Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Morwen 05-29-07, 07:24 PM	I'm considering enhancing my collection of D&D-books with products from other companies than WotC (considering I own just about everything they've made for D&D), so I was wondering what products the rest of you would recommend?
Seldriss 05-29-07, 07:40 PM	All right... Legends & Lairs (Fantasy Flight Games) : - Cityworks (compatible with Cityscape) - Monster's Handbook (to customize existing monsters) - Mythic Races (some are fun, some are weird) - Path of Magic (zap) - Path of Shadow (a great supplement for rogues and assassins) - Wildscape (all the environents in one single book) Good stuff, packed with fluff and crunch. Mongoose : - The Complete series (races and classes) - The pocket Players Handbook and Dungeon Master Guide (very convenient) Quite informative and inspiring. They look like the AD&D complete guides for races and classes (brown cover). Sword & Sorcery : - The Tome of Horrors (many old monsters never converted in D&D3, 3 volumes so far i think) - Ravenloft series (campaign setting and of course a bunch of undead) - The World of Warcraft series (or just Warcraft, not as pretty and 3.0 but cheaper). Even if you don't play on Azeroth or don't like WoW, the books are filled with many good races, classes, feats, spells and monsters Avalanche : - Ragnarok (vikings) - Celtic Age (guess), faeries Both are very well made, with a lot of serious research and fluff. And of course, if you can find them, many many many things from AD&D, 1st and 2nd editions. Especially Planescape.
Alac Luin 05-29-07, 07:46 PM	personal oppinion here, and the flavor may not be for everyone. The Net Book of Chocolate The Bride of a Portable Hole Full of Beer Note, not everyone will get use out of these :D
Edymnion 05-29-07, 07:48 PM	Its not D&D, but you cannot go wrong with Mutants & Masterminds 2e from Green Ronin.
Xaean 05-29-07, 08:04 PM	Monte Cook's Arcane Evolved is a great alternative player's handbook with it's own campaign setting. It includes new classes, some of which are similar to standard D&D ones while others are completely new inventions. All the new classes can be played in wide variety of ways. New races are faen, giants, two dragonlike, a feline and a canine race. There are racial classes that enhance the powers of a give race. Magic works in a more flexible way with 3 levels of comlexity instead of fixed spell lists by class. New spells can be learned by feats. An interessting thing about the setting is that giants (who are wise caretakers instead of the dumb brutes of other worlds) are the dominant race instead of humans. Ptolus, also from Monte Cook, is a very detailed campaign setting within on city. If you like to play your whole campaign in one city that's the best choice for you. Describes every part of the city and it's history in great detail, is beautyfully illustrated, comes with a CD-ROM, an adventure and a map. The only disadvantage is that it is quite expensive. But on the other hand: If you want to know that much about a diffent setting you need at least 3 books Iron Kingdoms from Privateer Press is fine if you like steam-punk. The Book of Fiends is the best source for creatures from the lower planes. Each has an elaborate background, so it's not just another monster manual. Book of Erotic Fantasy is also great, as you learn much about the biology of various races and their approach to love and sexuality. No everything in it is good for all campaign settings however. The elves of BoEF are quite different from the elves of dragonlance e.g.
celtredleg 05-29-07, 09:06 PM	Black company campaign seting by green ronin. Even if you are not a BC fan, it has a cool alternate magic system, and some very good classes. I have used it a lot even though I have never ran a game in the setting.
The_Grand_Artificer 05-29-07, 09:30 PM	Paizo used to produce some pretty good adventures in Dungeon Magazine: you might want to watch them for new adventure releases.
Zersch 05-29-07, 10:27 PM	Not to sound too...fanboy-ish, but Iron Heroes. It was written by our very own Mike Mearls. I say fanboy-ish because I mentioned it in another thread not to long ago, but it really is a good book. Don't believe me, ask Mearls, he'll tell ya.
