(Part 2) Best dungeons & dragons game books according to redditors
We found 565 Reddit comments discussing the best dungeons & dragons game books. We ranked the 184 resulting products by number of redditors who mentioned them. Here are the products ranked 21-40. You can also go back to the previous section.
Basically you need the Player's Handbook, the Dungeon Master's Guide, and the Monster Manual. There are also "premium" versions of these books printed in 2012 that include many years worth of errata, and you should try to get those if you can.
The three core books are enough to play, but of course Wizards of the Coast published a very large number of supplements to the game that add more rules, systems, and advice for DM's to use and more options, classes, and spells for players. One of these is the Dungeon Master's Guide II, which includes a large bit of advice for DM's, more magic items, and some new rules and systems, including a detailed system for building towns. It was a fine supplement, but is certainly not essential for running a campaign, and I wouldn't even describe it as the best 4th book for a new dungeon master to buy.
Actually, if you're just starting out DMing, the best 4th book to get would probably be a pre-published adventure, or even a mega-adventure or adventure path. The Sunless Citadel is an excellent adventure for 1st-level PC's, though you should check first whether anyone in your group has played through it before. As for mega-adventures, both The Red Hand of Doom and Age of Worms have excellent reputations, though the latter was published in Dungeon magazine which makes it hard to find a copy.
Ever since I read Chris Perkin's now largely lost blog, "The Dungeon Master Experience," I've always thought of a good campaign as being a good TV series. To summarize his thesis, each adventure is like an episode in a series that advances the overall plot of the campaign. It's often helpful to work within a basic, 3 Act Story Structure.
In Act I, something external happens--often called the "hook." The regular order of the world is upset. Goblins threaten the town. Someone has stolen a powerful artifact. A mysterious disease/curse/re-occurring event begins to affect villagers. The external event leads to some mystery or uncertainty that demands that the PCs resolve it.
In Act II, the PCs discover more information, the stakes get raised as the outcome becomes tied to the PCs personal motivations and they learn the win condition. The goblin horde isn't just any goblin horde. They're lead by a new charismatic and heretofore invincible overlord that threatens to unite all the tribes. He must be killed. The NPC who stole the artifact doesn't understand its true nature. If she continues to use it in some misguided way, it will destroy her and unleash unspeakable evil. She must see the error of her ways. The disease affects a well-loved, essential NPC (or PC) and it's only a matter of time before they die. They must assemble the cure in time.
In Act III, the PCs participate in a climatic event at the precise moment when the outcome will have the greatest impact. The leader of the goblin horde is on the verge of uniting the tribes through proving his worthiness in an act of god-like invincibility--until the PCs show up. The PCs discover the location of the secret ritual and arrive just as the NPC is about to complete it. The clock is striking midnight as PCs are rushing to assemble the last ingredients of the cure. Any superfluous action means the great NPC will surely die.
Ideally, this story structure means the PCs will own the outcome, especially when they fail. Their futile attempt to stop the charismatic overlord only further proves his invincibility. The goblin tribes now blindly follow him into battle. The PCs inability to stop the ritual means they bear responsibility and blame for the havoc the unspeakable evil wreaks. The NPC dies and leaves a power vacuum now more easily filled by evil NPCs. All of this becomes fodder for the next episode.
The best advice I've ever heard regarding Villains is that everyone is a hero in their own mind. The invincible overlord has been the victim of pain, death and destruction. It's time he ended it and showed the world who's boss. The misguided ritualist thinks she's summoning a being that will bring power or prosperity, but she's been tricked.
Here are some of the best resources I've found:
Chris Perkin's "The Dungeon Master Experience"
The Complete Book of Villains by Kirk Botula (Out of print, but I bet you can still find copies or PDFs somewhere)
The Book of Vile Darkness by Monte Cook
Story by Robert McKee (Not RPG related, but still amazing)
I'd be curious what other resources DM have been inspired by.
RHoD is a collectable, apparently. But I haven't done any digging past checking amazon. Those prices could be malarkey
Here's the US link to Xanthar's Guide and US link to ToA.
Anyone know if they usually offer the pdf versions together with the physical books?
The Warcraft RPGs were published from 2003 to 2008. It's been seven years since the last supplement was released, which is why you're unlikely to find it anywhere. Additionally, it was a license which has since expired, so even if there were any backstock remaining with the publisher, they would no longer be allowed to sell it.
Two editions were released: 2003's Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game, and 2005's World of Warcraft: The Roleplaying Game. Both were published by White Wolf under the Sword & Sorcery imprint.
Warcraft was branded with the D&D logo, one of only a few third-party products to use it. As implied, it was essentially a D&D campaign setting with a Warcraft flavour to it.
World of Warcraft didn't have the branding. It didn't even use the d20 License, going straight to OGL. It was more of an adaption of the WoW MMO (which had been released by that point), so it had a lot more tweaks in terms of classes and races in order for it to feel more familiar to MMO players. The Pandaren were also available as a race in one of the later supplements, ages before they were playable online.
