D&D Books [Archive] - Wizards Community - Pages Merged by Solauren

D&D Books [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
BBCKaizer
06-28-05, 01:17 AM My friends and I just got into D&D and where wanting to all chip in and buy a bunch of books, now what exactly the names of the books that are worth buying? We will be playing all editions btw.
prodigyxss
06-28-05, 01:42 AM Well in my humble opinion, it woudnt be wise to play all editions as they will just confuse you and you will probably mix them up together. Plus anways you would have to at least buy the PHB for each edition :( , so unless you have alot of cash I wouldnt do it.

I would play in 3.5 edition as it is the current ruleset and edition most d&d players are currently playing. Since your chipping in as a group, you will need probably a couple of PHB's(players handbook), a monster manual for the dm, and a dmg(dungeon masters guide)for the dm as well.

If you already have the core books, then I would suggest a campaign setting to take ideas from and use. Forgotten Realms and Eberron would be your best bet. You might also want to look into the Dungeon Masters guide 2 as it improves dming skills, or the complete books. :D

Hope this helps.
necrosnoop110
06-28-05, 01:43 AM Core
3.5 Player’s Handbook I
3.5 Dungeon Master’s Guide I
3.5 Monster Manual I

Core Supplements
3.5 Dungeon Master’s Guide II
3.5 Monster Manual II

Complete Player’s Guides
3.5 Complete Arcane
3.5 Complete Divine
3.5 Complete Adventurer
3.5 Complete Warrior

Psionics
3.5 Expanded Psionics Handbook

Race Guides
3.5 Races of Stone
3.5 Races of Destiny
3.5 Races of the Wild

Environmental Guides
3.5 Frostburn
3.5 Sandstorm

Creature Type Guides
3.5 Libris Mortis
3.5 Lords of Madness
3.5 Draconomicon

Genre Guides
3.5 Book of Exalted Deeds
3.5 Heroes of Battle
weasel fierce
06-28-05, 01:54 AM If you want to have a look at the older versions, AD&D 1st edition players handbooks and Dungeon master guides often go for a couple of bucks on Amazon.
braindead345
06-28-05, 03:21 AM Make sure you buy books for the same edition. 3.5 is optimal because nearly everybody is using that system. All you need for basic play is The Player's Handbook, The Dungeon Master's Guide, and The Monster Manual. Everything else is gravey, but useful gravey. You will want at least one set of these books, possibly more.

If budget constraints are a concern, most of the info is in the SRD.
Kessalin Talira
06-28-05, 04:20 AM One of these for whoever DM's (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndcore/966480000)

One of these for every other person (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndcore/175240000)
Amaril
06-28-05, 08:12 AM I strongly suggest following everyone else's advice about getting just the three Core Rulebooks -- the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, and the Monster Manual. If the DM has extra cash, I strongly suggest you get the Dungeon Master's Guide II. This book is invaluable to new DMs and still worth the purchase for experienced DMs.

If you feel the need to expand your collection with additional supplements, I would suggest taking a look at Complete Warrior, Complete Divine, Complete Arcane, and Complete Adventurer.

If you need more monsters, Monster Manual II, which is 3.0 not 3.5, Monster Manual III which is 3.5, and Fiend Folio, which was actually made just before 3.5 so it has most of the elements of the revised rules.

I suggest for now you stay away from the Expanded Psionics Handbook. It's a great book to have and use, but the psionics system might just confuse new players and DMs as they already have a lot of rules to learn.

Draconomicon, Libris Mortis, and Lords of Madness are all books that focus on a specific creature type (dragons, undead, and aberrations respectively). If you plan on creating a campaign that is centered on one of these creature types, buy the appropriate book. They are well worth it.
Iron Cobra
06-28-05, 09:16 AM And if you like to stick with your characters for the long haul, Epic Level Handbook is a good purchase as well, which is 3.0, but can be implemented to 3.5.
Alisair Longreach II
06-28-05, 11:03 AM As the other posters have said, stick woth 3.5 only.

The Player's Handbook, Dungoun master's Guide and Monster Manual are essential rulebooks.

Dungeon Master's Guide II is a really good book for new DMs.

Complete Warrior, Divine, Arcane and Adventurer gives a lot of extra options for the player's.

Races of Stone, Destiny, Wild are only worth it for Race fanatics.

Book of Exalted Deeds, Book of Vile Darkness, Unearthed Arcana, Savage Species, Epic-Level Handbook and Expanded Psionics Handbook are only for experienced players, be careful when using them for they can easily destroy campaigns.

