Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Caligula 04-04-07, 11:21 AM	A lot of times it can be difficult to chose which product to spend your hard earned bucks on. Or kronas, euros, pounds, yens, or which ever currency your country uses. So I decided to start up this thread where I, or anyone else who would like, can recommend the best of the very best products to fellow players. I ask of you to only recommend official Wizards products as we after all use their boards for this. And please try to be specific why you recommend a product, and give suggestions if possible how it could be used with best result. Happy Gaming to all!
Imatash 04-04-07, 11:26 AM	I think some books should be more PC related. Meaning if I am a warrior the Complete Warrior is going to be more interesting to me than the Complete Divine. I haven't purchased DM2 yet as a DM. I loved Heroes of Battle....but then I appreciate larger battle plots at times. As a DM I also enjoyed Libris Mortis. Imatash
AQuebman 04-04-07, 11:35 AM	Expanded Psionics Handbook, The Complete Series. I enjoyed Weapons of Legacy but I have yet to really put it to use in a campaign. Though it's 3.0 Book of Vile Darkness can really add some interesting situations, feats, or spells to your players/npc's.
CreepingCharly 04-04-07, 04:14 PM	I have been really happy with the Magic Item Compendium. It has a great variety of great, useful items for all levels of characters. The new Item types: augment crystals, runestaves, and item sets are great too IMO. I see it as a must buy for any D&D aficionado. The Tome of Battle is also a great book I recently purchased. It totally revitalizes melee-types of all shapes and sizes. Many of the maneuvers are very interesting, imaginative, and constantly remind me of movie scenes. If you are a fan of Hong Kong-style action, you need to get ToB, for you game's sake. :twocents:, --Charly
CastTiltowait 04-04-07, 05:02 PM	I second the recommendation of the ToB. It makes close combat types more playable over a wide range of levels, and a ton more fun since you're not simply saying "I full attack with my longsword... again." It's also simply well written without any one class or discipline being the obvious best choice, they all have strengths that can be played out differently.
Mystic Theurge 04-04-07, 07:24 PM	I rocommend the PHB II. It's great for players and DMs alike. It has some new and playable base classes and some very interesting feats as well as rules for retraining your character. The ToB is also a good recommendation as it adds flavor to combat situations. The Spell Compendium is one of my favorites, especially considering that I enjoy playing spellcaster types (however, I am not one of those players that tends to look for ways to stretch a spell's capability beyond acceptable limits). I'm affraid I can't recomment the Magic Item Compendium. In fact, I returned my copy to the store I bought it from and got the Libris Mortis instead.
Caligula 04-05-07, 02:50 AM	My first recommendation must of course be the adventure module "Red Hand of Doom". This module is one of the first in a whole series of new super-modules from Wizards, taking the PCs from 5th level to possibly 10th level. The module has a very good lay-out, is easy to read, has great illustrations and beautiful maps, and contains a new feature where the authors have boxes with text commenting on certain situations. This greatly helps the DM with this ope storyline. The PCs arrive in a peaceful valley, but are suddenly the victims of a brutal ambush set by RHoD agents. As the PCs fight their way through it and into the small town of Drellin's Ferry, it starts getting obvious that larger plans of the evil nature have been set in motion. An organization and army called "The Red Hand of Doom" is about to invade the entire valley. It constitutes mainly of Hobgoblins and Goblins, but they also obey Tiamat, the Evil God of Dragons, and she has blessed them with more powerful followers as well. The PCs must fight their way through many different challenges in a guerilla-style war. They must plan the resistance against an overwhelming foe, they must assassinate enemy officers, find allies in the forests, destroy key enemy infrastructure such as bridges and hatcheries to delay the enemy's assault on the city of Brindol, and in the final chapters the PCs will organize and participate in a huge battle of the key city Brindol itself. They will also have to defeat the leader of the horde in one final charge, High Wyrmlord Azarr Khul, in his underground base deep inside the mountains. One cool thing with the module is the many different settings. The PCs will have to assassinate a Wyrmlord (enemy "general") inside a keep; they will have to destroy a large bridge spanning over a canyon and guarded by strong enemy units, including a large Dragon!; they will have to fight their way through wetlands and marshes and then fight in a ruin city, half sunk into a lake; they will have to travel to a desert and fight a Lich in his lair; and they will have to defend a city under siege by a 10.000strong enemy army.... Another cool thing is the many different enemies! The horde is mainly made up of Hobgoblins and Goblins, but they have many cool officers and allies. There are for instance several Dragons, one of each color, that aide the RHoD cause. The PCs will have to fight them one after another. There is also a very powerful Lich, and several "Wyrmlords", enemy commanders, that have different and unique powers that are