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zemd
Master of Realmslore
France
1103 Posts |
 Posted - 25 Jul 2003 : 15:52:54
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Reading Prestige Class Vs Core Class topic i had the idea of this one.
I am a litlle bit disappointed with the T&B, S&F, ... books. They give too much new feats/PrC/... and not enough INFORMATIONS about different role playing types according to the different classes. On the contrary i loved the old Complete class Handbooks.
In december will be released "The Complete Fighter", which i hope will be more focused on that type of book. (By the way, why is it always the figther first!!!)
What's your point of view?
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jul 2003 : 16:02:11
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I thoroughly enjoyed the 2e Complete [Class] Handbook series. I still have all of them, and except for the stats and class kits, I still find most of the material to be of some relevance. I draw heavily (still) from the Wizard's and Bard's Handbook (that last one, mainly in regard with the large amount of Loremaster material presented). In fact I hand out these tomes to all new players in my campaigns so they can 'get-a-feel' for the class so to speak.
I do the same with the Complete Book of [Race] tomes as well. I would be hard pressed to find any better material on the general D&D races than these guides, well...except for most of the 3e FR race material. That is pretty good.
The third party race books have been a real let down. I purchased the Guidebook to Orcs from Mongoose Publishing several months ago, and I can say that that tome was probably the most worthless piece of gaming material I had ever purchased. For a race book, the whole thing seemed to be filled more with stats and crunch than with actual racial background material on the character race as a whole.
Anyway, that's enough for now  .
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Mythander
Learned Scribe
USA
121 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jul 2003 : 17:44:42
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quote:
Originally posted by zemd
(By the way, why is it always the figther first!!!)
I have often thought the same thing. It seems they could come out with stuff for a more complex class first, to give them more time to incorporate the information. |
Wow! That has no saving throw written all over it. |
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Faraer
Great Reader
3308 Posts |
Posted - 25 Jul 2003 : 18:49:15
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I think both the PHBR series and the 3E splatbooks are the kind of bloat that shortened the publishing lifecycle of both systems. The source material in the PHBRs would have been much more useful if it had been tied to a campaign world: the Realms, Greyhawk, whatever. As well, a lot of problems were caused by people assuming that books such as PHBR8 The Complete Book of Elves -- whose author Colin McComb has apologized for it -- applied straightforwardly to the Realms, which they don't.
A Realms book on adventurers -- with information on adventuring companies, the culture and emotional dynamics of adventuring, Realmsian warriors and priests and mages and clerics and druids and bards -- would be great. We won't get one, which is another reason Realms sourcebooks need to be licensed to another company.
I do recommend the Mongoose Slayer's Guides to Dragons, and Undead, by Gary Gygax and Jon Creffield; the undead one gels better with the Realms. |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jul 2003 : 04:21:59
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Argh!!!...the Slayer's Guides...the bane of my DM existence. Seriously though, I have found these tomes to be of little use, well except for the afore mentioned Slayer's Guide to Dragons, but the rest were poorly done, and handle the races in an almost comic fashion. The 'Guide to Orcs', was the worst.
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jul 2003 : 06:46:11
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I have The Complete Wizard's Handbook in a Word file. I downloaded it and got confused very quickly -- then I realized it was second edition, and my confusion was in trying to match it up with my 3e PHB.
I think I'll go back and take another look at it, though. |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
Download the brickfilm masterpiece by Leftfield Studios! See this page for more. |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
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Bookwyrm
Great Reader
USA
4740 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jul 2003 : 09:40:12
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Well, Artalis gave me a copy. But I thought I had downloaded it beforehand from the Wizards website. I guess that I didn't, if you're surprised I have it.
I also have the Books for the bard, druid, fighter, paladin, priest, ranger, and thief classes, all in Word format as well. Same with the Handbooks for dwarves, elves, and gnomes and halflings.
In PDF, I have The Complete Book of Necromancers, The Complete Manual of the Drow, and the Ninja and Psionics Handbooks, plus another that's just called Shaman.
I also have some netbooks on classes and kits, half-elves, herbs, hygeine, infravision, and some others. (All fan-created stuff I downloaded.)
And no, I haven't read all of these. I haven't even read all of my 3e stuff yet! |
Hell hath no fury like all of Candlekeep rising in defense of one of its own.