Ongorth 05-29-07, 10:40 PM	There are a lot of good ones. I don't know about some people, but I really love what the OGL has done for my book collection. Green Ronin's Master Class series. Not the whole thing. Witch's Handbook and Psychic's Handbook are very, very good. Shaman's Handbook and Noble's Handbook are pretty good. The rest are ok, except Assassin's, which is sadly terrible. Also in Green Ronin, Secret College of Necromancy, Book of the Righteous (might be the best d20 resource period), Advanced Beastiary, Book of Fiends, Plot and Poison, Bow and Blade and Rage and Wrath are great. Overall, Green Ronin is probably my favorite publisher. Mongoose's Encyclopedia Arcane has some very good books, but its a big series with a few poor ones. The same can be said for the Slayer's series. A few are very good, but many are attrocious. If you think WotC can't edit, you haven't seen Mongoose. However, the Stronghold Builder's Guide is a wonderful book. Atlas Games is another favorite. Crime and Punishment is my favorite of theirs. Mystic Eye's Tournements, Taverns and Fairs is very good. Fantasy Flights gives us the Paths series, which are ok splatbooks. Traps and Treachery is the good stuff. Sword and Sorcery includes the superb Tome of Horrors II and III, as well as Grimtooth's Wurst Traps and Creature Collection (revised). All good stuff for killing PCs. Some of Kalamar's splats are pretty good. Those are what I can think of off the top of my head.
Morwen 05-29-07, 11:25 PM	Thank you :) I'll be checking those suggestions out at the local store :)
Lord Zeb 05-29-07, 11:59 PM	If you like some sci-fi, I have really enjoyed the Dragonstar books. For more fantasy oriented non-WOTC stuff, I like Conan d20, Rokugan d20, anything by Paizo (esp the Shackled City hardcover), anything by Kenzer (Kingdom of Kalamar is d20), and I really got a kick out of the Thieves World Shadowspawn's Guide to Sanctuary d20 book since I just read most of the original TW books. Cheers!
spyone 05-30-07, 09:55 AM	Well, here's some genreal observations, followed by some specific recommendations. Mongoose earned itself a reputation for creating low-quality products that consisted almost entirely of other people's Open Content. Then they turned that around completely, and now have a reputation for expertly tailoring the d20 system to suit licensed properties, and quite possably producing the best licensed products on the market as a result. I have found Avalanche Press consistantly offers good bang-for-the-buck. Sure, in some of their stuff there isn't a lot of 'bang", but there's very little 'buck", too. :) Seriously, DrivethruRPG seems to always have some of their PDFs on sale at a significant discount, and even paying full price for print copies is a good deal. While I will probably never use any of the classes or rules found in Black Flags, I still consider it a good buy just to get a neat book about the history of piracy in the 17th and 18th centuries. Swords & Sorcery's products tend to support their campaign setting (The Scarred Lands, IIRC), which I always find a bit of a turn-off: I'm looking for stuff to help me support my own setting, not a new setting. I have the same kind of complain with Iron kingdoms from Privateer Press: While I think the books are pretty, and a fun read, and the world is one of the most interesting I have seen presented in a very long time (oversimplified; it's steampunk), ... well, thet's not really what I'm shopping for. (Didn't stop me from buying the books, tho.) I have liked every AEG product I have seen, but they decided to quit producing their "genaric" d20 stuff over a year ago, so it might be a little hard to find now. I have found the quality of Fantasy Flight Games stuff to be slightly ... lacking. I don't want to creat the impression that their stuff is bad, I just find it to be less good. Specificly, my impression is both that their word-count-per-page is lower than I have come to expect, and that their text often reads like they were "padding" it; like it was re-written specificly to increase its word count. I have two of their books, and have lusted for another, but ultimately I doubt I'll be using anything from any of their books. Portable Hole Full of Beer and it's children were, last I checked, either free or like $1. As such, I think it's probably the best