Complete Divine and where my money will be going
I've been enjoying reading through the Complete Divine. Although there are problems with the book (please, no more page XX! I have enough of those in my 1st edition Werewolf RPG book!), the rest of it seems fine to me.
Even the Radiant Servant of Pelor doesn't both me much - whenever I see a prestige class that dictates that you be a cleric with the Healing and Sun domains and follow Pelor... well, sure it's slightly better than a normal cleric (except for that hit die), but it adds character to Pelor.
Now can I have such for Joramy, Zilchus and Trithereon? :-)
Although role-playing makes up a large part of my ongoing Greyhawk game, I do admit I'm a mechanics junkie. I like simple mechanics that then can be tweaked to do lots and lots of interesting things. That's one reason I like Magic, and it's one reason I like D&D 3.5E so much.
I see the lead developer on Complete Divine was Mike Donais: thanks Mike for all the work on this book. And thanks to to David Noonan, principal writer of CD, and the rest of the development team.
Even if the prestige classes aren't really what I need, I do appreciate the rest of the book.
I've just been having a look at the front page of ENworld and the upcoming products for D&D. Oh dear. So, that's where my money is going.
June
Well, the Giants of Legends huge packs are a no-brainer. They must be mine! What makes it more tricky is that I also need to have my car serviced (badly, I've been putting it off for months) and my rent and board has just gone up. Don't feel to sorry for me on the latter, though - I still live with my father, and the actual rent is really low all the same.
Unfortunately, Eberron is also coming out, and I'm really interested in this setting. Probably not enough to make me abandon my beloved Greyhawk campaign, but I am very interested in it.
So, that's June. And you can bet that GoL purchases will continue into
July
June looks like a good month compared to July as far as the state of my wallet is concerned. Races of Stone continues the trend of Wizards books I want to pick up. We don't see many dwarves in my games, but we might after this book. It's part of that "essential option" type of book that I like having.
The Planar Handbook is also something that looks fascinating. I use the planes a moderate amount - I love the Plane of Shadow and the Astral Plane - and given where the Greyhawk campaign has been heading recently, such may soon take a greater prominence in the events of the campaign.
Oh, and Shadows of the Last War also comes out, an Eberronian adventure. It's an adventure. I must have it. :)
August
After the madness that was July, I think I'll finally be able to catch up with my Giants of Legend purchases in August. All that's coming out is Map Folio II. I quite liked the first Map Folio - I used the maps from it in a recent adventure on the Astral plane, and there's a few maps I want to use in upcoming sessions. As props, they're great... and my players have been starved of props.
Oh, they're not bad for adventure inspiration, either.
September
A horrific month for my wallet. Four new products, all of which I must get. D&D Basic is absolutely essential. I am something of a missionary/evangelist when it comes to promoting D&D, and having a beginner's product available is great. I don't think this new version will be as good as the Moldvay edition that I learnt from, but it still should be excellent value.
The dungeon tiles within should also prove useful!
Monster Manual III gives me more enemies to torment my players with. Enough said, really. Whispers of the Vampire's Blade is another Eberronian adventure, so see above for my opinion on that.
Frostburn is the most interesting of this month's releases, though. I've never had a really good book dealing with wilderness adventures, so I hope this one is the first of an excellent series to help me send my players into more interesting (and perilous) adventures.
October
Libris Mortis, or the book of bad latin... I'm sorry, book of the undead comes out this month. Like the Draconomicon, I'm uncertain of whether I want this book. I'll probably get it when I have some free money. Unfortunately, in this month, Aberrations is also coming out... so no luck there!
November
Complete Arcane is a definite must-have, because I love wizards. I think Mike Donais has something to do with this book as well, which is cool. Oh, and Andy Collins, who doesn't always get the praise he deserves. Who's this fellow Richard Baker who has his name on the book? :)
Races of Destiny (a last minute switch for Races of Wild) is treated in the same manner of Races of Stone - I want it!
On the "I might if I have the money" list is Sharn: City of Towers, which is the first of the Eberronian source books. I'd like to get it, but with a likely incomplete set of GoL and Aberrations, we'll have to see if I can. Oh, and my car probably will need another service. :(
December
Not much here. Map Folio 3D I really don't know about. I guess this is my "Buy presents for everyone else" time. Of course, I have both Christmas and my birthday in this month, so I might get something I like.
