manifesto: For fleshing out brillantly everything you "really" want to learn about factions.
-Cult of the Dragon: You dont even need any other books than that for ultimate advesaries. And the story of Sammaster alone is quite intresting (especially his love liife, Simbul? Mystra? c'mon man get a grip yourself! :))
-Domains of Dread: Yes, another "duh! book but it has great detail and hundreds of hooks that you cant even finish converting them as adventures in years.
-Wizard Spell Compendium: The best thing since broad sword (man how can a sword can deal 2d4 dmg and still got the same speed value of long sword (1d8 dmg))
-3.5 E Complete Books: Gorgeous illustrations, revised rules and abilities. thats how i like my moneytrap "must have" book :)
Arden Blackleaf
10-01-05, 11:03 PM Hmmm. I'd have to say Sharn City of Towers. It gives you details on every district,neighborhood, and part of the city plus details on the major movers and shakers of the city. and not so major. The artwork is gorgeous. and it gives very detailed information on the local law enforcement. Overall a great pleasure to read.
weasel fierce
10-02-05, 02:40 PM The 1st edition dungeon masters guide. More usefull info packed into a single book, including a lot of usefull information on how to actually conduct a campaign game.
That and the joke drawings
a_psh
10-03-05, 02:22 AM My list of favorites (incredibly biased, needless to say):
Eberron Campaign Setting - exciting, fanciful, well-done, the most interesting and unique thing to come out of the 2000s so far.
Planescape Campaign Setting - exciting, fanciful, well-done, the most interesting and unique thing to come out of the 1990s (I have not read Faces of Evil and can't comment on that, sadly).
Sharn: City of Towers - Eberron supplement: I, personally, think it's the greatest city book ever.
Mark of Amber - a 2e Mystara adventure: PCs must enter the dreams of a half-dead god and provide moral guidance as he mentally relives the most traumatic portions of his mortal life, all the while trying to solve a (serial) murder mystery by day (or at least not get killed off).
Expanded Psionics Handbook - It took something like two decades, but we finally got a balanced version of psionics that still interesting and different. I think this needs to be celebrated. Sound mechanics and pretty nice flavor all around. The book gives psionicists as many options as spellcasters even though the PHB spell chapter is twice as long as the XPH one, which is also noteworthy.
Galewolf
10-04-05, 04:10 AM Mark of Amber - a 2e Mystara adventure: PCs must enter the dreams of a half-dead god and provide moral guidance as he mentally relives the most traumatic portions of his mortal life, all the while trying to solve a (serial) murder mystery by day (or at least not get killed off).
[i]

Mark of Amber is great adventure, i really enjoyed every moment of it and a great reading material too. Man i miss old days. The obscure rules (hey what do you mean -2 bonus, isnt that supposed to be a bad thing?), the eighties style artwork (we have Larry Elmore and we liked it!)

Thanks for more additions and comments but things are getting more and more confusing right now. I have 2 dozen "top 5" lists and many more individual suggestions but not even one of them got more than 3 votes. Oh my, anyway when its finished i'll post the complete list and let myself burn in th eternal fires of forum flame :)
So, keep posting guys.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Galewolf 10-01-05, 07:52 AM	Greetings everyone. I'm currently working on a gaming magazine and the editors asked me to write something decent, role playing based of course. So i plan to write an article about the best D&D supplements of all time, even including First Edition and AD&D books. Well, i'm a long time role player with 11 years of experience in both gaming and writing "worlds" but its a big job to handle alone and unadvised. So i'm collecting opinions from friends, old roleplayers and many forum posters on various sites about gaming (both PnP and Computer). So, if any of you got something to say about that matter please feel free to share. But there are basic limitations, like space on the magazine. So maximum of 5 recommendations are fine and enough. And if you add a short (if long you want) information about why do you suggest them, that'll be great too. And, you might even give final note to the product, use stars, numbers whatever you like. As far as we progressed (just after the bickering and mother insulting phase), there is domination of Planescape books at the list. Most people i talked pointed Fiends: Faces of Evil as it must have the reward for best reading and role playing material. (tough they all point at the horrible artwork too). At the close second, Forgotten Realms' Cult of the Dragon and AD&D Odyysey series of Jakandor . From the 3rd/3.5 Edition books there is FR Lords of Darkness, some mentioned Darksun's İvory Triangle Boxed set as a "silent hit". Some people horribly wounded at the battle of "best 2nd edition "Complete Book of..." series, we buried the guy who nominated some Gamma World books in order to prevent further harm. And i'm getting insane day by day. And, well it goes like that. I'm collecting data from every possible place and i think there is a good core of veteran players and active book reader newbies comibined. So, get wild and write something about stuff i dont even heard about Thanks in advance.