Sandstorm, Frostburn, Libris Mortis and Lords of Madness are also for experienced players as they cover specialized material.

If you want to start a Forgotten Realms campaign, get the campaign book and Player's Guide to Faerūn. Lost Empires of Faerūn, Shining South, Unapproachable East, Silver Marches and Waterdeep: City of Splendors are useful regional sourcebooks.

If you want to start an Eberron campaign, get the campaign book, Monster Manual III, Sharn: City of Towers and Races of Eberron. The three published adventures are also worth buying.
Amaril
06-28-05, 11:08 AM I'd like to add that unless you plan on running a campaign in a specific environment (i.e. - cold environments, or desert/wasteland environments), Sandstorm and Frostburn are unimportant.
Iron Cobra
06-28-05, 11:28 AM Unimportant, but a big help.
vaskoff
06-28-05, 01:36 PM As a fairly new player, I bought the Player's Hand Book (PHB). EVERY player should have a PHB. The DM shoudl have the Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual (DMG and MM). Play a few games, if you want to expand I reccomend Eberron (because it is all 3.5, they are only about 3 books for it but you'll be fine with just the core eberron book). Run the adventure in the back then buy shadows of the last war...my group is playing this, it's great.

Buy all in 3.5 editipn, that's where most of the support is.
GreyLord
06-28-05, 02:36 PM If you want to save money, invest in either the Original D&D or 1st edition.

In the Original Version, it has a later version of it with all the needed rules in one book called the Rules Cyclopedia. You should be able to get it for a reasonable price off of Amazon, Ebay, or any location that sells second hand books.

That's one book, and the only book you'll need.

Or you could buy the original booklets if you can find them which has different rules, more indepth classes and items, but will probably cost you more than any other method.

The you have 1e. This is called AD&D. It has no 2nd edition on it. You will need the Players Handbook and the Dungeon Masters Handbook. Overall you can get away only using those. For a set if you keep a sharp lookout you should be able to get both of them for under $30 combined.

The Monster Manual would also be useful, but not absolutely necessary as the 1e DMG has the basic monster stats in them.

If you want to expand your game more than that you could also get Unearthed Arcana. Beyond that I wouldn't suggest to many more books, unless you REALLY get into it, but that should be a while, and you will be able to make that determination for yourselves.

Now there were some 2nd edition books later on that they printed that did not have that recognition that they were 2nd edition. If you accidentally pick up one of those fear not, you'll be able to use it's PHB or DMG alongside 1e. When 2nd edition originally came out, the core rules had what one would call a grandfather's clause. In it, you could use any rule you desired from 1e and bring it to supersede any rule in 2e. Because of that rule, 1e is completely compatible with 2e if you so desire.

With only those books to buy, and being able to get them second hand, you'll find the older editions are cheaper overall to get, and you have less books to carry.

Now be forewarned, 3rd edition and 3.5 are DIFFERENT systems than the older editions, and ARE NOT COMPATIBLE with them in any real way. They did try to release a compatibility handbook, but overall it makes little sense, and will not really be accurate transfers of your characters (especially if they are multiclassed in older editions) to the "new" and "improved" 3rd editions.

In third edition, if you want new books, unfortunately the books cost more than at the original release of 3rd edition. I would suggest that the only ones you truly need would be the following...

D&D Basic set (if you need to understand D&D better, it introduces you, and also gives you the miniatures and battletiles which are important for 3.5 to flow better in BOTH MINE AND WIZARDS opinion, though they are not absolutely necessary items).

The D&D corerulebooks which consist of the Players Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Handbook, and the Monster Manual.

These will cost you around $100+ if you keep a sharp eye out on prices...you might be able to get them all for as low as $50 to $60.

If you want a Campaign setting (This is basically a world which has places and locations for you to explore already set up in a very general way, as well as background history and other fillers) that will probably cost you another $20 to $30. I would suggest either Dragonlance, or as is popular on these boards Forgotten Realms (though I myself don't do FR yet in 3.5).

Just realize that the older editions are not compatible with the new editions, and this is one of the reasons why people are highly suggesting you stick with the new editions instead of confusing yourself with the conflicting rules between the older and newer editions.

