What rulebooks do you allow in your campaign, beyond the PH/DMG/MM?
It seems there are literally several hundred prestige classes and several dozen classes in WotC books now (and the number continues to grow). There's also widespread belief that quite a few of them are unbalanced to varying degrees.
Which books are best for inclusion, and which are worst? And why?
Regards,
Jack
I allow all character options on a case-by-case basis. If someone really wants to play a class that I don't like, they can use a tweaked version of the class that better suits my tastes.
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I don't know about best or worst but I do the 3 core, PHB2, DMG2, Arms and Equipment Guide and that is it. Heathy and Lilith have said that there are 652 Prestige classes and 80 core classes (1-20) in WOTC products. That is CRAZY!!!! I like the flavour of the equipment in the Arms and Equipment Guide (which is 3.0 so some tweaking of a few items is needed)and am looking forward to the Magic Item Compendium (march, I think).
I love the classes in the PHB2 because they are good all the way through and make you want to stay with them through 20th level. That's the way a core class SHOULD be. Nobody ever goes 20th level fighter, bard, etc. anymore, which is sad. I hate multiclassing to the excess and I am not a huge fan of Prestige Classes.
So to recap-
3-core
DMG2
PHB2
Arms and Equipment Guide
(and whatever Monster Manuals you wish:I do MM1 and MM2... not a big fan of the newer ones.)
FH
i allow any that my players whant to play as long as i have access to the book.but if we come across something we feel is unbalanced,we find someway to balance it.for example in the psionic hb 3.0 ver there is a power i think its called mind thrust but any way it doesnt cost any points and you can use it unlimited and it was something like a will save at -8 or be stuned for so many rounds.we ruled that out.
I allow all character options on a case-by-case basis. If someone really wants to play a class that I don't like, they can use a tweaked version of the class that better suits my tastes.
I am with Tequila on this one. I find that very few of the class options (even in supplements) unbalance play irreperably, and while I am (mostly) a Core purist, others view and play the game differently. They get something else out of playing different classes and I have to at least attempt to accomodate them.
I mostly allow the three Core books, the Completes and PH2 (also Spell Compendium on a spell by spell basis), but if a player wants to play something from another book, I ask to look at the option and decide on a case by case basis (with tweaking if necessary, as mentioned above). If you trust the player not to abuse the privilege, then there is no reason to disallow something because you are unfamiliar with it.
The modular system of the current rules set insures at least a modicum of balance, and as a DM, you are in good shape, even with some of the wild class options, PrC's etc. That being said, I don't think I want a Frenzied Berserker in any of my campaigns...
I allow PHB. everything else is a case by case basis. I have added two classes from Arcana Unearthed, and the Battle sorcerer fom Unearthed Arcana(Duskblade. There is a lot of broken crap out there, and nobody stayes a fighter after fourth it seems.
Yeah, allowed is a relative term. I use just about everything that has come out so far except for Incarnum, Weapons of Legacy, and the Tome of Battle. On the other hand, nobody has carte blanche to just take a class or race or use equipment automatically.
When it comes to classes and races, it all comes down to where the characters are from, and what their character background is. If it makes sense, they should be able to take it, but if its something that isn't a "common" ability, like, for example, Daggerspell Shapers, they are going to have to find someone from the organization and convince them they can be trained for the profession.
As far as equipment goes, it all depends on where they are again. When they get into new towns, we generally roleplay them finding a few shops, but once they have their "regulars" then while they are in town, they can pick up what they know is available. And if they are in a city like Waterdeep or Silverymoon, its going to be fairly easy to find even exotic items, but again, the more exotic, the more there is going to be roleplaying involved to find someone that deals in the items wanted.
No one gets spells not listed in the PH unless they have access to spellcasters that know them. So a wizard, when adding new spells when he gains a level, has to pick out of the PH for his automatic spells, but he can find other spells if he ends up paying for them from a caster that knows them.
Clerics actually work in a similar manner. Clerics and other divine casters have to find someone that knows the new spells in order to learn them, although I don't make them roll to see if they learn them, and they tend to learn them in "sets." In other words, a cleric of Helm that wants to cast the spells in Lords of Madness would have to find a cleric of Helm that has spent much of his career fighting aberrations, but once he has met him and trains with him, he gets the spells he is able to cast from that source.
