Post/Author/DateTime	Post
lastknightleft 10-29-07, 03:26 PM	Ok this thread is to tell DMs of a certain style of play which books they'll get the most out of. DMing is a game of styles, two different DMs will play the same adventure in two completely different styles and so I want this thread to so here is the format. I would prefer if you assume that DMs have the core 3 and don't tell them to get one of those. Title for style of DM Brief 2-3 line description of dming style book1: why book2: why etc. for example mine Time crunched DM These books are for the dm that through obligations/preferences doesn't take a lot of time to prepare things and prefers to DM on the fly refrencing the books only when neccesary. Monster Manual IV: with alternate versions of monsters orginally shown in the first MM, made it easy to throw low level adventures where not every one had the same stats, but made sense culturally. Also the spawn of Tiamat work excellently for a more Dragon centric game. Monster Manual V: same as above, also brought more fey into the game.
queenfange 10-29-07, 04:20 PM	Setting-Focused DM I enjoy homebrewing campaigns, with a special focus on the setting. The following two books I have found particularly helpful in generating ideas, particularly non-mechanical aspects of the world. Dungeon Master's Guide II: Not only does it include a fully fleshed out town that can be put in most setttings with few adjustments, this contains invaluable information on new hazards for unusual places to fight in (ice bridge, treetop village, etc.), making realistic & distinctive governments, and designing complex NPCs. My personal favorite section is the part on "People at Work", describing the professions in a typical medieval town, providing so many ideas for everyday citizens. Cityscape: The sample cities are a bit lame, but the district system for designing your own cities is fantastic. There are also good tips in it on how different races adapt to city life and how churches, guilds, and noble houses can be brought in to plots and affect the everday operations of a city.
RobbyPants 10-29-07, 05:00 PM	Horror DM: In my current campaign, I'm trying to run more of a horror-focused game. Heroes of Horror: This one is handy for all sorts of reasons. The best part about it is a fairly broad approach to defining horror, and giving advice how to bring it into your game (on a single-adventure basis, or up to an entire campaign). In addition, there are several new monsters and PrCs suitable for a horror game. A new taint mechanic allows for a seperation of corruption and depravity. It also has sample encounters, adventures, and even a sample campaign. Libris Mortis: If you want undead in your game, this is the book for it. Undead are particularly suitable for a horror-game. This book goes into details on reasons why certain creatures behave the way they do (particularly regarding feeding). There is a whole slew of new creatures to befuddle all your players who know the MM inside and out.
Sinfire Titan 10-29-07, 08:36 PM	Horror DM: In my current campaign, I'm trying to run more of a horror-focused game. Heroes of Horror: This one is handy for all sorts of reasons. The best part about it is a fairly broad approach to defining horror, and giving advice how to bring it into your game (on a single-adventure basis, or up to an entire campaign). In addition, there are several new monsters and PrCs suitable for a horror game. A new taint mechanic allows for a seperation of corruption and depravity. It also has sample encounters, adventures, and even a sample campaign. Libris Mortis: If you want undead in your game, this is the book for it. Undead are particularly suitable for a horror-game. This book goes into details on reasons why certain creatures behave the way they do (particularly regarding feeding). There is a whole slew of new creatures to befuddle all your players who know the MM inside and out. Good choices. In addition to those, any DM wishing to run a Horror campaign should look into: Lords of Madness, as it is a very detailed book. It provides you with excellent insight to what the more common BBEGs are like. It also makes for some terrifying encounters to end a long campaign with. Book of Vile Darkness, for obvious reasons. IMO, this book goes hand-in-hand with the Heroes of Horror book.
Suzu 10-29-07, 10:23 PM	Options DM (part 1) For DM's who want a large amount of material and character options, either to provide for players or to create interesting NPCs, these books are useful: Spell Compendium: Don't want to trawl through hundreds of supplements for a spell? The Spell Compendium has all the spells you'll ever need. Particulalry useful for spellcasting BBEGs. Magic Item Compendium: Same reasons as the Spell Compendium really.