I tend to agree, pick one to start off with, and see how you like it and go from there.
Shandrakor
06-28-05, 11:26 PM I'd go with first or 3.5, though 3.5 is current & thus supported. Got a computer? Download the 3.5 SRD; it has all the info you'll need to get started (excepting XP-by-level) & such tables. If you can play near a computer, I'd pick up a DMG & the SRD. In my groups, most players use laptops & don't carry books with them. The houses we play at usually have all the books, so we're covered in case a point arises that there's a disagreement on.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
BBCKaizer 06-28-05, 01:17 AM	My friends and I just got into D&D and where wanting to all chip in and buy a bunch of books, now what exactly the names of the books that are worth buying? We will be playing all editions btw.
prodigyxss 06-28-05, 01:42 AM	Well in my humble opinion, it woudnt be wise to play all editions as they will just confuse you and you will probably mix them up together. Plus anways you would have to at least buy the PHB for each edition :( , so unless you have alot of cash I wouldnt do it. I would play in 3.5 edition as it is the current ruleset and edition most d&d players are currently playing. Since your chipping in as a group, you will need probably a couple of PHB's(players handbook), a monster manual for the dm, and a dmg(dungeon masters guide)for the dm as well. If you already have the core books, then I would suggest a campaign setting to take ideas from and use. Forgotten Realms and Eberron would be your best bet. You might also want to look into the Dungeon Masters guide 2 as it improves dming skills, or the complete books. :D Hope this helps.
necrosnoop110 06-28-05, 01:43 AM	Core 3.5 Player’s Handbook I 3.5 Dungeon Master’s Guide I 3.5 Monster Manual I Core Supplements 3.5 Dungeon Master’s Guide II 3.5 Monster Manual II Complete Player’s Guides 3.5 Complete Arcane 3.5 Complete Divine 3.5 Complete Adventurer 3.5 Complete Warrior Psionics 3.5 Expanded Psionics Handbook Race Guides 3.5 Races of Stone 3.5 Races of Destiny 3.5 Races of the Wild Environmental Guides 3.5 Frostburn 3.5 Sandstorm Creature Type Guides 3.5 Libris Mortis 3.5 Lords of Madness 3.5 Draconomicon Genre Guides 3.5 Book of Exalted Deeds 3.5 Heroes of Battle
weasel fierce 06-28-05, 01:54 AM	If you want to have a look at the older versions, AD&D 1st edition players handbooks and Dungeon master guides often go for a couple of bucks on Amazon.
braindead345 06-28-05, 03:21 AM	Make sure you buy books for the same edition. 3.5 is optimal because nearly everybody is using that system. All you need for basic play is The Player's Handbook, The Dungeon Master's Guide, and The Monster Manual. Everything else is gravey, but useful gravey. You will want at least one set of these books, possibly more. If budget constraints are a concern, most of the info is in the SRD.
Kessalin Talira 06-28-05, 04:20 AM	One of these for whoever DM's (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndcore/966480000) One of these for every other person (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=products/dndcore/175240000)
Amaril 06-28-05, 08:12 AM	I strongly suggest following everyone else's advice about getting just the three Core Rulebooks -- the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, and the Monster Manual. If the DM has extra cash, I strongly suggest you get the Dungeon Master's Guide II. This book is invaluable to new DMs and still worth the purchase for experienced DMs. If you feel the need to expand your collection with additional supplements, I would suggest taking a look at Complete Warrior, Complete Divine, Complete Arcane, and Complete Adventurer. If you need more monsters, Monster Manual II, which is 3.0 not 3.5, Monster Manual III which is 3.5, and Fiend Folio, which was actually made just before 3.5 so it has most of the elements of the revised rules. I suggest for now you stay away from the Expanded Psionics Handbook. It's a great book to have and use, but the psionics system might just confuse new players and DMs as they already have a lot of rules to learn. Draconomicon, Libris Mortis, and Lords of Madness are all books that focus on a specific creature type (dragons, undead, and aberrations respectively). If you plan on creating a campaign that is centered on one of these creature types, buy the appropriate book. They are well worth it.
Iron Cobra 06-28-05, 09:16 AM	And if you like to stick with your characters for the long haul, Epic Level Handbook is a good purchase as well, which is 3.0, but can be implemented to 3.5.
Alisair Longreach II 06-28-05, 11:03 AM	As the other posters have said, stick woth 3.5 only. The Player's Handbook, Dungoun master's Guide and Monster Manual are essential rulebooks. Dungeon Master's Guide II is a really good book for new DMs. Complete Warrior, Divine, Arcane and Adventurer gives a lot of extra options for the player's. Races of Stone, Destiny, Wild are only worth it for Race fanatics. Book of Exalted Deeds, Book of Vile Darkness, Unearthed Arcana, Savage Species, Epic-Level Handbook and Expanded Psionics Handbook are only for experienced players, be careful when using them for they can easily destroy campaigns. Sandstorm, Frostburn, Libris Mortis and Lords of Madness are also for experienced players as they cover specialized material. If you want to start a Forgotten Realms campaign, get the campaign book and Player's Guide to Faerūn. Lost Empires of Faerūn, Shining South, Unapproachable East, Silver Marches and Waterdeep: City of Splendors are useful regional sourcebooks. If you want to start an Eberron campaign, get the campaign book, Monster Manual III, Sharn: City of Towers and Races of Eberron. The three published adventures are also worth buying.