On Amazon.com, I'm seeing the Warcraft RPG for $9.48 used&new, and the WoW RPG for $19.89 used&new, which are both fantastic prices. I'm not sure you could find much better than that outside a lucky find at a book sale.
eBay has listings for the WoW RPG around $15. Not a lot cheaper than Amazon, but a good price nonetheless.
If you are not really concerned about the rules that might be tucked in there then you can go ahead and grab some of the older books instead. For example, you can snag the 3.5 D&D Dragonlance campaign setting for around $12.99 and have everything that you need to run a game in that setting. $20 would get you the 3.5 Eberron campaign setting as well.
Really what you need to know when looking for a setting is what settings are available. There is a pretty decent wiki of D&D Campaign Settings that you can go through to see what interests you. From there do a few searches for used books and you should be fine. Again, unless you really want those modern edition rules that apply to the setting of your choice.
So, there are a lot of wonky comments here about how undead are not evil and paladins embrace chaos if they destroy them. However, since none of that is anything more than opinion as far as I can tell, I want to leave that argument for the other comment threads and instead bring up something that nobody else has so far. That is, in Planescape, undead creation is in fact mechanically, by-the-rules not evil.
In Planescape, there is a group called the Dustmen. They believe that death is the natural evolution of everything, and that to be fully evolved, everything must move towards a state of death. While they don't kill anyone, they do advocate that you hurry up and die as soon as possible. Because of their beliefs, they have venerated the undead and even to a slight degree have vilified life. You can see this with their "Death's Embrace" ability:
> Death’s Embrace: The concept of raising and resurrection is counter to the philosophy of the faction, and so it’s not something willingly accepted by Dustmen. There is only a 50% chance that raising a Dustman from the dead by any means will work. A benefit, or drawback, depending on one’s point of view.
In addition, the Planescape setting also has the Drowned Nations -- a fully working community of undead, that enters into negotiations with other groups, has their own borders and way of life, and while many register as evil, they do not actually leave their borders to commit evil. If you walk into the midst of them and threaten them, they will go full brain-eating undead on you. But if you leave them be, they leave you be. This respect for sentient forms of life/unlife is unheard of in other aspects of D&D and Pathfinder.
Lastly, there is the Mortuary in Sigil. This is not only where dead bodies are interred, but also where contracts to animate the dead are negotiated. In Sigil it's legal and not necessarily evil to sign your death away. Generally, poor people do this to help their own families -- a promised sum of 200 GP is delivered to the family of the deceased, and in exchange his/her corpse is raised to do manual labor around the Mortuary. There are usually time limits -- the corpse will serve for 100 years and then be given a proper burial.
The Planescape setting still respects life and the ritual of funerals and graves. They do not believe in grave robbing, and such acts are still evil -- they're not only considered disrespectful to the surviving families, but also in this particular setting, it robs the families of money for which they would have negotiated. In other words, "If anyone is going to animate my dead uncle's corpse, it's going to be me and if anyone interferes that's highway robbery!"
So, for the OP, this is an example of how undead can be not evil. It has absolutely no standing in Pathfinder, however, as Planescape is a D&D setting that was never brought over to the Pathfinder rule set. However, if you wish to have reference material for building out your own world where undead-ness is OK, I'd suggest buying the Planescape Campaign Setting or the cheaper Factols Manifesto. Or just take what I wrote and run with it. :)
D&D 3.5 had a book. Heroes of Horror that is all about running a horror campaign. IIRC it has some pretty good general advice in it.
I am a new DM too (we've played maybe 5 sessions?)
I am using the 3 core rulebooks:
The Player's Handbook
http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Players-Handbook-Rulebook/dp/0786928867
The Dungeon Master's Guide
http://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Masters-Guide-Rulebook-Dungeons/dp/0786928891/
Monster Manual
http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Manual-Rulebook-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/078692893X/
The players themselves only need the Player's Handbook.
There is no reason to use other books when you're starting out. All they'll do is add complication to an already complicated system. When I was at school and joined a group for just a few sessions to learn what was going on, one guy had several other books he was pulling spells and items from and it only allowed him to make the rest of the party irrelevant. He was able to pull things from other books to circumvent most plot points that required other characters' skills and abilities, and it was just a bad time for everyone involved.
As everyone I'm playing with is new (me too) - we chose to do a premade series of dungeons to get the feel of it. I chose the Sunless Citadel and pretty much completely changed the story within a few sessions and nobody else knows or cares because we're all enjoying it.
A book I can't recommend enough if you're interested in building a familiarity with Indian/Chinese/Japanese type gaming is Oriental Adventures from 3rd edition era Dungeons & Dragons.
https://www.amazon.com/Oriental-Adventures-Dungeons-Dragons-Supplement/dp/0786920157
or the PDF version--
http://www.dmsguild.com/product/23426/Oriental-Adventures-3e?term=Oriental&test_epoch=0&it=1
They made a free setting called Mahasarpa as an Indian, Southeast Asian flavored realm, as well as Rokugan (in the book) the d20 version of the Alderac game setting is a great samurai era Sengoku Jidai-ish Japanese setting, if you're looking for models.
