Best d&d book ever written!

[captain yesterday]

I'm interested, can you tell me more about it?

[captain yesterday]

doublejig2 wrote:

captain yesterday wrote:

I'm interested, can you tell me more about it?

Hi, thanks. Book comes in at around 460 pages. Here, the blurb on Amazon:

Looking to play better Dungeons & Dragons? Tired of just skimming the adventurer gameable surface? Want a more immersive game table experience? Take a plunge into a productive, fantasy campaign milieu discussion. Here, what follows is an in-depth, eclectic body of work. Gritty fantasy world conceptions are developed, including: classes, denizens, communities, core areas, adversaries, geography, fantasy milieu, and campaigns. This sourcing foundation is augmented with original fiction and chock full of examples and insights into the creative process. Always, the reader is anchored into the campaign milieu and its panics, revels, and struggles, which develop over the course of the text. Thus, with depth, when taken to the max this book should be flat out inspiring to a particular kind of reader. Gaining entry are thus experienced referees, rock-steady adventurers, theorists, hooded savants, and planet savers. The only questions remaining, then, sir or madam, are will you pass muster in an intense game table discussion? Will you feed your head?

Ultimately, Dice or Die is definitely not a beginner's text but one with much to offer in terms of deeper thinking on treasured FRP topics and implementations and just in time for Christmas. At $16.26, it's a real stocking stuffer or perhaps something for after New Year's!

Sounds like fun I'll check it out! Thank you! I was honestly expecting a link to off shore Korean barbecue or something when I clicked on the thread, I'm glad I was wrong!

[W E Ray]

Well, if you don't mind the Threadjack
(Your Thread Title made me do it!)

.

1) 3.0 Dungeon Master's Guide
Monte Cook's masterpiece: defines Metagaming, categorizes and introduces nomenclature for how we think about player characters, adventures, campaign settings, and is the beginning of contemporary gaming theory.

2) 2E Monstrous Compendium
As much as we grew up on and loved the artwork of the 1977 Monster Manual, the 1989 Monstrous Compendium was a true monster book with rich text of each monster's society, culture, history, place in the ecology of the D&D setting, etc. And for the poor, sad souls who play this game for Crunch instead of Fluff, the 2E monster book was also FAR better of a rules book for monsters.

3) 3.5 Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
The FRCS is by a landslide the best campaign setting book ever done. Sure, it may look like a thousand pages of nothing but walls of text in an 8-point-font -- but really that's just your ptsd from bad memories of the 1978 DMG. The FRCS never gets old, is easy to read, is reasonably well organized for a volume with so much varied content, and can provide lifetimes of source material for your Forgotten Realms game. Sure, it doesn't compete with the player at your table who read and memorized over 100 FR novels (I'm a toddler, a rank novice, at FR, and I've read nearly 50 novels.) But the FRCS is miles better of a campaign setting book than the laughingstock setting books that would be in second or third place in that category. I mean, I love Greyhawk a million times more than FR and use the 3.0 LGG often -- but it's a pale echo of a pamphlet compared to the FRCS. And I've fallen in love with the Pathfinder setting even more than GH, but the combined material of Paizo's 2008 Campaign Setting and then the Inner Sea Guide are both ludicrously incomplete and insufficient. If the FRCS feels like a thousand pages of walls of text in an 8-point-font, Pathfinder's corresponding books feel like pamphlets with 40-point-font text and mostly pictures.

4) 3.5 Dungeon Master's Guide 2
While Monte Cook's masterpiece 3.0 DMG is the beginning of contemporary game theory, actually showing us for the first time ever how to look at our game style and methodology, well, Robin Laws' DMG2 finishes it. We get so much insight in how to be Better DMs, creating a better experience for ourselves and our players. I mean, the chapter that identifies and describes various player-types, and points out that, 'Hey, be cognizant of both the player who just wants his PC to look cool, as well as the player who just wants her character to do crazy stuff,' should be required reading for every player in the game. (And yes, I know that technically the DMG 2 was coauthored with a few other people -- but I'm confident in saying the good stuff is almost ALL Robin Laws.)

5) 1977 Monster Manual
This started it all. A picture is greater than a 1000 words and this is the book that really got this whole thing of ours going. Trampier!!!! Sutherland!! Wham! Wells! OMG. Next thing you know Otus, Parkinson, Elmore, Easley and Bron are ruling the world. If you don't have a copy of this book on your shelf, I dunno, it's hard for me to even think of you as a gamer. ;)

Honorable Mention: True 20

[W E Ray]

Only if you admit you're with the publisher, probably the author, and created a profile here just to promote your own business.

:)

But seriously, I AM taking a good look at it. Can you provide a bit more than what we see on Amazon?

.

(Leave it to Cpt Yesterday to make me hungry for Korean BBQ!)

[captain yesterday]

Damn it, now I'm also hungry for Korean barbecue!

I don't think it breaks any rules, you were pretty obvious and transparent, I was mostly intrigued by your use of Audacious and confidence in your work. I'm sold, as soon as I wrest the Amazon password from my wife.