Books I've allowed in my D&D 3.x campaigns:
WotC:
Core 3, Expanded Psionics handbook, PH2, MM2, MM3, Planar Handbook, Manual of the Planes, Fiend Folio, Complete (Arcane, Divine, Warrior, Adventurer, Mage), Races of (Stone, Wild, Destiny), All of the forgotten Realms stuff for 3.x (excluding Dragons of Faerun, Waterdeep, and Mysteries of the moonsea b/c I don't have them), Tome of Magic, Arms & equipment guide, Stronghold builder's Guidebook, Song & Silence, Masters of the Wild, Book of Exalted Deeds, and the Book of Vile Darkness, and the horrid horrid Oriental Adventures (the classes are better than the complete series IMO). If'n I'm running Greyhawk, I allow the Living Greyhawk Gazetter. Planescape Campaign Setting (2e & planewalker)(along with Planes of Law, conflict, and Chaos), Domains of Dread (2e) & Dark Sun campaign setting all add to my list of sources for inspiration, especially if I want to throw the players into the planes or let them fall through the wrong astral/ethereal gateway...
Non-WotC
Green Ronin's the book of Fiends, Green Ronin's the Shaman's Handbook, Monkeygod Enterprises From Stone to Steel, Various Dragon Magazines and Dungeon Magazines (heh heh heh, SCAP here I come!). Malhavoc's Anger of Angels, Book of Eldritch Might (all three), and the Book of Hallowed Might (thanks for the reminders KEJR)
That covers pretty much everything I allow.
What I don't allow is the Collegiate wizard feat in Complete Arcane or the Elven Wizard racial substitution levels AT ALL EVER. I don't allow Rokugan-specific stuff unless the game is set on the planes, which reminds me I have work to do with that game...
/d
Something else we have done is to make prestige class special feature into feats withthe same prerequisits. This allows wider variation of classes, while tending to keep the core classes relevant. I saw something similar in Rifts years ago where it made no sense to take a class from the core book.
Yeah, allowed is a relative term. I use just about everything that has come out so far except for Incarnum, Weapons of Legacy, and the Tome of Battle. On the other hand, nobody has carte blanche to just take a class or race or use equipment automatically.
When it comes to classes and races, it all comes down to where the characters are from, and what their character background is. If it makes sense, they should be able to take it, but if its something that isn't a "common" ability, like, for example, Daggerspell Shapers, they are going to have to find someone from the organization and convince them they can be trained for the profession.
As far as equipment goes, it all depends on where they are again. When they get into new towns, we generally roleplay them finding a few shops, but once they have their "regulars" then while they are in town, they can pick up what they know is available. And if they are in a city like Waterdeep or Silverymoon, its going to be fairly easy to find even exotic items, but again, the more exotic, the more there is going to be roleplaying involved to find someone that deals in the items wanted.
No one gets spells not listed in the PH unless they have access to spellcasters that know them. So a wizard, when adding new spells when he gains a level, has to pick out of the PH for his automatic spells, but he can find other spells if he ends up paying for them from a caster that knows them.
Clerics actually work in a similar manner. Clerics and other divine casters have to find someone that knows the new spells in order to learn them, although I don't make them roll to see if they learn them, and they tend to learn them in "sets." In other words, a cleric of Helm that wants to cast the spells in Lords of Madness would have to find a cleric of Helm that has spent much of his career fighting aberrations, but once he has met him and trains with him, he gets the spells he is able to cast from that source.
Yeah, I can remember having Grimmy all decked out with some wierd stuff from the Book of Hallowed Might & a couple of the other choice things. And you're right, at least I tend to ask before jumping into things...
I use the core rules. This does not include the PHB2 or DMG2. Multiclassing is cool but I believe the PHB touched on every archetype I would want. (And a few I don't like Paladins).
If I have a cool idea for a character concept or ability I see if it can be done by multiclassing, skill allocation, or making a new feat. So far I haven't hit many snags and it makes my Pcs easier to manage when I play and my NPC's easier to manage when I DM.
I allow anything from almost any book if the player can justify why he wants it. But I've also been lucky to game with fairly mature and undoubtably inteligent groups so they either offer an acceptable argument or agree to look for something else.
My players have free reign over the PH, PH II, the Spell Compendium and the Complete series.