What you've got pictured in that first link is the 3.0 Player's Handbook. (There is no such thing as 2.5, despite someone's mislabeling.) For comparison, here's the 3.5 Player's Handbook which looks rather similar, but has "v.3.5" near the bottom.
Regarding visual tools (playmat, miniatures, etc), those are often helpful, especially for new players/DM's and for those who like tactics-heavy battle, but I'll note that they aren't required, and some DM's eschew them on purpose, focusing instead on vocal descriptions of events.
Do you have a Dungeon Master's Guide? Here's a 3.5 DMG - the 3.0 and 3.5 versions are close enough to work together without too much trouble, and 3.5 is generally seen as superior, but a 3.0 DMG would work too. The DMG has a wealth of information useful for running an engaging game.
If you're, say, missing some key element of DM'ing, I'm not sure we could identify it easily - if you can't see it, we can't tell you about it. In general, though, it helps to try to pay attention to what does interest and engage your players, and do more of that. Or if some part seems to annoy a player, find a way to make it less of an issue.
One thing some players like, is to feel like they have some special trick or advantage they've figured out that gives them a special advantage. Maybe your fighter would think making a trip attack or sundering a weapon would be an awesome thing to do. Look for opportunities to let him try unusual stuff when it'll have dramatic effect.
Note that players can have radically different types of games that interest them; there is no magic bullet here. The original D&D had characters with short lifespans, who were basically just out looking for loot and had backstories like "merchant's disowned son looking for riches" at most. Some games have virtually no combat at all, focusing entirely on verbal descriptions. Some players enjoy basically enjoying going down a predefined story, and others like a more "sandbox"-like experience where they choose where they go in the world.
Another thing that can help is getting some practice. Try running through some combat scenarios on your own, doing all rolls and decision making for all (2-6) characters in combat. This will help you get used to the flow of combat, and let you handle it more smoothly in a real game. It won't help you with other skills, like interacting with players and reacting to their unexpected decisions and goals, but confidence here will help elsewhere. You can focus on the goblin chieftan's speech more if you aren't worried so much about handling a pair of attack of opportunity.
If you feel you're having trouble with storytelling, it might help to use a "module" - a pre-made setting and story, with some ready-made adventurers and lots of flavor to follow. If you do, you don't have to follow the module exactly (your players almost certainly won't!), but having the structure to rely on will serve you well.
Might check out something like this - https://www.amazon.com/Diablo-II-Diablerie-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/0786917601
They made a few products in that line...
two books i highly recommend for a horror campaign:
[ravenloft player's handbook] (http://www.trollandtoad.com/p214737.html)
and
heroes of horror
source: i really only ever run games in ravenloft due to how much i love the setting.
> i mean when the fuck is the last time you saw all of those books together in one place at a flat rate
At every Half-Price Books and game store with any significant used rpg section I've ever been to.
Price Comparison:
Priests guide $3.50 http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0880388188/ref=sr_1_1_olp?ie=UTF8&qid=1369586939&sr=8-1&keywords=complete+priest%27s+handbook&condition=used
Bard $6 http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1560763604/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used
Dwarves $4.79 http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1560761105/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used
Psionics $.50 http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1560760540/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used
Ranger $7.75 http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1560766344/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used
Wizards $3.99 http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0880388382/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used
Arms & Equipment $5.03 http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1560761091/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used
Fighter's $1.98 http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0880387793/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used
Monstrous Compendium Annual 2 $6.29 http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0786901993/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used
Mythus Magick $9.99 http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/1558781331/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&condition=used
A hair under $50. Even with sales tax, OP would still probably get a much better deal buying these books individually at places that sell RPGs. As a package deal, at a closing store these very common books should have been priced to liquidate. $25-$30 would have been about right.
Diablo II: Diablerie is a d20 D&D supplement that has a great system for magic items. I haven't played it extensively but it does look like it would be a good groundwork for what you're looking for https://www.amazon.com/Diablo-II-Diablerie-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/0786917601
I'm going to disagree on your point of editions. 3.5 is still massive, even with Pathfinder eating into it. WotC just recently released a new printing of the PHB, DMG, and MM1. There's many out there who still play this and have a trove of these books. I've played in several groups over the past 5 years, and they all played 3.5*. That said, most 3.5 stuff could probably be covered at the same time as Pathfinder.
^(*And I never sought out any specific system when joining. I've actually been itching to try out Pathfinder, Savage Worlds, Call of Cthulhu, Shadowrun, the new Marvel RPG, and just the other day backed the kickstarter for "OVA: The Anime RPG". Too bad I only have time to be in one group!)
There is a book for 3.5 mass combat. It's called Heroes of Battle . I've only looked through it, not actually put it into practice.