Welcome to the boards! I hope you have a good time! Though you'll want to stick to gamer life, movies, books, tv shows, video games, and off topic as the rest of the boards can have a... Wild west aspect about them.

Although the Adventure Path boards can be a good source of creativity and camaraderie it's been a bit more hit or miss the last few years.

[W E Ray]

Welcome to the Boards!

.

In the spirit of Liz Courts and we old Werecabbages, here, enjoy some cookies.

[captain yesterday]

W E Ray wrote:

Well, if you don't mind the Threadjack

(Your Thread Title made me do it!)

.

1) 3.0 Dungeon Master's Guide
Monte Cook's masterpiece: defines Metagaming, categorizes and introduces nomenclature for how we think about player characters, adventures, campaign settings, and is the beginning of contemporary gaming theory.

2) 2E Monstrous Compendium
As much as we grew up on and loved the artwork of the 1977 Monster Manual, the 1989 Monstrous Compendium was a true monster book with rich text of each monster's society, culture, history, place in the ecology of the D&D setting, etc. And for the poor, sad souls who play this game for Crunch instead of Fluff, the 2E monster book was also FAR better of a rules book for monsters.

3) 3.5 Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting
The FRCS is by a landslide the best campaign setting book ever done. Sure, it may look like a thousand pages of nothing but walls of text in an 8-point-font -- but really that's just your ptsd from bad memories of the 1978 DMG. The FRCS never gets old, is easy to read, is reasonably well organized for a volume with so much varied content, and can provide lifetimes of source material for your Forgotten Realms game. Sure, it doesn't compete with the player at your table who read and memorized over 100 FR novels (I'm a toddler, a rank novice, at FR, and I've read nearly 50 novels.) But the FRCS is miles better of a campaign setting book than the laughingstock setting books that would be in second or third place in that category. I mean, I love Greyhawk a million times more than FR and use the 3.0 LGG often -- but it's a pale echo of a pamphlet compared to the FRCS. And I've fallen in love with the Pathfinder setting even more than GH, but the combined material of Paizo's 2008 Campaign Setting and then the Inner Sea Guide are both ludicrously incomplete and insufficient. If the FRCS feels like a thousand pages of walls of text in an 8-point-font, Pathfinder's corresponding...

AD&D Monster Manual 2 holds a special place because it was the very first D&D book I bought. But otherwise I agree with everything on this list.

[keftiu]

This thread as one big attempt at advertising and I’m not sure I like it.

[Fergie]

I have no issues if some small creator plugs their stuff here. Last week someone posted a great interview they did on their YT channel with some Paizo people. I love stuff like that.

I would be upfront about being one of the creator, as what may be obvious to some is not obvious to all. I would recommend also sharing more of your personal feelings about the book then the pre-written blurbs.

If it was some corporation or spammer here I would be flagging up a storm.

On the subject of great gaming books, I'm vary curious to check this book out:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XDM:_X-Treme_Dungeon_Mastery

I recall some YT creator (Prof Dungeon Master?) recommending it very highly. It seemed very relevant to those looking to create their own settings or systems.

NOTE: This thread might get moved to the books section of the forum.

[Rysky]

Self-promotion is fine, it's the bit of subterfuge at the beginning that's ehhhh

[James Jacobs]

W E Ray wrote:

4) 3.5 Dungeon Master's Guide 2

While Monte Cook's masterpiece 3.0 DMG is the beginning of contemporary game theory, actually showing us for the first time ever how to look at our game style and methodology, well, Robin Laws' DMG2 finishes it. We get so much insight in how to be Better DMs, creating a better experience for ourselves and our players. I mean, the chapter that identifies and describes various player-types, and points out that, 'Hey, be cognizant of both the player who just wants his PC to look cool, as well as the player who just wants her character to do crazy stuff,' should be required reading for every player in the game. (And yes, I know that technically the DMG 2 was coauthored with a few other people -- but I'm confident in saying the good stuff is almost ALL Robin Laws.)

I wrote a sizable chunk of that book, so it's always fun to see folks cite it as a favorite! :) (Was fun; I mostly worked on the Adventure Writing section, the NPC section, some of the magic items, and the Saltmarsh stuff, but WotC also had me go in and develop a fair amount of the other text to help it all sync up once the initial writing for the book was all done.)

[Pan]

James Jacobs wrote:

W E Ray wrote:

4) 3.5 Dungeon Master's Guide 2

While Monte Cook's masterpiece 3.0 DMG is the beginning of contemporary game theory, actually showing us for the first time ever how to look at our game style and methodology, well, Robin Laws' DMG2 finishes it. We get so much insight in how to be Better DMs, creating a better experience for ourselves and our players. I mean, the chapter that identifies and describes various player-types, and points out that, 'Hey, be cognizant of both the player who just wants his PC to look cool, as well as the player who just wants her character to do crazy stuff,' should be required reading for every player in the game. (And yes, I know that technically the DMG 2 was coauthored with a few other people -- but I'm confident in saying the good stuff is almost ALL Robin Laws.)