Options in the Races series are only available to the races detailed in the particular book.
I give clerics, druids, and bards the core spells, and I then allow them to choose three spells per spell level from other sources to add to their permanent spell lists - this keeps the spell lists from getting out of hand.
Non-primary casters such as rangers, paladins, etc. are allowed to pick two spells per spell level.
The environment books are allowed but only if your character is native to that environment. I also use character background as a determining factor as to other books being allowed (martial background characters can use Heroes of Battle, undead fighting characters can use Heroes of Horror, etc).
I currently do not use Magic of Incarnum, Tome of Magic, and the Arms and Equipment Guide. I just recently debated picking up this last one but decided not to. I dislike getting too much into normal gear because after all my player may not know what type of equipment to bring on a mountain adventure but his dwarven character certainly would. Too much hassle separating player knowledge from character knowledge when it comes to normal equipment, in my opinion.
I find this works well in keeping game balance and preventing characters from becoming too cookie cutter-ish. I strive to make elven fighters different from their human counterparts (and so on) and try to use sourcebook availability to enhance this goal.
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i allow any that my players whant to play as long as i have access to the book.but if we come across something we feel is unbalanced,we find someway to balance it.for example in the psionic hb 3.0 ver there is a power i think its called mind thrust but any way it doesnt cost any points and you can use it unlimited and it was something like a will save at -8 or be stuned for so many rounds.we ruled that out.
I'm with The darkhuntsman here...
I pretty much allow everything as long as my players have the source book as a reference on hand at all gaming sessions.
Thoth-Amon
Yeah, I can remember having Grimmy all decked out with some wierd stuff from the Book of Hallowed Might & a couple of the other choice things. And you're right, at least I tend to ask before jumping into things...
Oh, heck, I like players using new things, classes, equipment, etc., I just like having enough time work out how the new things will fit into the campaign.
I had a lot of fun running Grim through all of his paces in that campaign.
(I was wondering if I could mention Daggerspell Shapers and not catch your attention, lol)
i allow any that my players whant to play as long as i have access to the book.but if we come across something we feel is unbalanced,we find someway to balance it.
This is the route I'm going for in my upcoming campaign. There's so much out there (especially non-WotC) and I'd love to see what coolness the players can come up with (and throwing them up against unexpected baddies as well.) My only real constraint is that if it's something I don't have that they either have the book or a copy of the spell/feat/ability handy for referencing. I've got a good-sized d20 library to cull from, it's good to have the the books get used. I also have the luck of playing with experienced Players/DMs so they're quick to assist should something seem way off balance.
- Chris Shadowens
My stuffs all world specific so allow elements of the first four complete books, Book of Exalted Deeds, Expanded Psionics Handbook, Complete Psionics Handbook and Players Handbook II.
We allow pretty much everything. Despite what anyone else says, it has been my experience that nothing is unbalanced if the DM is prepared for it.
I will admit that some classes are markedly inferior to others. That is not because the new classes are broken, but because the old classes were underpowered. Sorcerer, for example, was never on par with the wizard for a single-classed caster but was ideal for qualifying for prestige classes that mixed in other abilities (no spellbook to lug).
Most of the new classes give you incentives to single class all the way to 20th level, which points to better design, not an unbalanced one.
Anything has to be passed by the DM first. Rare is the thing I veto. We've had good experiences wiht stuff from tome of magic, expanded psionics, and complete warrior.
What books I allow vary from game to game.
Most of the time, it's 3 core, PHB2, Tome of Battle, Complete series, sometimes psionics, and certain races from the Monster Manuals.
In my games, players come with a concept for their character first. What they can pick is based solely on what they have created themselves. The better the background, the greater the choices.
This forces players to think about their characters first, and about the rules second.. they can't design anything in game rules before they have a good enough concept.
But if the players have a good story, I allow just about anything, as long as they have either a book it's in, or a good argument why what they created themselves isn't broken.
Story first, rules second. The greatest characters always seem to not follow the rules of logic. Just read a good book, see what I mean...
RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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In addition to the core rules, I allow the following: All Complete books, PHB2 (case-by-case), BoVD/BoED, Arms & Equipment, FRCS (a few items are only applicable in a FR game, though), Magic of Faerun, Underdark, Lost Empires of Faerun (FR ONLY), Expanded Psionics Handbook (on very rare occassion I allow psionics), & Manual of the Planes (3.0).