dollar vlaue in the RPG industry. If you laugh once while reading it, your money was well spent, and I bet you'll use something in there in your campaign some April Fools Day. But don't expect to find something you'll use every day (although you might. From Malhavoc Press (Monte Cook), I bought Arcana Unearthed and the Diamond Throne setting for it (which were combined, revised, and expanded into Arcana Evolved), and was very happy. So happy I bought Iron Heroes and was then even happier. Really, I think those two were the best purchases I have made: each contained dozens of ideas that I want to use. One word of warning, though: Iron Heroes does not "plug-and-play" with other d20 games: it introduces some unique mechanincs that are a big part of it's charm, but that also means using its classes with classes from another game will require some tinkering and some superglue. :) Green Ronin produces quality stuff. That I have not found any of it particularly to my liking is much more my fault than theirs. For instance, I am a fan of Thieves' World from the old, Robert Lynn Asprin-edited anthologies, not the new stuff. Therefore their decision to focus their Thieves' World material on the newer material alienates me. That's not anything wrong with their books, it's just why I don't happen to like them. I liked the one Kingdoms of Kalamar book I bought from Kenserco. If you're looking far a complete setting to buy, it's worth at least a look. Also, some of their Hackmaster stuff has obvious uses. :) I found myself not long ago wanting just the map of the Keep on the Borderlands, and since my copy of good ol' B2 got lost two or three moves ago, I thought I was SOL until I spied their Hackmanster B2 "Little Keep on the Borderlands". Sure, they changed the keep a little (and the area around the keep quite a bit), but it serves my need.
FoamingPipeSnake 06-10-07, 03:15 PM	Gotta go with Privateer Press's Iron Kingdom stuff. It is pretty setting specific, but the setting is just wonderful. Big well written and illustrated books full of new races, magic, and technology. It also has an extremely good wargame attached to it, called WARMACHINE. Sorry, it really is all caps. If you are into that kinda stuff, check it out. If not...you can still use the minis for d20 combat. The minis are high quality too, I swear some of those Khador Warjacks must weigh a full pound.
Dex 06-12-07, 02:39 AM	Malhavoc Press's Book of Rogueish Luck. Maybe not the best, but certainly my favourite.
Morwen 05-29-07, 07:24 PM	I'm considering enhancing my collection of D&D-books with products from other companies than WotC (considering I own just about everything they've made for D&D), so I was wondering what products the rest of you would recommend?
Seldriss 05-29-07, 07:40 PM	All right... Legends & Lairs (Fantasy Flight Games) : - Cityworks (compatible with Cityscape) - Monster's Handbook (to customize existing monsters) - Mythic Races (some are fun, some are weird) - Path of Magic (zap) - Path of Shadow (a great supplement for rogues and assassins) - Wildscape (all the environents in one single book) Good stuff, packed with fluff and crunch. Mongoose : - The Complete series (races and classes) - The pocket Players Handbook and Dungeon Master Guide (very convenient) Quite informative and inspiring. They look like the AD&D complete guides for races and classes (brown cover). Sword & Sorcery : - The Tome of Horrors (many old monsters never converted in D&D3, 3 volumes so far i think) - Ravenloft series (campaign setting and of course a bunch of undead) - The World of Warcraft series (or just Warcraft, not as pretty and 3.0 but cheaper). Even if you don't play on Azeroth or don't like WoW, the books are filled with many good races, classes, feats, spells and monsters Avalanche : - Ragnarok (vikings) - Celtic Age (guess), faeries Both are very well made, with a lot of serious research and fluff. And of course, if you can find them, many many many things from AD&D, 1st and 2nd editions. Especially Planescape.
Alac Luin 05-29-07, 07:46 PM	personal oppinion here, and the flavor may not be for everyone. The Net Book of Chocolate The Bride of a Portable Hole Full of Beer Note, not everyone will get use out of these :D
Edymnion 05-29-07, 07:48 PM	Its not D&D, but you cannot go wrong with Mutants & Masterminds 2e from Green Ronin.