deadly. And the RHoD have been rewarded with fiendish "Tiamat Spawn" which are some kind of Dragon Hybrides. These creatures are awesome and exist in many different shapes and forms. RHoD can be used combined with Monster Manual 4, which contains even more Tiamat Spawn, and I do recommend to buy it together with the RHoD module. This module is fantastic and one of the best I have played during my 20+ years of D&D. Perhaps even THE BEST module. As a player or DM you will experience many a great adventure and enjoy it thoroughly. But there are 2 things I must warn you about! First, this is not an adventure for beginners. The players AND their PCs should be some distance above average. I recommend using the 5d6 option for abilities. Second, this adventure will take a lot of time to play through. At this point we have played 11 months and the last chapter 5 out of 5 chapters is still to be played. But I can't really say anything else than "Go get this module!" It is written and printed just the way a D&D adventure should be! Finally, here are some links for the RHoD module: Review and Errata of RHoD http://www.enworld.org/reviews.php?do=review&reviewid=2886231 Product information http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndacc/953857400 This link to "Product Information" shows some of the beautiful maps and art inside the module, so please take a look! Enjoy! :)
druidicdragonhunter_214 04-05-07, 03:11 PM	I'd have to put my vote behind PHII. It has really helped me save time selecting feats and skills for the players in my group. I really like RHoD, from what Ive read of it in bookstores and on the boards, but my group is just too new to try something like that. The skill tricks from the Comp. Scoundrel are well worth while.
TheFlash 04-06-07, 12:02 PM	I can only recommend Source books and Adventures. They will pass the test of time but the rest is a waist of money (IMO). Only 3rd and Wizards? There is not much! Adventures: Red Hand of Doom (We need more products like that) Expedition to Castle Ravenloft (A classic!) Into the Dragon’s Lair (Good old adventure for high level) Cormyr: the Tearing of the Weave. (Good start for a new super adventure) (I don’t like traditional dungeons so I don’t recommend any Barrow, Slaughterguarde and the first 3.0 adventures like that.) But I buy them anyway ;) Books: Core books (Player's, Master and Monstrous) Campaign Setting (Forgotten Realms and Eberron) I love Greyhawk but the 3rd sucks! Regional book of places you like. And A Three Dragon Ante: its’ fun and useful in all of your games.
Lord_Bahamut 04-08-07, 04:22 PM	For DMs out there, the Dungeon Master's Guide 2 is a good one to have. It's got lots of cool stuff in it that's already pre-made and ready to go, plus new magic items and magical places and things like that. I really can't say ToB is that good. I personally haven't read it, but I've DMed games with ToB characters. It just seems to me that the ToB is extremely unbalanced. For example, I allowed a person to play a class from ToB. In every battle, every round, he was dishing out 40-50 damage with his different maneuvers. And he was only 5th level! Other people may have had good experiences with ToB, but all I've had is bad, bad bad. I am extremely prejudiced against it and have outlawed it from my games, one because I think it's unbalanced, and two, the only guy who wanted to use it was a metagamer, and that just ruined the game. I agree with Mystic Theurge. The Spell Compendium is a very useful book for anyone who likes to blow stuff up with spells, or just cast spells in general. Although I have noticed a few things that were changed from the original spells... Like how Phantasmal Assailants in Complete Arcane deals 4 Dex and 4 Wis, but in the SC deals 8 Dex and 8 Wis... Speaking of Complete Arcane, the entire Complete series is a great addition to your D&D archive. They all have more classes to choose from, new feats, new weapons, new spells, new items, anything and everything you really need. ~Lord B
Mystic Theurge 04-08-07, 04:43 PM	I really can't say ToB is that good. I personally haven't read it, but I've DMed games with ToB characters. It just seems to me that the ToB is extremely unbalanced. For example, I allowed a person to play a class from ToB. In every battle, every round, he was dishing out 40-50 damage with his different maneuvers. And he was only 5th level! Other people may have had good experiences with ToB, but all I've had is bad, bad bad. I am extremely prejudiced against it and have outlawed it from my games, one because I think it's unbalanced, and two, the only guy who wanted to use it was a metagamer, and that just ruined the game.40-50 damage a round at 5th? Sounds like the player pulled the wool over your eyes. All of the maneuvers I have seen are standard actions, which means a single action a round. The maneuvers that are swift or immediate actions are usually reactionary. I'd have to see how the character is being run, but odds are, the player is taking advantage of your lack of knowledge about the ToB. From my personal experience, the ToB is very balanced. The current character I am playing is a 3rd level warblade, and while he is strong, he will only be doing 40-50 damage occasionally, and that with a crit and very lucky rolls. Then again, I haven't optomized the character in a damage dealing sort of way. The cool thing about the ToB is that it gives options. While it can increase damage potetial in some ways, it's usually not an every round sort of thing.