Most of the time I've used scripted battles with skirmishes that involve the party members. I'd set up a flowchart to chart the course of battle through the key encounters. I would also give bonuses and penalties to the party based on battle progress.
For example, at the start of the battle the party would have the option of joining one of the advancing units (an infantry unit, a cavalry charge, etc.), make a perception check to identify and intercept a sneak attack, or stage their own sneak attack.
If the party didn't block the sneak attack, then the player side loses a key battle. All parties on the player side get a -1 moral penalty for the battle and the foes get a +1 moral bonus. The humans also lose access to resupplies. Decision points in the flowchart would be based off this morale bonus.
I've done more complicated things, but usually leave the heavy battles for story telling rather than bogging the game down with dice rolls.
Fantasy Flight Games put out a Grimm Roleplaying Game a few years ago.
Also, do you have a copy of Heroes of Horror?
And have your players already done Ravenloft?
Try the Book of Vile Darkness that deals with this particular topic. I haven't play an evil campaign myself yet, so I can't help you more!
If he doesn't already have it, the DM quick reference screen
http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Dungeon-Masters-Screen/dp/0786949279
https://smile.amazon.com/Tomb-Annihilation-Wizards-RPG-Team/dp/0786966106/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1497311532&sr=8-11&keywords=tomb+of+annihilation
https://smile.amazon.com/Xanathars-Guide-Everything-Wizards-Team/dp/0786966114/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1497311544&sr=8-6&keywords=xanathar%27s+guide+to+everything
Really? I didn't knew this word was not allowed anymore.
Ya know..back in 2001 it was no big deal, in fact this very game won an Ennie.
But if it is somehow a triggering word nowadays I'll try to avoid that in this particular exchange. Really, I mean no harm.
edit:
Out of curiosity, today I learned that Barry more or less outlawed the word in 2016.
edit 2:
I fixed the banned term on my original post.
Don't forget the book of vile darkness - sort of important stuff.
You can play D&D as a low/no magic setting. The rule set is very flexible. They're more like guidelines than a strict rule book. Iron heroes is a low/no magic setting.
If you're completely new to DnD, I'd go for either DnD 3.5 or Pathfinder. Neal uses an apparently very homebrewed 2nd Edition, so, you're not going to be playing the same game with regular old 2e stuff. It's clunky and aged, and he (presumably) still uses it because it's what he's always used, so he's used to it, and he's ironed out the kinks.
So, yeah, the most recent edition of DnD is 4e, which is commonly considered to be a little bit too dumbed down, but it doesn't really matter that much if you're new. Still, the books are expensive, so you should try to look into the different versions and find out which one sounds like you'd prefer it. 3.5 and Pathfinder are very similar, as Pathfinder is actually based on 3.5 with a couple things done to streamline some of the combat. Also,the art in the books is really pretty (completely superficial, but it's nice,) and you don't have to buy a rule book, player handbook, AND a bestiary, just the core book and a bestiary if you're DMing, so it's like thirty bucks cheaper, AND Pathfinder is backwards compatible with 3.5 books, so... yeah, that's also nice. They also have a DM's guide which is all about how to make and run a game. Pathfinder and 3.5 both have a bunch of ancillary resource books too, like NPC and equipment books. I know Neal has at least one weapons book, but they aren't necessary; they're just extra guidance.
You should be able to afford this - http://www.amazon.com/Dragonlance-Campaign-Setting-Dungeon-Roleplaying/dp/0786930861/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373632376&sr=8-1&keywords=Dragonlance+3.5
There was a series of modules for 3.5 that started at 1st and went up:
In order:
Sunless Citadel
Forge of Fury
Speaker in Dreams
Edit:
Also from a non-wizards publisher
Dungeon Crawl Classics DCC14
My group is currently playing through this as a 'pick-up' when we are missing players from our main campaign.
Song of Ice and Fire is a low magic world, so Iron Heroes could work really well.
Added link to buy Iron Heroes. Works well with most d20 manuals.
http://www.amazon.com/Monte-Presents-Heroes-Fantasy-Roleplaying/dp/1588467961
Check out Iron Heroes. The setting is low to no-magic and the classes are built to support this change.
I'm a 3.5 man myself. The 2e guys and I will have our disagreements but we're all pretty much unanimously agreed that 4e is not the way D&D was meant to be played.
Player's Handbook 3.5e
Dungeon Master's Guide 3.5e
Monster Manual 3.5e
However, every D&D group will play differently anyway. You will NEED the PHB and the DGM. You will also need a full set of poly-dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20, d%). Stories, additional material, models, boards, scenery is all optional. We tend to switch between zero physical assets, just talking (usually only if free-roaming and/or lack of confrontation, etc.), and a white-board where areas are drawn in erasable marker, with warhammer miniatures.
I suggest trying out the 3.5 Heroes of Battle for fairly robust war/mass-combat system. It's close enough to Pathfinder that it should be easy still to run.