Xaean 05-29-07, 08:04 PM	Monte Cook's Arcane Evolved is a great alternative player's handbook with it's own campaign setting. It includes new classes, some of which are similar to standard D&D ones while others are completely new inventions. All the new classes can be played in wide variety of ways. New races are faen, giants, two dragonlike, a feline and a canine race. There are racial classes that enhance the powers of a give race. Magic works in a more flexible way with 3 levels of comlexity instead of fixed spell lists by class. New spells can be learned by feats. An interessting thing about the setting is that giants (who are wise caretakers instead of the dumb brutes of other worlds) are the dominant race instead of humans. Ptolus, also from Monte Cook, is a very detailed campaign setting within on city. If you like to play your whole campaign in one city that's the best choice for you. Describes every part of the city and it's history in great detail, is beautyfully illustrated, comes with a CD-ROM, an adventure and a map. The only disadvantage is that it is quite expensive. But on the other hand: If you want to know that much about a diffent setting you need at least 3 books Iron Kingdoms from Privateer Press is fine if you like steam-punk. The Book of Fiends is the best source for creatures from the lower planes. Each has an elaborate background, so it's not just another monster manual. Book of Erotic Fantasy is also great, as you learn much about the biology of various races and their approach to love and sexuality. No everything in it is good for all campaign settings however. The elves of BoEF are quite different from the elves of dragonlance e.g.
celtredleg 05-29-07, 09:06 PM	Black company campaign seting by green ronin. Even if you are not a BC fan, it has a cool alternate magic system, and some very good classes. I have used it a lot even though I have never ran a game in the setting.
The_Grand_Artificer 05-29-07, 09:30 PM	Paizo used to produce some pretty good adventures in Dungeon Magazine: you might want to watch them for new adventure releases.
Zersch 05-29-07, 10:27 PM	Not to sound too...fanboy-ish, but Iron Heroes. It was written by our very own Mike Mearls. I say fanboy-ish because I mentioned it in another thread not to long ago, but it really is a good book. Don't believe me, ask Mearls, he'll tell ya.
Ongorth 05-29-07, 10:40 PM	There are a lot of good ones. I don't know about some people, but I really love what the OGL has done for my book collection. Green Ronin's Master Class series. Not the whole thing. Witch's Handbook and Psychic's Handbook are very, very good. Shaman's Handbook and Noble's Handbook are pretty good. The rest are ok, except Assassin's, which is sadly terrible. Also in Green Ronin, Secret College of Necromancy, Book of the Righteous (might be the best d20 resource period), Advanced Beastiary, Book of Fiends, Plot and Poison, Bow and Blade and Rage and Wrath are great. Overall, Green Ronin is probably my favorite publisher. Mongoose's Encyclopedia Arcane has some very good books, but its a big series with a few poor ones. The same can be said for the Slayer's series. A few are very good, but many are attrocious. If you think WotC can't edit, you haven't seen Mongoose. However, the Stronghold Builder's Guide is a wonderful book. Atlas Games is another favorite. Crime and Punishment is my favorite of theirs. Mystic Eye's Tournements, Taverns and Fairs is very good. Fantasy Flights gives us the Paths series, which are ok splatbooks. Traps and Treachery is the good stuff. Sword and Sorcery includes the superb Tome of Horrors II and III, as well as Grimtooth's Wurst Traps and Creature Collection (revised). All good stuff for killing PCs. Some of Kalamar's splats are pretty good. Those are what I can think of off the top of my head.
Morwen 05-29-07, 11:25 PM	Thank you :) I'll be checking those suggestions out at the local store :)
Lord Zeb 05-29-07, 11:59 PM	If you like some sci-fi, I have really enjoyed the Dragonstar books. For more fantasy oriented non-WOTC stuff, I like Conan d20, Rokugan d20, anything by Paizo (esp the Shackled City hardcover), anything by Kenzer (Kingdom of Kalamar is d20), and I really got a kick out of the Thieves World Shadowspawn's Guide to Sanctuary d20 book since I just read most of the original TW books. Cheers!
