With the new version of Dungeons and Dragons (4th Edition) revealed last year, there has been the expected line of products released by Wizards of the Coast to supplement the game. Some are targeted at all players, while others are primarily for Dungeon Masters (the folks who put together and referee the game every session). Here’s a quick rundown of supplements released over the past year with a few comments to fill you in on what’s included and who might benefit from them. If you just want the best of the best, feel free to read my previous article going into detail on my favorites for the year:  D&D Insider Character Builder, the Players Handbook 2, Dungeon Delve, and the Monster Manual 2.

Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide
A solid book for DMs who want to build their own campaign in the Forgotten Realms, there are example encounters and background information transferable to any campaign. However, it’s really worth the cost if you’re a DM and plan to run your campaign in the Realms.

Forgotten Realms Player’s Guide
This is a pretty good book with a nice new class, the Swordmage, and a few new races and options that fit in well with the Realm. A pretty good resource book for players for new options, but not a must-buy.

Adventurer’s Vault
This is a great book, as it expands the selection of magic items available for rewarding players. The items provided in the Player’s Handbook cover the basics, but the lists in this book let players find items that make a better fit with their character. My personal favorite are the in-between armor types to make AC a more steady progression. Paging through the book is nice for window shopping before you make a character, but cheapskates could save money as all the items are also listed in the handy Character Designer, where they’re also listed by level and availability. A very good buy for anyone without the downloadable D&D Character Builder, an OK buy for someone who has access to the Character Builder.

Draconomicon I: Chromatic Dragons
Dragons are an integral part of the game (they’re half the name, after all) and this tome expands on the Chromatic (evil) dragon side of things. Most useful for a DM looking for more dragon options including deeper background on the standard dragons, a few new types, and more campaign oriented information including dragon-focused organizations, quests, and adventure hooks.

Martial Power
This is the first player expansion book in the “power” series. It gives more options for players for martial type characters (rogues, fighters, rangers, warlords, etc…). Lots of new powers, feats, paragon paths, and the like for players who are fans of this style of character. Much of it is available in one form or another in the character builder, but having it in hardcover is a much handier way to initially read through the material.

Manual of the Planes
This is a DM focused supplement that describes the many Planes (other than Earth) that players can encounter during their adventures. Handy for DMs who want to plan out an epic story arc involving demons, elementals, and other planar creatures it is best for DMs who are running more advanced games, such as the paragon or epic levels (10 to 30). In that range it serves as a great sourcebook for creating strange and otherworldly adventures.

Open Grave: Secrets of the Undead
As a fan of clear good guys vs bad guys it is hard to go wrong with the undead when you want some bad guys to fight. This is my favorite DM background sourcebook of the year with lots of backstory, many new monsters and types of undead to freak out your players. Example encounters and adventure hooks fill out the book to create an excellent resource on the genre.

Player’s Handbook Power Cards (and Power Cards in General)
I love the idea of power cards. Players get one card for each of their powers, and put them on the table in front of them. Whenever a power is used up, flip it upside down to remember. No more searching a character sheet for all the important bits of information. This line of supplements gives players an entire library of power cards, one for each power available for a particular class. However, the Character Builder prints out a fairly decent set of power cards as an option whenever you print out your character sheet. Since the information in the Character Builder is far more up-to-date than the official power cards (Power Card updates are released periodically for new expansions, which you would then have to buy) making it simply not cost effective for cheapskates like myself. Unless you are totally committed to nice, thick cardstock, glossy power cards, take a pass on this accessory. (Of course, if you’re really into that sort of thing you’ve probably already got a printer that prints on cardstock and a laminator to make your own almost as nice using the Character Builder.)

Player’s Handbook 2
This is the crown jewel of the year for players. It introduces piles more classes, races, powers, and other options into the game. New classes include the Druid, Barbarian, and other nature-themed characters like the Warden (a sort of druid gone fighter). Once again, all the character building information has been put into the D&D Character Builder, so you don’t really need the book to play. However, I’d go against my cheapskate tendencies here and recommend players buy this book (at least one person in your group anyway.) There are so many new classes and options in this book, you really won’t get to know the possibilities very well by playing around with the character builder. Perusing the pages of this book is a great way to spark ideas for new and interesting characters to try out in your next campaign.

Dungeon Delve
The idea is simple. Not all DMs have time to spare preparing for a game. What’s the absolute easiest thing to do to give them something they could bring to a game night and run with a minimum of work? The Dungeon Delve is a book of 30 somewhat disparate micro-adventures, one for each character level. Each micro-adventure is a series of 3 to 4 encounters designed for players to complete in one gaming “day”. Almost everything a DM needs to run the encounters is provided, such as monster statistics and even suggested combat tactics for each encounter. The adventures don’t string together all that well, but could be thought of as an episodic series, not unlike a television show. In that way, a DM could take their players all the way to level 30 with a minimum of background work. The other option is to use the book as a break, tossing a one-off encounter series into the middle of a longer campaign while the DM spends their prep time working on upcoming custom adventures. One final option is to sit down and play through any of the 30 adventures as a sort of DM vs the players game. Since the encounters are very balanced, players can construct a character just for the occasion and the DM can let the dice fall where they may, just to see if the characters are able to make it through the encounters without having to take an extended rest. One of my favorite DM supplements of the year, mostly because I’m a sucker for anything that would make my life as a DM easier.

Arcane Power
This is like the Martial Power, only for arcane classes like Wizards, Warlocks, Bards, Sorcerers, and Swordmages. New powers, feats, paragon paths, etc… A handy read for fans of those types of characters, although cheapskates could again try to rely on the Character Builder for much of the information.

Monster Manual 2
This is the must-have books for DMs from the year. It gives DMs far more monsters to draw upon (several hundred). Each entry has multiple styles of a monster along with background information and suggested encounter groups to make adding them into your campaign all that much easier. There is something here for DMs running a game at any level, and its always nice to have a few more options at the lower levels rather than simply a bunch of kobolds (again). A minor note from the designers, the new minions presented have a bit more edge than some of the minions in the original Monster Manual.

Eberron Player’s Guide and Eberron Campaign Guide
Just out recently are the two guides to the Eberron world. A sort of pulp-fiction high-magic world where hidden factions vie for power and magic and dragons (often in disguise) are everywhere – flying ships, lighting railroads, and even a race of animated metal (Warforged). I haven’t personally seen either book yet, but much of the two books can easily be moved into any world or setting, but fans of high magic or political intrigue should check it out.

Divine Power has also just come out, doing the “power” treatment for classes based around divine abilities. This would be clerics, paladins, invokers, and avengers. I haven’t seen this book either, but it should turn out fairly similar to the others in the Power line. Pretty good, perhaps somewhat duplicated with the Character Builder in some ways.

On the Horizon
Looking towards the future, next month (August) sees the Adventurer’s Vault 2 being published. I have full expectations it should be just as good as the first vault at expanding player options for magic items and the like. For those without good online connections or simply those who prefer paper products, the Dragon Magazine Annual 2009 is out in September. I don’t have too much information on it, but I expect it to contain some of the best (but probably not all) the information published online under the Dragon Magazine label. Finally, also in September, is the
Dungeon Master’s Guide 2. While the core DM rulebook had some useful rules, there was a lot of material that was best suited for new DMs, although I’m sure some suggestions were good for experienced ones to hear. From my understanding, the DM Guide 2 will have material to try to help make the life of the DM easier with advice and techniques for improving their game without overburdening them with additional preparation.

That’s it for the year. Stay tuned in August when I’ll get the low-down on next year at the annual GenCon convention in Indianapolis!

Until then, good gaming!

Tags: Misc, Unplugged