It has some nice commando type encounters (capturing enemy bases, defending encampments, attacking supply lines etc.) as well as morale rules, medals/ranking, siege weapons and so on. Quite a nice change from slogging through 10'x10' rooms.
Here is a RPG.net review: [http://www.rpg.net/reviews/archive/11/11350.phtml]
And you can get a used copy for about $12 on amazon: [http://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Fantasy-Roleplaying-Supplement/dp/078693686X]
Edit: Heroes of battle....not Tome of battle (different kettle of fish)
It's actually the 4E DM screen since that's what we were playing at the time. We've moved on to 5E but I haven't updated my screen yet.
>I can get them for 79SEK each (about $11)
Holy shit, they're almost 3 times that much in the states. The advantage of the Red Box is that it's cheap, so you don't feel bad if you don't like it. $20 for the red box, or $90 for the rule books.
If you're going to buy the books, you might also want to buy a pre-written adventure. Keep on the Shadowfell is written for low-level characters, and should get you up to level 3. In my experience, this will take about 6 game sessions depending on how fast you play. Plus, if you like the adventure, it's part of a series which goes all the way up to level 30 (max level).
>How many do I need of each?
One of each die. A full set of dice contains d4, d6, d8, d10, d10 (tens place), d12, d20, and you can usually get them in game stores in a matched set.
If you want to get extra dice, it can't hurt. It will save you time passing them between players, and you will frequently have to roll several of the same die.
http://www.amazon.com/Sunless-Citadel-Dungeons-Dragons-Adventure/dp/0786916400, http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=sunless+citadel&_sacat=0
My biggest concern with converting 3/3.5/Pathfinder campaigns is that the reliance and distribution of magic items is much lower in 5th edition than in previous editions.
That being said, Red Hand of Doom is a pretty awesome campaign for 5th-12th level adventurers from 3.5. I converted the first three chapters for Pathfinder and ran it (I moved away before I could finish it, unfortunately), and my players had a pretty great time.
[5e DM] I'm new to D&D and want to start playing with my friends as a DM, I did my research and have a grasp of how to play so I want to take advantage of the sales amazon is having right now to buy the books.
I'll be getting PHB, MM, DMG, XGE and the starter set, I still have 1 more slot from the amazon limited offer but don't know which one to get.
My choices are limited for the offer:
I'm thinking of running LMoP and after that one of the books listed above. Thank you in advance!
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0786906537/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1506475022&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=Tale+of+the+Comet&dpPl=1&dpID=51RQ6G4BP5L&ref=plSrch
Here you go OP! Though I will say the price on Amazon is a smack in the face. I got my copy from my local store for about 27 bucks or so, while the Amazon one is 40+
An overly difficult enemy is still beatable, it's just got more HP's to beat out of it and a harder punch to accidentally TPK your group when the rolls slip up. But is that actually scary? Is it still scary after you've done that trick for more than 50% of your encounters?
You might be better served by switching up abilities and weaknesses of the enemy types that your players fight. A vampire? Pfft, magic weapons and silver, here we co-oh crap, that didn't work. What kind of monster is this? Ohshi-ohshi-ohshi-! Fear isn't going to sprout from the dice, it's going to pop up when your players have fool proof plans... That fall apart. Anxiety (what do we do now?), worry (how can we stop it?), and intrigue (what is going on here?) will fill your sessions and your players will be falling over themselves trying to piece together what's going on so they can toss your NPCs into a shallow grave back behind the abandoned castle.
As for your insanity counters idea, Heroes of Horror touched on this idea with a Taint mechanic that may be worth looking into (page 62 if you have access to the book). Personally, I don't think that slapping on rules that primarily disadvantage your players mechanically is very fun. In a game about words, stories, and settings, messing with someone's numbers that they worked hard (benefit of the doubt) to crank up is just sort of insulting. Better that you use their purposefully evil decisions as fodder to create conflict, both internal and external as the PCs have to deal with the repercussions of their actions and the players have to have an internal struggle on whether or not to do bad things again (bonus points if all of their options are gray, with ups and downs for even more drama!).
This one?
Diablo II actually has a D&D version. Note: "the D2 books were written BEFORE 3.0 was released, using beta copies of the 3.0 books and are therefore full of mistakes." https://www.amazon.com/Diablo-II-Diablerie-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/0786917601
There's also the secret cow level: https://www.wizards.com/dnd/article.asp?x=d2/d220010302x1
Really, though you're better off using something like 5th edition or Pathfinder, finding monsters that match up and designing the adventure using those systems as they'd be way more balanced (and better written).
Here's a link to some folks discussing ideas on how to set up an adventure: http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?66948-Diablo-d-amp-d-3ed-any-good There are some neat downloads in the thread but it just backs up my impression that you'd be better off custom making your adventure and doing it as a one night one-off.