spyone 05-30-07, 09:55 AM	Well, here's some genreal observations, followed by some specific recommendations. Mongoose earned itself a reputation for creating low-quality products that consisted almost entirely of other people's Open Content. Then they turned that around completely, and now have a reputation for expertly tailoring the d20 system to suit licensed properties, and quite possably producing the best licensed products on the market as a result. I have found Avalanche Press consistantly offers good bang-for-the-buck. Sure, in some of their stuff there isn't a lot of 'bang", but there's very little 'buck", too. :) Seriously, DrivethruRPG seems to always have some of their PDFs on sale at a significant discount, and even paying full price for print copies is a good deal. While I will probably never use any of the classes or rules found in Black Flags, I still consider it a good buy just to get a neat book about the history of piracy in the 17th and 18th centuries. Swords & Sorcery's products tend to support their campaign setting (The Scarred Lands, IIRC), which I always find a bit of a turn-off: I'm looking for stuff to help me support my own setting, not a new setting. I have the same kind of complain with Iron kingdoms from Privateer Press: While I think the books are pretty, and a fun read, and the world is one of the most interesting I have seen presented in a very long time (oversimplified; it's steampunk), ... well, thet's not really what I'm shopping for. (Didn't stop me from buying the books, tho.) I have liked every AEG product I have seen, but they decided to quit producing their "genaric" d20 stuff over a year ago, so it might be a little hard to find now. I have found the quality of Fantasy Flight Games stuff to be slightly ... lacking. I don't want to creat the impression that their stuff is bad, I just find it to be less good. Specificly, my impression is both that their word-count-per-page is lower than I have come to expect, and that their text often reads like they were "padding" it; like it was re-written specificly to increase its word count. I have two of their books, and have lusted for another, but ultimately I doubt I'll be using anything from any of their books. Portable Hole Full of Beer and it's children were, last I checked, either free or like $1. As such, I think it's probably the best dollar vlaue in the RPG industry. If you laugh once while reading it, your money was well spent, and I bet you'll use something in there in your campaign some April Fools Day. But don't expect to find something you'll use every day (although you might. From Malhavoc Press (Monte Cook), I bought Arcana Unearthed and the Diamond Throne setting for it (which were combined, revised, and expanded into Arcana Evolved), and was very happy. So happy I bought Iron Heroes and was then even happier. Really, I think those two were the best purchases I have made: each contained dozens of ideas that I want to use. One word of warning, though: Iron Heroes does not "plug-and-play" with other d20 games: it introduces some unique mechanincs that are a big part of it's charm, but that also means using its classes with classes from another game will require some tinkering and some superglue. :) Green Ronin produces quality stuff. That I have not found any of it particularly to my liking is much more my fault than theirs. For instance, I am a fan of Thieves' World from the old, Robert Lynn Asprin-edited anthologies, not the new stuff. Therefore their decision to focus their Thieves' World material on the newer material alienates me. That's not anything wrong with their books, it's just why I don't happen to like them. I liked the one Kingdoms of Kalamar book I bought from Kenserco. If you're looking far a complete setting to buy, it's worth at least a look. Also, some of their Hackmaster stuff has obvious uses. :) I found myself not long ago wanting just the map of the Keep on the Borderlands, and since my copy of good ol' B2 got lost two or three moves ago, I thought I was SOL until I spied their Hackmanster B2 "Little Keep on the Borderlands". Sure, they changed the keep a little (and the area around the keep quite a bit), but it serves my need.
FoamingPipeSnake 06-10-07, 03:15 PM	Gotta go with Privateer Press's Iron Kingdom stuff. It is pretty setting specific, but the setting is just wonderful. Big well written and illustrated books full of new races, magic, and technology. It also has an extremely good wargame attached to it, called WARMACHINE. Sorry, it really is all caps. If you are into that kinda stuff, check it out. If not...you can still use the minis for d20 combat. The minis are high quality too, I swear some of those Khador Warjacks must weigh a full pound.
Dex 06-12-07, 02:39 AM	Malhavoc Press's Book of Rogueish Luck. Maybe not the best, but certainly my favourite.