Escef 10-01-05, 09:39 AM	1. The Forgotten Realms Campaign Sourcebook. An overall well done book, it set the standard for 3e/3.5 campaign sourcebooks. 2. Eberron Campaign Sourcebook. The setting itself is a wonderful alternative to the quasi-medeival settings the game and most of the players have been, quite bluntly, doing to death for the past 30+ years. (Not saying it's a bad thing, just that everyone and their cousin has done it.) 3. AD&D Unearthed Arcana (1st edition). Perhaps the earliest and most profound example of power creep in the game. 4. AD&D 2nd Edition Monstrous Manual. A welcome departure from the packets of binder sheets that previous 2e monster supplements had been. 5. Monte Cook's Arcana Unearthed. Forget the setting. Forget the races. Forget the classes. The tweaks to the magic system alone merit this book's inclusion.
rbrt_Spade 10-01-05, 10:28 AM	1-sword and fist- a great book with the prcs,info,gear i love this book 2-tome and blood-love the spells, prcs and just the flavor of this book 3-unearthed arcana 2e-a cool book with all of the things in it 4-expanded/psionics handbook-the idea of putting these all together into one system and the flavor of psionics is cool 5-fiend folio 2e-cool with all of the evil creatures
Escef 10-01-05, 10:54 AM	3-unearthed arcana 2e-a cool book with all of the things in it Someone post a link to this one. I do not recall there being a 2e Unearthed Arcana.
rbrt_Spade 10-01-05, 11:21 AM	here it is (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0880380845/qid=1128180122/sr=8-3/ref=pd_bbs_3/103-3416440-8130216?v=glance&s=books&n=507846)
Taeldrin Laesrash 10-01-05, 11:24 AM	2nd. Ed. Fiend Folio-Some of the plain coolest monsters around. Faces of Evil: The Fiends-An amazing compilation of information on the evil outsiders. Everything I ever needed to know about Yugoloths, I got from here. Frostburn-While most of the book was crunch, it was very informative. Providing rules for many types of cold weather and afflictions, this began the series of environmental Books.
Escef 10-01-05, 11:51 AM	here it is (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0880380845/qid=1128180122/sr=8-3/ref=pd_bbs_3/103-3416440-8130216?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) Dude, that's 1st edition.
rbrt_Spade 10-01-05, 11:53 AM	i thought 2e started in the mid 80s? are you sure? oldschool gamers help!
Escef 10-01-05, 12:00 PM	i thought 2e started in the mid 80s? are you sure? oldschool gamers help! 2e was released in '88. I am an old school gamer. (Not as old school as some others, granted, but I know my 1e hardcovers pretty well.) Note that the book in question does not have "2nd Edition" emblazened below the words "Advanced Dungeons & Dragons" as all 2e books did. It also has the word "Official" just before the word "Advanced", a practice done away with in 2e.
rbrt_Spade 10-01-05, 12:02 PM	thanks sorry about that
Galewolf 10-01-05, 06:35 PM	Thank you everyone, for your time and effort. I still have time (about 15 days to deadline) so feel free to add more books. And here is my five: -Factols Manifesto: For fleshing out brillantly everything you "really" want to learn about factions. -Cult of the Dragon: You dont even need any other books than that for ultimate advesaries. And the story of Sammaster alone is quite intresting (especially his love liife, Simbul? Mystra? c'mon man get a grip yourself! :)) -Domains of Dread: Yes, another "duh! book but it has great detail and hundreds of hooks that you cant even finish converting them as adventures in years. -Wizard Spell Compendium: The best thing since broad sword (man how can a sword can deal 2d4 dmg and still got the same speed value of long sword (1d8 dmg)) -3.5 E Complete Books: Gorgeous illustrations, revised rules and abilities. thats how i like my moneytrap "must have" book :)
Arden Blackleaf 10-01-05, 11:03 PM	Hmmm. I'd have to say Sharn City of Towers. It gives you details on every district,neighborhood, and part of the city plus details on the major movers and shakers of the city. and not so major. The artwork is gorgeous. and it gives very detailed information on the local law enforcement. Overall a great pleasure to read.
weasel fierce 10-02-05, 02:40 PM	The 1st edition dungeon masters guide. More usefull info packed into a single book, including a lot of usefull information on how to actually conduct a campaign game. That and the joke drawings
a_psh 10-03-05, 02:22 AM	My list of favorites (incredibly biased, needless to say): Eberron Campaign Setting - exciting, fanciful, well-done, the most interesting and unique thing to come out of the 2000s so far. Planescape Campaign Setting - exciting, fanciful, well-done, the most interesting and unique thing to come out of the 1990s (I have not read Faces of Evil and can't comment on that, sadly). Sharn: City of Towers - Eberron supplement: I, personally, think it's the greatest city book ever. Mark of Amber - a 2e Mystara adventure: PCs must enter the dreams of a half-dead god and provide moral guidance as he mentally relives the most traumatic portions of his mortal life, all the while trying to solve a (serial) murder mystery by day (or at least not get killed off). Expanded Psionics Handbook - It took something like two decades, but we finally got a balanced version of psionics that still interesting and different. I think this needs to be celebrated. Sound mechanics and pretty nice flavor all around. The book gives psionicists as many options as spellcasters even though the PHB spell chapter is twice as long as the XPH one, which is also noteworthy.
Galewolf 10-04-05, 04:10 AM	Mark of Amber - a 2e Mystara adventure: PCs must enter the dreams of a half-dead god and provide moral guidance as he mentally relives the most traumatic portions of his mortal life, all the while trying to solve a (serial) murder mystery by day (or at least not get killed off). [i] Mark of Amber is great adventure, i really enjoyed every moment of it and a great reading material too. Man i miss old days. The obscure rules (hey what do you mean -2 bonus, isnt that supposed to be a bad thing?), the eighties style artwork (we have Larry Elmore and we liked it!) Thanks for more additions and comments but things are getting more and more confusing right now. I have 2 dozen "top 5" lists and many more individual suggestions but not even one of them got more than 3 votes. Oh my, anyway when its finished i'll post the complete list and let myself burn in th eternal fires of forum flame :) So, keep posting guys.