You are aware that they made a WoW campaign book for 3.5E back in 2003 right?? Heres the link...
https://www.amazon.com/Warcraft-Roleplaying-Game-Arthaus/dp/1588460711/ref=pd_cp_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1588460711&pd_rd_r=VHSQHBMZ42WK5JA0964J&pd_rd_w=FwFUh&pd_rd_wg=oNkFc&psc=1&refRID=VHSQHBMZ42WK5JA0964J
Heros of Horror might be of use to you.
Related, the 2nd Edition Complete Villains has a lot of good general talk on how to make solid, sensible tiered organizations of baddies and big baddies, and their behaviours or quirks. A sort of world-building guide as it pertains to antagonists.
http://www.amazon.com/Complete-Villains-Advanced-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/1560768371
I see a Creative Campaigning in the Related Books... not familiar with it. Wonder if it's good.
Neal actually uses the green books aka the premium edition.
Premium AD&D 2nd Edition Handbooks on Amazon
The following books are available:
With the 5th edition just released, i would rather suggest you looking into it, as the edition is actually a combination of the old 2nd edition, a bit of 3.5 and 4th edition. Which ends up having a nostalgic feeling and is easy to handle. So far, you won't be dissapointed imho.
It uses medieval China/Japan as a basis
I'm going to mention a module that I have, but I need to preface with some caveats:
With that out of the way, I present to you:
TALE OF THE COMET! (Yes, that's Tale, not tail).
Basically, friendly aliens crash land after being shot down by evil robots, and it's the PCs' job to save the day! Meant for high-level PCs, many players don't like it due to the Bad Guys' attacks resistance to non-magical items, and being able to hit through non-magical AC as if it were nothing. But it's a very interesting story and would probably need some tweaking to fit into newer editions or be playable by lower-leveled characters.
Have you considered adapting the 3rd edition Diablo 2 book for use with d20 Future? It has lots of charts for random magic item properties.
http://www.amazon.com/Diablo-II-Diablerie-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/0786917601
"The Complete Book of" series. It talks about kits and subspecies of all the different races and classes and more.
For example; The Complete Book of Villains
>I never said it needed to by mature. [...] I mean they redesigned the game to be played by children, in the sense of the artwork, the themes and system.
Really? Then what's this all about?
>They took out the whores and the demons and the devils, the gore and the meat of it, they bowed to the pressure of the churches and the women'ss groups, and turned it into tripe. There's a reason that second edition was when WoD, Shadowrun and other took off, because the grown ups didn't want to play Hasbro's D&D Adventure.
And if you can't be arsed to google the BoVD, here's a link to what I'm talking about.. If you think that's "bowing to churches and women's groups" and "designed to be played by children" ... well, ok. You're nuts, but ok.
Regardless, you can have an intellectually satisfying campaign with almost any rule system so long as your DM is on the ball. Why the hell does THACO = serious game for grownups and AC = kiddie game when both systems are simply attempting model whether or not your barbarian's axe connects with the demon's skull?
That is my fault I should have asked this but when I hear AD&D I automatically think 2nd Ed, cause it's my preferred edition. You said you have the reprints, does your Player's Handbook look like this,
http://www.amazon.com/1st-Edition-Premium-Players-Handbook/dp/0786962437/ref=sr_sp-btf_title_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1370053296&sr=8-6&keywords=ad%26d+reprint
or this,
http://www.amazon.com/Premium-Advanced-Dungeons-Handbook-Rulebook/dp/0786964456/ref=sr_sp-atf_title_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1370053296&sr=8-2&keywords=ad%26d+reprint
The first is 1st ed, the second 2nd ed.
They made both a boxed game as well as a few official D&D Diablo II books back in the early 2000s.
https://www.amazon.com/Diablo-Tabletop-RPG-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/078691548X
https://www.amazon.com/Diablo-II-Diablerie-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/0786917601
They made one for Starcraft, as well.
https://www.amazon.com/StarCraft-Alternity-Sci-Fi-Roleplaying/dp/0786916184
The OP's DM screen is riddled with errors and pre-errata / pre-Essentials rules. If you have the Dungeon Master's Kit's screen or the Deluxe screen from 2011 then your official one will be more accurate. Even the original 2008 screen will have fewer errors, though it won't account for errata / Essentials rules changes.
OSRIC is a pretty good free and legal recreation of the 1e ADnD rules. It will at least help you learn the ropes. There are other retro-clones of 2e specifically, but I don't know any specifics about them. Also, WOTC has recently reprinted many of the old 2e books.
Advanced D&D (late 70s, early 80s) had psionics as an optional ability (if DM allowed). The skills were only slightly useful for combat situations (like molecular agitation to heat metal) but were fantastic for roleplay and campaign scenarios - like telempathic projection, or dimension walking for traveling vast distances.
In the early 90s, TSR finally put out a sourcebook for Psionics that included a Psionicist class with more combat-ready powers in it. It was pretty awesome, but again, optional.
I guess my question then, is how does something like this happen?