Lord_Bahamut 04-08-07, 05:18 PM	40-50 damage a round at 5th? Sounds like the player pulled the wool over your eyes. All of the maneuvers I have seen are standard actions, which means a single action a round. The maneuvers that are swift or immediate actions are usually reactionary. I'd have to see how the character is being run, but odds are, the player is taking advantage of your lack of knowledge about the ToB. Like I said, I haven't read ToB. I'm sure he was tricking me in some way, which is why we don't use it anymore. From my personal experience, the ToB is very balanced. The current character I am playing is a 3rd level warblade, and while he is strong, he will only be doing 40-50 damage occasionally, and that with a crit and very lucky rolls. Then again, I haven't optomized the character in a damage dealing sort of way. The cool thing about the ToB is that it gives options. While it can increase damage potetial in some ways, it's usually not an every round sort of thing. I'm sure if I read the ToB, I'd say the same thing. But the player who did use ToB has to be watched closely, and I guess I was busy or just wasn't paying attention.
CastTiltowait 04-08-07, 05:44 PM	While it's possible that some optimizing fiend could pull 40-50 hp damage per round, I suspect your player made a mistake like I did when I first started reading ToB. The martial adept classes get access to "maneuvers" that are vaguely like spells. When I initially read their description, I saw "Level: Swordsage 3" or the like and thought that meant a 3rd level Swordsage could do that maneuver. Actually, that description is like the levels of wizard spells. To use a 3rd level maneuver, a martial adept needs to be 5th level. You also can NOT "ready" one maneuver and use it more than once per encounter unless you spend time/effort during the combat to "recharge" (that method depends on your class and feats). Also, if you didn't start them off at 1st level, he may have taken too many of the higher level maneuvers. As a 5th level Swordsage (the class that gives the largest number of maneuvers), the book says a character would know 10 maneuvers (and could ready 6 ones at any one time). He may have tried to pick 10 3rd level maneuvers, but in reality, since they are learned incrementally, he'd know at best 6 1st level, 3 2nd level, and 1 3rd level (originally 6 1st and 2 2nds, but I'm assuming he swapped out a 1st level for a 2nd level when he became a 4th level swordsage). The most damage-dealing 3rd level maneuvers add 6d6 damage to a strike (or cause a small firey explosion that does 6d6 around who you hit). So, I could see a character doing a 3rd level maneuver on round 1, say doing 10 or so pts normal melee damage (again, not too hard for a character optimizer to get) and then another 6d6 damage (but w/other rolls like reflex saves, etc. that make the extra damage unsure). He would do an additional 20-odd pts of damage on average, giving a total around 30-40pts, or 25 or so if the bad guy saves. Round 2, he'd have to recharge, either doing nothing or a single standard attack (if a warblade) doing another 10 or so pts. Round 3, he could attempt the 3rd level maneuver again. The player could repeat this pattern, doing 45 or so pts every 2 rounds for an average of 20-25/round, but it's hugely dependent on a large number of rolls. A optimized fighter-type could likely match that (or come close), simply by using 2 wpn fighting, wpn focus, and wpn specialization along w/an 18 strength. W/full attack, he'd have +10 pts of damage before rolling damage and adding any effects of other feats like power attack. One simple way to deal w/a martial adept: range. Unless they've multiclassed, they're not proficient w/ranged weapons. Flying creatures, etc. truely rain on their kung fu parade.
Lord_Bahamut 04-08-07, 08:35 PM	Thanks, CastTiltowait. I don't know what happened with him, but it won't now. And yes, I did make him go crazy by strafing the party with flying long-range creatures. Like manticores. He was really tired of just taking total defense every round behind a tree as the rest of the party tried to fend off the manticores. He tried shooting arrows at them, but he missed every shot, and plus the manticore's spines have a greater range than his longbow, so he had to take penalties to hit them.