I wrote a sizable chunk of that book, so it's always fun to see folks cite it as a favorite! :) (Was fun; I mostly worked on the Adventure Writing section, the NPC section, some of the magic items, and the Saltmarsh stuff, but WotC also had me go in and develop a fair amount of the other text to help it all sync up once the initial writing for the book was all done.)

Its a classic!

[GM_Beernorg]

I humbly offer (non-campaign or game book) best of should go to Of Dice and Men by David M. Ewalt.

[CE Pan]

GM_Beernorg wrote:

I humbly offer (non-campaign or game book) best of should go to Of Dice and Men by David M. Ewalt.

The pun title disqualifies it.

[GM_Beernorg]

Hey there Pan, perhaps if you could be bothered to look it up, you would discover the book is in fact about the creation of Dungeons & Dragons by Gary Gygax and Dave Arnesan, and the creation, rise, and eventual fall, of TSR.

But you are absolutely allowed your opinion.

[captain yesterday]

CE Pan wrote:

GM_Beernorg wrote:

I humbly offer (non-campaign or game book) best of should go to Of Dice and Men by David M. Ewalt.

The pun title disqualifies it.

It's a book giving advice on tabletop gaming. Pun titles is the name of the game , and I'm pretty sure a requirement for publishing.

But yes, I get where you're coming from, as they can get pretty bad sometimes!

[CE Pan]

GM_Beernorg wrote:

Hey there Pan, perhaps if you could be bothered to look it up, you would discover the book is in fact about the creation of Dungeons & Dragons by Gary Gygax and Dave Arnesan, and the creation, rise, and eventual fall, of TSR.

But you are absolutely allowed your opinion.

It was a joke. Its an alright book.

[keftiu]

I definitely feel a little weird about the advertising turn this thread has taken.

[GM_Beernorg]

yeah...same.

[thejeff]

Turn? It started off that way.

[GM_Beernorg]

Perhaps turned back around to would have more precise...meh.

Getting back on the quasi-topic ;), I do have to second for personal greatest gaming D&D book for me, 2nd Ed. Montrous Manual takes the cake. I poured over that book as a much younger Beernorg incessantly.

[dirtypool]

Yeah the advertising is a little more disquieting after it has been called out than before.

The “sample” also isn’t very enticing.

My favorite D&D book (straight D&D, not including Pathfinder where the answer shifts a bit) is the 4e supplement Dungeon Delve which presents a number of unconnected 3 to 4 encounter scenarios that span from 1st level to 20th.

4e gets a lot of flak, and deserves some of it, but these encounters are laid out so clearly and concisely that you can quickly convert them to just about any edition of D&D or PF with just a quick flip through of the Monsters Manual of Bestiary to locate an appropriate replacement monster.

It has an incredible amount of utility, regardless of the edition you are playing. Which is what I look for in a good game supplement from any system.

[thejeff]

Honestly, I'd be bothered less by the advertising if it had started out as "I've written this and I think it's a great book that you should check out because ..."

That said, the conversation about what the greatest D&D books might be is actually more interesting and an honest approach wouldn't have gotten us that.

[GM_Beernorg]

Gotta give a shout out to the 2nd. Edition Forgotten Realms Heroes' Lorebook, and its companion, the Villain's Lorebook, love those, I actually finally just bought the Villains' Lorebook last month, never saw it in stores when it originally came out.

And, doublejig2, as it so happens, I am the co-owner of a 3pp, and a word of advice regarding how to market your writing, be direct, don't couch it in the guise of a discussion on another topic. If the PDF is available for sale, just create a link to the online store or stores it can be bought from, and if your are going to post in this fashion, include a concise statement of what the book is about. People tend to react much better to advertising when they know that is what is happening.

[GM_Beernorg]

doublejig2 wrote:

People shall react as they must whether they know it or not, a clown might argue. Yet, it's an ill wind that blows no good. Thus, “You see a huge, scaly, black clawed hand gripping the shaft of an enormous adamantine war axe." And, remember, it was my thread that was threadjacked. Thus, I am your father, Luke.

All of that aside, I will cease and desist, meaning I won't post a new paragraph of the book every day or any old time.

The book is very special and worthy of being purchased, IMO. That's really all I wanted to say. But "My bad habits lead to ..., conversations with a stranger I barely know..."

Fight on!

Indeed, thread jacking sorta happened, though the title just begs for such, best of luck with your book and future publishing. I meant no offense in what I said up thread, just wanted to give a few pointers, been publishing for a while now, and figured a little feedback is always a good thing.

Cheers to you there ser!

[GM_Beernorg]

Indeed, as an author myself, I know that desire well. When the writing calls...you answer. Marketing is not my favorite thing either TBH.

[Freehold DM]

Strangely to some, a tie- Draconomicon and Rules Compendium for 3.x. I loved the art for the first and I loved reading the thought processes behind some rules I loved(and others I didn't) for the second.