Most recent Adventure Module for D&D 5E, Tomb of Annihilation (price listed at $49.95) is being sold for $35.47 on Amazon. I checked this incognito so it should be this price for everyone on the US Amazon store and it says shipped and sold by Amazon. I looked on camelcamelcamel, and it was only being sold at MSRP when it first went up. Since then, it has never been less than $5 off, and is an average of $14 off.
Well then. The cheapest thing I can find is this (assuming you get me a used copy)
And why?
PINAPPLES THAT IS WHY
Wow, considering on Amazon the same is only available used (meaning it goes for $75-900) that is an insane deal.
(wasn't gonna link, but why the hell not)
The Red Hand of Doom is a classic adventurer for parties of levels 5-12 that most people seem to really enjoy.
http://www.amazon.com/TALE-COMET-Odyssey-Camapign-Expansion/dp/0786906537
Basically almost everything except the RPG is technically canon. Chronicle does retcon -some- stuff but most if it is just a repetition of what we already know with stuff added on. So basically, anything that ISN'T from the RPG, plus Chronicle is canon.
And by RPG, I don't mean WoW, I mean the Tabletop DND setting.
https://www.amazon.com/Warcraft-Roleplaying-Game-Arthaus/dp/1588460711/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=7ZSJ4JMAWB70CWB1J4KC
http://www.amazon.com/Sunless-Citadel-Dungeons-Dragons-Adventure/dp/0786916400
http://www.toywiz.com/dd2000sunlesscitadel.html?gclid=CP2X9_fhy7ICFUJo4AodjBAAwA
Unless I'm wrong that's just AD&D 2nd ed. right?
Edit: Also there was an module for 2nd ed. called Tale of the Comet that dealt with mixing D&D with more high tech space stuff.
Looking to sell some old D&D box sets/products.
Dark Sun AD&D 2e. Looking to sell this as a bundle. $50
Dragon Mountain adventure boxset. $30
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Mountain_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)
Dragonlance 5th Age, SAGA Rules. Looking to sell this as a bundle. $50
D&D 5e, $15 for both
no it was on its own. you can get it here if interested - https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Dungeon-Masters-Screen/dp/0786949279
I have another question. First, back story info.
I bought the Keep on the Shadowfell Adventure book and downloaded the quick start and bought some dice.
I played with my siblings and siblings-in-law (that sounds weird) and I enjoyed it, my wife at least pretended to, nobody else was a fan.
I found some friends who want to give it a try though.
My question is, should I get the Red Box for the first encounter, it is supposed to be easier, or should I say screw it and try again with the one I have.
I am tempted to buy the Red Box for the tokens but I don't know if it would be easier to play with a new group.
I guess it comes down to Essentials vs 4E core.
The Complete Book of Villians had an excellent example of a Succubi that got bored with seducing people via sex. She instead corrupts them by taking the form of a cute, childlike genie whose wishes always seem to go awry... There are several vignettes of the villains they follow through the book; it uses them as examples to add more context to each chapter. At one point, she artfully uses a suggestion spell on a fellow party member who is starting to get suspicious. This is after *several* wishes.
I could see a sentient item having similar powers.
EDIT: Great book for an AD&D 2e supplement, but I wouldn't spend $37 dollars on it. You can probably find it cheaper. IIRC, all of the AD&D 2e books were released as PDFs a few years ago.
The Book of Vile Darkness contains some rules for drug addiction, as well as some sample drugs for use in campaigns. It's 3.0 rules, but I'm sure you could modify them to fit 4.0. Or you can wait until December when the 4.0 edition is released (assuming no delays in publishing).
It's my physical copy of 3.5 edition but I bet there's one online in PDF somewhere. If you just want shots of the two monsters here you go. If you can't find it online, I'll happily send you art from other monsters in my 3.5 or 4th edition Monster Manuals :)
You want the Monster Manual that [looks like this] (http://www.amazon.com/Monster-Manual-Rulebook-Dungeons-Dragons/dp/078692893X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1451094951&sr=8-2&keywords=3.5e+DnD+Monster+Manual) and the Dungeon Master's Guide that [looks like this] (http://www.amazon.com/Dungeon-Masters-Guide-Rulebook-Dungeons/dp/0786928891/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1451095029&sr=8-2&keywords=3.5e+DnD+Dungeon+Master%27s+Guide).
Of course, they're out of print now, so you'll probably only find them used for various prices.
I really don't feel a lot of the problems listed for, at the very least, the 5e published adventures.
As a somewhat experienced DM (can I say that with about a decade of experience?), I really like the adventures because they give me a really solid structure, and my group and I can build our adventure around it.
For the complaints about railroading: If you have a group that you cannot reign in, to work on story, you shouldn't be playing a published adventure path adventure at all. You should be playing a straight sandbox where they can do what they want when they want.
For the complaints about not railroading enough: You aren't playing a video game rail shooter. Even with guidance you will have to go off-script, and often. If you just can't handle being given so much to be responsible for I recommend trying some of those mini adventures that publishers like Paizo became famous for. The very first adventure I ever ran, both as a player and as a DM, was a Wizards adventure called The Sunless Citadel. A third edition classic that has introduced several generations of players to the game... and everyone's favorite bumbling (at least until the optimization forums got to him) Kobold, Meepo.
