That is kind of a hard call, judging any individual product, as they are so different. How do I compare Psionics Unleashed, to the Tome of Horrors, to Slumbering Tsar, to the Dragon Rider, to Strategists and Tacticians etc. The size scope and goals of the products are so wildly different I cant really choose.
So list all of your favorites! Divided into categories!
Hmmmm ok, it can be like an awards show....
Best Giant book of monsters: Tome of horrors by Frog God Games. More monsters then you want to be forced by your dm to shake a stick at. The heavy thud this behemoth makes when I drop it on my table brings fear and dread out in my players.
Best Absurdly large adventure: The Slumbering Tsar by Frog god games
Best Supplemental System Sourcebook: Psionics Unleased by Dreamscarred Press
Best soft cover option book: Tie between Aventurers Handbook (Super Genius Games) and Strategists and Tacticians (Four Winds Fantasy).
Best short PDF option product: 101 new skill uses by Rite Publishing
Best single class pdf: The Dragon Rider, The Time Theif, The Godling, The Shadow Assasin, all by Super Genius Games...Honorable mention to the Anachronistic Adventures Enforcer and Investigator.
Best relatively small feat pdf: Feats of Battle by super genius games.
Best equipment product: Loot4less line by super genius games (as well as the kragnar products that dont fit in the loot for less line)
And my most used and absolute favorite 3rd party products that literally have changed my game for the better.............[drum roll]
The Super Genius Archetype Line of products(Arcane, Archer, Divine and Martial). Different from the paizo style of 'archetype' these allow you to mix and match groups of options regardless of class. Want to add some divine magic to a fighter? No problem. Want a wizard with a bit more combat oomph, we got you covered. These were also the key to my replacement of the wealth system and the vast majority of magic items in my game, allowing me to forever say goodbye to magic mart and the idea that magic items have become mundane and common in my game.
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3PP fiction: Shadowsfall Legends: Pawn, Deception, and Sacrifice—Valdia's Tale from Jon Brazier Enterprises. It's really fun fiction to introduce the upcoming Plane of Shadow campaign setting material that they are releasing.
E-Zine: Wayfinder 1-6, but Wayfinder 6 is my favorite of them so far.
Monster Book: Tome of Horrors from Frog God Games, of course.
Adventure: Black Monastery from Frog God Games, but it's the only 3rd party adventure I've bought yet. I also have not had time to run it yet.
I want to check out Raging Swan's stuff, (especially What's for Sale, Anyway?) and more of 0One Games's stuff as well. I just have to watch my budget as the Pathfinder Battles came out this month, so I'm a little behind on the gaming budget.
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Biased opinion- "Bugbears of the Frozen Tears" released by Raging Swan Press, though that will probably be replaced by "Duergars of the Obsidian Citadel" at a later date also by Raging Swan.
Unbiased opinion- This is pretty much based on the stuff I'm using currently-
Frog God Games- Tomb of Horrors- undeniably awesome book of monsters that scare my players.
Jon Brazer- Guide to the River Nations- a must have book if you are playing the Kingmaker AP. I love having the extra buildings and a lot more random events. Also, great support for it under the Kingmaker AP thread here with an excel worksheet. Once we found a random magic item generator, kingdom building is a breeze.
Raging Swan Tribe lines- and not just the one I wrote, but Raging Swan has a lot of cool, unique tribes of monsters that takes away the tedium of statting up more mundane monsters just to challenge your players.
That's just based on what I'm using now. I still enjoy using stuff from Open Design, Rite Publishing, Zombie Sky Press, and 4 Winds.
Looking forward to more Frog God Game releases (the big ones!) and I know Raging Swan has got some cool stuff coming. Oh and Zombie Sky's "Weird Cycle." That should definitely rock.
My favorite thing I wrote that's available right now is the Secrets of Forgotten Magic Items. It was a lot of fun to make (and more fun to playtest!), and it got to #4 at Paizo :). I suspect it'll stay that way for a while, but we'll see how this current project in a similar vein turns out!