Suzu 10-29-07, 10:28 PM	Options DM (part 2) For DM's who want a large amount of material and character options, either to provide for players or to create interesting NPCs, these books are useful: Savage Species: Hill Giants for a 2nd level party? BBEGs with an extra twist? Playes who want to be driders, celestials or trolls? Savage Species answers all these questions. Weapons of Legacy: A nice new idea for truly unique magic items, the kind that fills bards' songs and whole campaigns can be run around. Unlike normal magic items, a legacy item grows in power with its owner.
Sakaki22 10-29-07, 11:34 PM	Horror DM: In my current campaign, I'm trying to run more of a horror-focused game. Heroes of Horror: This one is handy for all sorts of reasons. The best part about it is a fairly broad approach to defining horror, and giving advice how to bring it into your game (on a single-adventure basis, or up to an entire campaign). In addition, there are several new monsters and PrCs suitable for a horror game. A new taint mechanic allows for a seperation of corruption and depravity. It also has sample encounters, adventures, and even a sample campaign. Libris Mortis: If you want undead in your game, this is the book for it. Undead are particularly suitable for a horror-game. This book goes into details on reasons why certain creatures behave the way they do (particularly regarding feeding). There is a whole slew of new creatures to befuddle all your players who know the MM inside and out. Good choices. In addition to those, any DM wishing to run a Horror campaign should look into: Lords of Madness, as it is a very detailed book. It provides you with excellent insight to what the more common BBEGs are like. It also makes for some terrifying encounters to end a long campaign with. Book of Vile Darkness, for obvious reasons. IMO, this book goes hand-in-hand with the Heroes of Horror book. Alot of people give me weird looks for suggesting it, but for horror DMing I recommend... Call of Cthulhu. Although the CR system doesn't scale perfectly into D&D's, the monsters make a iconic addition to the supernatural horror fan, and the fluff chapters are very valuable. The spells make a frightening addition to your spellcasting BBEG, too.
lastknightleft 10-30-07, 09:07 AM	loving these so far, but since I am not one of these and therefore can't tell you which books howsabout these types of DMs Grognard DM the dm who misses some of the older iterations of D&D but who made the conversion to have players, but felt that these books really got it right. Monty Haul DM the DM who likes running combat situations that don't need to be fleshed out or realistic, :confused: two magmins followed by a white dragon? and follows the fights with lots of fun treasure. Prep intensive DM the DM who spends hours fleshing out their campaign world and giving every possible NPC a statblock.
RobbyPants 10-30-07, 10:26 AM	Good choices. Thanks. Honestly, I have to say that Heroes of Horror is probably my favorite non-core book that I own. The ideas that book has given me are spectacular.
lastknightleft 10-30-07, 10:58 AM	Yeah, I have both Hero's books and to me of all the books in 3.5 those gave DMs the most bang for their buck, all the other books were too heavily player flavored for my taste, don't get me wrong I love the complete series, but for a career DM books that focus on them are lacking.
TarlSS 10-30-07, 02:06 PM	Heroes of Battle. Anyone who's about to have a war themed campaign ought to buy this. Not only is the point system quite decent, but it also has rules for siege engines, stat blocks for troops, and ideas about magical siege/stuff.
lastknightleft 10-31-07, 08:51 AM	:bump:
Suzu 11-01-07, 02:18 AM	loving these so far, but since I am not one of these and therefore can't tell you which books howsabout these types of DMs Grognard DM the dm who misses some of the older iterations of D&D but who made the conversion to have players, but felt that these books really got it right. Monty Haul DM the DM who likes running combat situations that don't need to be fleshed out or realistic, :confused: two magmins followed by a white dragon? and follows the fights with lots of fun treasure. Prep intensive DM the DM who spends hours fleshing out their campaign world and giving every possible NPC a statblock. For the Monty Haul DM, I'd go with the Monster Manual 5 and the Magic Item Compendium, the former becuase it's got lots of monsters and the latter because it's got lots of treasure. Simple. For the Prep intensive DM I'd go with the Dungeon Master Guide 2 and Cityscape, the former because it gives you the new, better stat block and some already statted, badass NPCs, and the latter because it gives you a load of statted NPCs for around the town (though no commoners, interestingly. I have yet to see a book with a statted commoner in).