Amaril 06-28-05, 11:08 AM	I'd like to add that unless you plan on running a campaign in a specific environment (i.e. - cold environments, or desert/wasteland environments), Sandstorm and Frostburn are unimportant.
Iron Cobra 06-28-05, 11:28 AM	Unimportant, but a big help.
vaskoff 06-28-05, 01:36 PM	As a fairly new player, I bought the Player's Hand Book (PHB). EVERY player should have a PHB. The DM shoudl have the Dungeon Master's Guide and Monster Manual (DMG and MM). Play a few games, if you want to expand I reccomend Eberron (because it is all 3.5, they are only about 3 books for it but you'll be fine with just the core eberron book). Run the adventure in the back then buy shadows of the last war...my group is playing this, it's great. Buy all in 3.5 editipn, that's where most of the support is.
GreyLord 06-28-05, 02:36 PM	If you want to save money, invest in either the Original D&D or 1st edition. In the Original Version, it has a later version of it with all the needed rules in one book called the Rules Cyclopedia. You should be able to get it for a reasonable price off of Amazon, Ebay, or any location that sells second hand books. That's one book, and the only book you'll need. Or you could buy the original booklets if you can find them which has different rules, more indepth classes and items, but will probably cost you more than any other method. The you have 1e. This is called AD&D. It has no 2nd edition on it. You will need the Players Handbook and the Dungeon Masters Handbook. Overall you can get away only using those. For a set if you keep a sharp lookout you should be able to get both of them for under $30 combined. The Monster Manual would also be useful, but not absolutely necessary as the 1e DMG has the basic monster stats in them. If you want to expand your game more than that you could also get Unearthed Arcana. Beyond that I wouldn't suggest to many more books, unless you REALLY get into it, but that should be a while, and you will be able to make that determination for yourselves. Now there were some 2nd edition books later on that they printed that did not have that recognition that they were 2nd edition. If you accidentally pick up one of those fear not, you'll be able to use it's PHB or DMG alongside 1e. When 2nd edition originally came out, the core rules had what one would call a grandfather's clause. In it, you could use any rule you desired from 1e and bring it to supersede any rule in 2e. Because of that rule, 1e is completely compatible with 2e if you so desire. With only those books to buy, and being able to get them second hand, you'll find the older editions are cheaper overall to get, and you have less books to carry. Now be forewarned, 3rd edition and 3.5 are DIFFERENT systems than the older editions, and ARE NOT COMPATIBLE with them in any real way. They did try to release a compatibility handbook, but overall it makes little sense, and will not really be accurate transfers of your characters (especially if they are multiclassed in older editions) to the "new" and "improved" 3rd editions. In third edition, if you want new books, unfortunately the books cost more than at the original release of 3rd edition. I would suggest that the only ones you truly need would be the following... D&D Basic set (if you need to understand D&D better, it introduces you, and also gives you the miniatures and battletiles which are important for 3.5 to flow better in BOTH MINE AND WIZARDS opinion, though they are not absolutely necessary items). The D&D corerulebooks which consist of the Players Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Handbook, and the Monster Manual. These will cost you around $100+ if you keep a sharp eye out on prices...you might be able to get them all for as low as $50 to $60. If you want a Campaign setting (This is basically a world which has places and locations for you to explore already set up in a very general way, as well as background history and other fillers) that will probably cost you another $20 to $30. I would suggest either Dragonlance, or as is popular on these boards Forgotten Realms (though I myself don't do FR yet in 3.5). Just realize that the older editions are not compatible with the new editions, and this is one of the reasons why people are highly suggesting you stick with the new editions instead of confusing yourself with the conflicting rules between the older and newer editions. I tend to agree, pick one to start off with, and see how you like it and go from there.
Shandrakor 06-28-05, 11:26 PM	I'd go with first or 3.5, though 3.5 is current & thus supported. Got a computer? Download the 3.5 SRD; it has all the info you'll need to get started (excepting XP-by-level) & such tables. If you can play near a computer, I'd pick up a DMG & the SRD. In my groups, most players use laptops & don't carry books with them. The houses we play at usually have all the books, so we're covered in case a point arises that there's a disagreement on.