Books I use a lot:
Adventurer's Handbook by SGG. I love the Shadow Assassin in it.
101 New Skill Uses
I'm also warming up to the Divine Favor series by OD. I realized recently that 2/3rds of my characters are divine types, so the series is great!
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Not by me or including my own stuff, Things I use in my games.
Best Bestiary: Forgotten Foes, its brilliantly designed and has the best art of any 3PP monster book out there.
Best new class: Time Thief by SGG is still my favorite. Though I have come to appreciate the witch hunter a great deal as well.
Best Supplement: Sunken Empires (still)
Sadly I don't get the time to read a great deal of the new stuff out there because I spend a great deal of my time designing/publishing.
Best Critter Compendium Forgotten Foes (Tricky Owlbear)...Tome of Horrors(Frog God Games) is incredible, but in the end it's quality over quantity
Favorite Drop In Locale Kavit M.Tors Emporium of Collectible Curiosities (Rite Publishing)
Best 3PP single class The Time Thief/Warden...the two of them offer so many possibilities...close behind them I'd have to go with The Dragonrider (Super Genius Games)
Best 3PP setting Cerulean Seas (Alluria) takes a backseat to my all time favorite 3pp setting, which is amazing when you take into account how much I love the Cerulean Seas setting, Ptolus. Yes, Ptolus. It's technically a 3pp product, and for me, has withstood the test of time as one of the greatest city settings ever devised. (Malhavoc)
Go to Guide for Loot a handful of the #30 series from Rite and the What's for sale anyway? series from Raging Swan.
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My all time favorite is Luven Lightfinger's Gear & Treasure Shop by 4WFG. Mostly i like adding extra mundane gear and such to my games and it is the 3pp book I use the most.
Due to this post, I ordered the book from my FLGS.
I'd all be for that! I'm currently compiling my personal top 10 of 2011-list, but that's only one opinion versus an award...
w3hat would the categories actually be? There is such a variety of 3pp products it would be hard to imagine. Especially given how different some compnanies' business models are. How do you compare tome of horros for instance against one of SGGs mythic manageries for best monster book?
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I'm rather fond of Wayfinder. :D
I'll be honest I haven't used a lot, but from what I have used I'd say Psionics Unleashed by Dreamscarred Press
My all time favorite is Luven Lightfinger's Gear & Treasure Shop by 4WFG. Mostly i like adding extra mundane gear and such to my games and it is the 3pp book I use the most.Due to this post, I ordered the book from my FLGS.
Thank you both very much!
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That would be absolute win...there are a lot of designers and products in the third party world who deserve some recognition for what they bring to the table.
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I don't know who would run it, but a 3pp Pathfinder awards ceremony would be a great event for Paizo Con.
"Pathfinder Third Party Publisher Award of Excellence" or more briefly a "Lisa" because, well... you know why.
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
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I'll blow the horn of self-tooting here for a moment. If you haven't had the opportunity to check out former RPG Superstar contender Richard Hunt's writing for us on the Infamous Adversaries: Temerlyth the Undying and the Sinister Secrets of Silvermote adventure, you are missing out.
I won't let the cat entirely out of the bag yet, but TPK has some exciting stuff on the way, and a couple more veterans from the Paizo community writing for us this year.
Our crew uses a lot of Rite's 101 series, and I've used FWFG supplements and Dreamscarred's Psionics.
Definitely 4 Winds Publishing's 'Book of Arcane Magic.' I had seen it on my FLGS's shelves, but sort of put it on the back burner. Anyway, I ended up spending my last birthday in the hospital. When my wife went to my favorite FLGS (Ronin Games in Castro Valley, CA) to pick out my gifts (Game Mastery Guide and Advanced Combat), Ed added the Book of Arcane Magic as a gift from himself. Anyway, long story short, loved the book. Great spells, great familiar options (especially the clockwork familiar), and the magical college feats are a great launch pad for campaign-specific feats. Even the fluff narration is engaging, which is a rare find.. As soon as I got out of the hospital, I picked up the Book of Divine Magic and made them both entirely legal in my homebrew campaign.