Download the brickfilm masterpiece by Leftfield Studios! See this page for more. |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
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Lord Rad
Great Reader
United Kingdom
2080 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jul 2003 : 11:35:54
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I loved the old 2nd edition Complete [class\race] Handbook. They are among my all time favorite 2nd edition products.
I recommend the Quintessential series published by Moongoose Publishing. They even look the same as the old AD%D PHBR's An excellent series and very well detailed, im slowly working through purchasing this collection. |
Lord Rad
"What? No, I wasn't reading your module. I was just looking at the pictures"
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
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Mournblade
Master of Realmslore
USA
1287 Posts |
Posted - 26 Jul 2003 : 20:08:35
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I have been wary of Mongoose's Quintessential series. I am not sure if they serve a purpose yet. I buy the slayers guides for entertainment value, but htat is almost it. SOmetimes it has good information.
The 2e complete guides are loaded with valuable information and I do indeed use them for some of the 3e stuff. THough thank you sage! I never thought of using the Bard book for the Loremaster. So much for me thinking outside of the box. But the race books are great, and the complete humanoids book was incredible. I never bought the dwarf one though. Even though KITS are not used anymore, I have found some that would make great prestige classes, and other Kits that make great character concepts (no game crunch, just a theme). |
A wizard is Never late Frodo Baggins. Nor is he Early. A wizard arrives precisely when he means to... |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jul 2003 : 02:54:48
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I found the 'Dwarf' race book to be one of the best. Granted I only used it for my Dragonlance campaigns, but the information contained within really gave me an insight into the dwarven race, that is, until I purchased Dwarven Kingdoms of Krynn...
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Lord Rad
Great Reader
United Kingdom
2080 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jul 2003 : 09:39:23
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quote:
Originally posted by Sage of Perth
Really???. I have never found much use for these tomes, except as suggestion material for NPC's sometimes. What specifically do you like about them Rad?.
I just find them very useful in the way that most aspects of the particular race\class are covered...prestige classes, extra feats, equipment etc. I just love dedicated supplements like that.... suppose with the disappointment of the WotC 3rd edition collaborations like Sword and Fist then it made the Moongoose publications all the brighter  |
Lord Rad
"What? No, I wasn't reading your module. I was just looking at the pictures"
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jul 2003 : 10:12:48
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I have never really looked at it like that...hmm, you may be right. Can I ask which books you have from this series, so that I can at least make a comparison?.
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Lord Rad
Great Reader
United Kingdom
2080 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jul 2003 : 13:27:30
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quote:
Originally posted by Sage of Perth
I have never really looked at it like that...hmm, you may be right. Can I ask which books you have from this series, so that I can at least make a comparison?.
So far I only have:
Elves
Barbarian
Witch
Rogue
Bard
Druid
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Lord Rad
"What? No, I wasn't reading your module. I was just looking at the pictures"
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
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Mournblade
Master of Realmslore
USA
1287 Posts |
Posted - 27 Jul 2003 : 18:35:08
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I like the Amazon book. And I have the centaur and Gnoll as well as the Yuan ti. Don't forget the guide to female gamers. Hilarious.
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A wizard is Never late Frodo Baggins. Nor is he Early. A wizard arrives precisely when he means to... |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High
Australia
31774 Posts |
Posted - 28 Jul 2003 : 02:23:03
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Mournblade said -
quote:
Don't forget the guide to female gamers. Hilarious.
Actually I do have a copy of that one, and you're right it is hilarious. It presents a rather slim view of the female gamer though. Although I did like the PrC descriptions, especially the last one, but I cannot remember it's name.
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
Edited by - The Sage on 28 Jul 2003 02:23:51 |
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Arivia
Great Reader
Canada
2965 Posts |
Posted - 20 Mar 2004 : 05:39:42
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quote:
Originally posted by Bookwyrm
Well, Artalis gave me a copy. But I thought I had downloaded it beforehand from the Wizards website. I guess that I didn't, if you're surprised I have it.
Artalis likely pulled this off the expansion to the 2e Core Rules CD. All the books were included there in rich text files(.rtfs). |
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3E players' sourcebooks VS 2E players' handbook