For the somewhat specific complaint of having "level requirements" like in a video game: ...So? It's really more of a recommendation. Any experienced DMs are going to ignore that and adjust encounters as necessary, and it'll teach newer DMs about encounter power relative to player power. Besides, that has literally been a component of all of these published adventures since their inception. Right on the cover is usually a littler blurb "Intended for a group of X players at level Y," or something to that effect. Even those old micro-adventures that were literally a folded pamphlet with like, maybe 1500 words total, they devoted a precious few to level requirements.
To expound on the previous one a little more... specifically the author complains about being able to go to areas too easy or difficult at the drop of a hat; one of the oldest, most infamous, enormous, and expensive published adventures of all time Rappan Athuk, is hundreds of pages and dozens of maps worth of dungeon adventure. There are multiple entrances to the giant complex, ranging from the main "low level" entrance, to a mid-level one where a single Gargoyle would be able to wipe out an entire party without losing HP. And that's not unusual at all. Eventually you learned that "threat assessment" was a thing in that particular dungeon. Long story short: this is not new, it's not bad, and can actually present a fairly unique challenge to your players: having encounters your party cannot beat, can teach your players there are times where it's actually smart to run the hell away.
Okay this post has gotten way too big, so I'm not going to address every little problem so I'll sum up with something another poster said: You can't make everyone happy. But, in my opinion, even those people are not really trying and could be having a lot more fun than they are.
If you like 3e and the d20 system, look at Iron Heroes. Mike Mearls wrote it and he's one of the main devs for 5e.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Heroes
https://www.amazon.com/Monte-Presents-Heroes-Fantasy-Roleplaying/dp/1588467961
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/25985/Iron-Heroes-Revised?it=1
Its been over 10 years but I recall enjoying it. We didn't play it much though so I'm not sure how it pans out beyond 1-5 or so.
Are you, by chance, talking about Advanced Dungeons and Dragons 2nd Edition?
The rules are just slightly crunchy, all the numbers you need are comfortably listed in small tables, so you don't need to search around. Most of the "heavier" rules, heavy being an overestimate in this case, are optional, and it's up to the group to decide if they want to implement them.
You have two magic systems, divine and arcane, and you can use the psionicist handbook to add psionics.
IF you add the splatbooks, like the psionicist handbook right above, you have multiple options to customize the characters (kits), which don't stray to the point of messing the system.
Characters still have pretty good chances of dying easily, as there's a cap (-10) to Armor Class.
Last, but not least, the three core books (Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monster Manual) have been reprinted lately, and you can find them on Amazon.
And if you want some advice about the rules, you can PM at almost any time...
I did it in 3.5, there was a whole supplement for it called Heroes of Battle. We didn't often get to really test the mechanics because the DM had let the campaign get away from him (the player who "owned" the army we were fighting with had outfitted entire regiments with shield mounted 1' diameter teleport rings that linked to matching rings in from of repeating ballista he kept in the basement of his stronghold, for example).
I don't know if it'll convert directly to 5th ed, but you might want to get yourself a copy as a starting point.
WotC had a really cool 3.x supplement called Heroes of Battle that did a nice job of covering this sort of thing. It suggested treating the PCs as a commando style unit and treating the battles as large set pieces whose outcomes depend on the PCs actions.
Maybe the PCs join a faction and are assigned to disrupt another faction's supply lines. They get airdropped behind enemy lines from gryphon back with one time use featherfall tokens (maybe with some red shirts for support). From there, they have to try and bushwack to find the supply convoy without bringing the whole army down on their heads . If they fail, they are dealing with wave after wave of soldiers (the troop subtype is perfect for this), but maybe it pulls enemy reinforcements from the front, causing their army to do better. After finding they supply convoy, they have to disable/destroy it, survive a counter attack, and make it to an extraction point. Success indicates that the enemy army does poorly in battle because of a lack of food or equipment. Failing to destroy the convoy means their army is defeated and has to pull back. Getting captured would have them try to escape, with the possibility of securing valuable intelligence. Rewards for varying level of success could include enemy equipment commandeered or requisition orders from their army's quartermaster.
The crunch in Heroes of Battle is probably less useful for you, but the fluff and framing is invaluable.
Has Dragonlance been updated in any way? Is this worth getting?
Oh yeah?
If you're playing 4E, the modules are fairly good, with Keep on the Shadowfell being the first. Also, you can download that one from Wizards (PDF).
If you can find the original 4e starter set on Amazon get that instead of the new Red Box, it is easier to follow.
If you want to jump in and play right away get the H1 Keep on the Shadowfell adventure http://www.amazon.com/Keep-Shadowfell-Dungeons-Dragons-Adventure/dp/0786948507/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1300370947&sr=8-8 (this full length adventure includes quick start rules and pre-made characters) and some dice.