P.S. Seriously, Ed's a great guy. If you're in the Bay Area, he runs a great store which is well worth the trip.
We're very happy you enjoyed it! Thanks! And thank Ed for us as well!
Tome of Horrors is best by far.
But I also just recently got Cerulean Seas by Alluria Publishing, and I was surprised and impressed at the quality.
From Pathfinder, Psionics Unleashed. Hands down. It's pretty much blanket legal in my games, and will remain so. I also appreciate Grit and Gunslingers.
From 3.5, Advanced Bestiary, followed by Aerial Adventures Guide, Seas of Blood, Necromantic Lore, Seafarer's Handbook, and Sorcery and Steam.
My favorite 3PP book is Forgotten Foes,, and while I played a little part in the artwork side, I can take no glory for the wonderful (and inventive) writing. I use this book often in my games, and while other bestiaries have similar creatures, the ones from FF just have a different feel.
Another great bestiary that I use quite often is Creepy Creatures: Bestiary of the Bizarre. It is not often that you see a 3PP book in colour, but I don't think Alluria Publishing create anything else. Colour books are just damn cool (and also extremely expensive).
- Axel
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After thinking about it, I will list my top three in each of the groups below. Some of them I am listing by series, a group of books about the same thing by the same publisher. I should note I am not putting them in order, just listing them in groups of three. Also to note these are just from the books I own and have fully read.
Campaign/Setting
Cerulean Sea by Alluria Publishing
Northlands by Open Design
The Great City by 0 One Games
Monster Book (*note I don't yet have Tome of Horrors)
Forgotten Foes by Tricky Owlbear
Creepy Creatures by Alluria Publishing
Book of Beasts by Jon Brazer Enterprise
Adventure
Slumbering Tsar by Frog God Games
Coliseum Morpheuon by Rite Publishing
Tales of the Old Margreve by Open Design
Class/Character options
Advanced Options series by Super Genius Games
Divine Favor series by Open Design
The Secrets of Divine Channeling by Rite Publishing
Equipment/Magic Items
Luven Lightfinger's Gear and Treasure Shop by 4 Wind Fantasy Gaming
101 Malevolent Magic Items by Rite Publishing
Legendary Weapons Series by Purple Duck Games
Spells
Eldritch Secrets by Headless Hydra Games
Exalted Domains by Super Genius Games
1010 Spells by Rite Publishing
NPC's
Gothic Heroes by Legendary Games
Orcs of the Eternal Zenith by Raging Swan Games
Faces of the Tarnished Souk series by Rite Publishing
Rules
Book of the River Nations by Jon Brazer Enterprise
Random Encounters Remastered series by Purple Duck Games
30 Haunts Series by Rite Publishing
Misc
Phantasia Zoological - Cats, Dogs, and Horses by 4 Wind Fantasy Gaming
101 NPC Boons/Grudges by Rite Publishing
The Learning Curve by Tricky Owlbear
I actually hate making lists like these cause I like the vast majority of the 3pp stuff out there and there is some good products not on this list.
I'd just like to quick thank those who espoused some Tricky Owlbear love in this thread. We worked hard to ensure that Forgotten Foes is worthy of your dollars.
A close second is the Imperial Gazetteer Principalities The Principality of Morgau and Doresh, and Realms Subterranean. While I don't care for the vampire side much, the idea of an entire nation of intelligent and powerful ghouls under the very feet of the pcs with its own class system based on how the person's body reacted to the disease that transformed them into a ghoul, some being literal beggars and virtually powerless, to some retaining the full power they had in life and gaining significantly more besides.