The only non-WotC books I use are campaign settings and are only applicable to the settings they're used in. Forgotten Realms is the exception because it is broad enough (in my opinion) that many (not all) of the options offered in it can be applied to other settings. The campaign settings I own (in addition to FR) are the following:
Dragonstar (Fantasy Flight)
Ravenloft (Sword & Sorcery)
Iron Kingdoms (Privateer Press)
For Dragonstar, I have the Galaxy Guide, Starfarer's Handbook, Galactic Races, and Player's Guide. For Ravenloft, I have the main CS, Denizens of Darkness, and Secrets of the Dread Realms. For IK, I have the Character Guide, the World Guide, the Liber Mechanika, the Five Fingers book, & a couple issues of No Quarter Magazine. All of these are allowed in campaigns set in the relevant setting.
I pretty much allow everything and anything that WotC comes out with, and the rest on a case by case basis. If it's anything odd or that comes with special mechanics, I make sure to familiarize myself with it so I know how it's supposed to work.
We currently use the core 3 and the Completes, though the DM uses anything he can google as well. If we start a new campaign, we'll probably allow most of what we own, which isn't much more-- just adding PHB2 and Complete Mage. Though psionics would also be interesting, I don't think there's much demand for it yet.
I pretty much allow everything and anything that WotC comes out with, and the rest on a case by case basis. If it's anything odd or that comes with special mechanics, I make sure to familiarize myself with it so I know how it's supposed to work.
Same here, except I capped the campaign at the PHBII. Nothing allowed from the books after that. Non -WotC stuff is almost a non issue since I have expressed a dislike of it to my players. It's not that there isn't some great stuff out there, there certainly is, but you have to draw a line somewhere. The D&D line of books has done really well by us so far.
-Roth
I generally allow anything by WotC or Malhavoc, with anything else on a case-by-case basis. Naturally, I reserve the right to veto anything even in the official books - some things just don't fit into the kind of game I run, and occasionally even Wizards let a dodgy magic item or feat into their books.
Naturally, you want to be careful about particularly weird stuff (Savage Species, Libris Mortis) unless that's fitting for the kind of game you want to run. Do not let your players at Book of Vile Darkness as a rule of thumb.
Personally, I allow anything that the player is willing to make fit into the party. You want to play a human fighter using only core feats? Cool. You want to play a Zenthyri Ardent? I look forward to reading your backstory. Svirfneblin Ninja? Tell you what -- we'll throw out the eastern flavor, and call you a mystic assassin trained to eliminate threats in the underdark (or equivalent,) but you'll have to explain to me why you're traveling peacefully with the Whisper Gnome, the Chaos Gnome, and the Polka Gnome.
I only rarely ban things outright, and that's generally because it's just asking to be abused. Lolth-Touched (MMIV) is not a +1 LA. Changeling Warshapers are silly. No matter how well you roll, I'm not giving your Unseelie Fey flight as an extraordinary ability for a +0 LA (otherwise, it's a great template both for flavor and mechanics).
On the other hand, I do allow evil (or even vile) PCs if I trust the player to play them responsibly (and maturely) and respect the comfort and fun of the rest of the players. If you aren't willing to expend the effort to formulate a reasonable explanation of why your Favored Soul of Pyremius isn't going to kill the rest of the party in their sleep and set them on fire, I'm not willing to expend the effort necessary to DM him. If you are, that's a green light. I look forward the look on your party member's faces the first time they see you cast Heartclutch.
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RPG Superstar 2010 Top 16
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There is some published material that deals with specific genres (Heroes of Horror, or Libris Mortis), themes (Book of Exalted Deeds, or Powers of Faerun), or settings (Eberron, or Stormwrack). I think those books work best in campaigns with those elements.
For example, I'm currently running an abreviated campaign, sending a party of characters against the "Red Hand of Doom" in the tropics of the Forgotten Realms. I allow most of the material in the "Complete" series and the "Races" books, except for those prestige classes that don't seem to be compatable with the Realms. I allow "Heroes of Battle," because the campaign's focus is a large-scale armed struggle, but I wouldn't allow material from any of the books mentioned above. This isn't a horror campaign, it isn't a "mature material on the subject of good and evil" campaign, and it's not set in Eberron.