Thank you. I contributed quite a bit to that particular book, and I'm particularly proud of the darakhul PC option. I'm glad to hear you like it-- it's one of the OD books that often flies under the radar. :D
-Ben.
I actually hate making lists like these cause I like the vast majority of the 3pp stuff out there and there is some good products not on this list.
Well, thanks for including 2 of our books on the list!
If I had to choose a single product, Psionics Unleashed would take it. But really, I love so much of the 3PP stuff, Super Genius Games, Rite Publishing, Open Design, there are so much good content out there.
Contributor
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I don't know who would run it, but a 3pp Pathfinder awards ceremony would be a great event for Paizo Con.
Ok! Now we're collaborating. Take my notion of an Ennie like award, turn it into a Paizo Con event, and nudge Paizo into putting up a vote page.
The only things it seems to need are (1) an independent -- non Paizo employee -- judging panel, arrived at through an independent process and (2) a way for 3pp to submit one product to each category.
Problem #1: Perhaps we can convince Wayfinder to run a judge election process each year, and the first time out of the gate, maybe non-Paizo Wayfinder staff get to be the judges? If Wayfinder was up to it, Liz might serve as the bridge since she jumped from uber fan to staff? I'm sure there are better solutions out there. This one just jumped to my head.
Alternately, maybe whoever posts the most reviews on Paizo.com weighted for how often the reviews receive comments could become a judge automatically? I bet we could devise a formula for that.
Just noodling here.
Problem #2: This one is easy, I think. Submission is PDF only, regardless of whether the product was originally print or pdf.
After that it follows the Ennie pattern:
1. 3pps submit hopefuls.
2. Judges select nominees.
3. Community votes
4. Awards announced at Paizocon
Boy do I like this.
PS DM - I like your categories. Seems like a few short tweaks to a win on that score.
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Best Monster Book - Tome of Horrors: Complete, by Frog God Games
More monsters than you can swing a sword at, and the majority of them are awesome even looked at on their own. In fact, of the ones that Paizo (or WotC) have redone with thier own stats, I can't think of any offhand that I don't prefer the ToH version. Basically, if you only own one bestiary...ignore the Paizo ones, and make it THIS book.
Best Monster Supplement - Advanced Bestiary, by Green Ronin
Along with the Book of Monster Templates from Rite Publishing and the Book of Templates: Deluxe Edition 3.5 from Silverthorne Games, you never need to use another vanilla monster again!
Best System Supplement - Psionics Unleashed, by Dreamscarred Press
If you want to use psionics in Pathfinder, use this. Will be even better when it's merged with Psionics Expanded into one massive tome of mental goodness.
Best System-Neutral Supplement - Grimtooth's Traps, by Flying Buffalo Games
For when you feel like killing some PCs.
Best Gaming System - Swords & Wizardry: Complete Rules, by Frog God Games
Technically, FGG is a first-party publisher for this. But g@@!%~n it, this is so freaking awesome that it's getting this space for yet another bit of pimping from me. This is the fantasy roleplaying game that I want to be playing.
Best Campaign Setting - Carcosa, by Lamentations of the Flame Princess
Probably the most controversial choice on my list, as not only is it not for Pathfinder, but played as written it's a pretty extensive rules hack on LotFP (or whatever retro-clone / pre-d20 version you chose to use it with). Still, the awesomeness cannot be denied. It's like Howard meets Lovecraft, but with a dash of comic-book sci-fi thrown in.
Best Adventure - Rappan Athuk, by Frog God Games
Ok, it's not out yet...but it's coming. You WILL go down the well, and you WILL meet a horrible end. So it has been written twice before, and so shall it be again.
...Orcs of the Eternal Zenith by Raging Swan Games
Thanks DM!
I definitely concur that a series of awards would be a valuable addition to PaizoCon or to any publication. That said, I think the best way to make people realize that is to attract some attention by holding your own vote here on the forums.