grandexperiment (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} grandexperiment) wrote,@ 2009-06-22 08:49:00 |
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Top 3+1 - But I want more!
So, you have read my Top 3+1 RPGs and board games and want to buy them all but, like Oliver, only if you can get more for each. Well, here you are:
War of the Ring - Battles of a Third Age
This is a decent expansion. It adds a few nice options to the existing rules including siege engines and trebuchets, the treants and some other minor factions, a Witch King option that boosts the Hunt, and Galadriel/Balrog to deal with the oddity of Lorien.
Unfortunately, the expansion is padded out with some mini-games detailing the battles of Helms Deep and Minas Tirith. These are fun but, really, why would you not play War of the Ring?
So, not essential, but a nice addition.
Betrayal at the House on the Hill - Revised Haunt and Traitor Manuals
No expansion was ever made for BatHotH, despite it being ripe for one. However, Avalon Hill did make available revised Haunt Manuals that help deal with a lot the issues and uncertainty. Grab then from: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=a
Memoir 44 - Memoir 44 Bag
All the expansions for Memoir 44 are good ones. I am guessing many would expect to see the mammoth Air Pack expansion here, and not the official bag. The campaign bag is an officially designed bag that holds the base game plus expansions. It is undeniably a complete luxury but one that recognises why many people play Memoir 44: to collect the expansions for a comprehensive yet easy to play WW2 game.
The Air Pack on the other hand added much more to the game mechanically. It revised all the scenarios to include all the new rules, as well as add in planes. However, IMO it fails to understand the "yet easy to play" part of Memoir 44. The planes are fun but a little too complex for my liking.
Definitely not essentially, but a great idea for the completist.
Descent: Journeys in the Dark - Road to Legend
OK, so this has already mentioned already, but it IMO one of the greatest board game expansions ever. Road to Legend takes the already huge dungeon crawling game of Descent and adds a huge campaign structure on top. Where it excels is actually improving the base game play by breaking the game down into 1 hour slots to make 2 or 3 hour games possible.
The campaign structure also has a purpose, unlike most previous dungeon crawling board game attempts. Road to Legend is like adding Runebound or Arkham Horror to a game which plays out the detail of each location and encounter. There are 6 villains to play and 3 plots, 10 lieutenants and a hoard of new options.
It isn't without a few flaws though. The rules have a few jarring gaps in synching the two parts of the game together. Fortunately, this has mostly been dealt with under the FAQ.
D&D4e - DDI Character Creation Program
OK, so not an official supplement, but IMO more essential than any D&D4e book after the core books to date. The Character Creation Program is cheap to access (you retain it even after the licence finishes) and comprehensive. It makes creating and maintaining PCs a breeze.
If you own or play D&D4e, you should have this like now.
WFRP 2e - Old World Armory
Probably the most reviled WFRP 2e book after Renegade Crowns and Karak Azgal, the Old World is a big book of stuff. The prices are poorly done, inflated to "adventurer" levels that if used by everyday people would mean that a peasant couldn't afford to live. Then again, when are you going to not play an adventurer of some ilk :)
If you play WFRP for an old school experience, I recommend this book. Shopping is an essential part of old school fantasy RPGing and in my game we have used this book more than any other, trying to squeeze out any advantage and break the GM.
Exalted 1e - Scavenger Sons
The book that sold me on Exalted. It covers the entirety of the setting of Exalted outside of the Blessed Isle. However, rather than provide a comprehsenive survey, it provides a few examples and leaves contentinental sized holes for your imagination to run wild. This approach is essential to what makes Exalted so awesome IMO and also highlights where 2e went wrong, turning this book into 5.
CthulhuTech - Vade Mecum
Whilst not technically esssential, any one who plans to play or run Cthulhutech should own Vade Mecum. It adds para-psychics, combat forms and doubles all the options from the corebook. By doubling the options, it actually makes the combinations of ideas and PCs exponentially larger.
The book is as pretty as the core book and it really does round out the RPG in so many ways, that it is essential in all ways, except the technical one.
OK, time to leave these Top 3+1s behind :)
So, you have read my Top 3+1 RPGs and board games and want to buy them all but, like Oliver, only if you can get more for each. Well, here you are:
War of the Ring - Battles of a Third Age
This is a decent expansion. It adds a few nice options to the existing rules including siege engines and trebuchets, the treants and some other minor factions, a Witch King option that boosts the Hunt, and Galadriel/Balrog to deal with the oddity of Lorien.
Unfortunately, the expansion is padded out with some mini-games detailing the battles of Helms Deep and Minas Tirith. These are fun but, really, why would you not play War of the Ring?
So, not essential, but a nice addition.
Betrayal at the House on the Hill - Revised Haunt and Traitor Manuals
No expansion was ever made for BatHotH, despite it being ripe for one. However, Avalon Hill did make available revised Haunt Manuals that help deal with a lot the issues and uncertainty. Grab then from: http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=a
Memoir 44 - Memoir 44 Bag
All the expansions for Memoir 44 are good ones. I am guessing many would expect to see the mammoth Air Pack expansion here, and not the official bag. The campaign bag is an officially designed bag that holds the base game plus expansions. It is undeniably a complete luxury but one that recognises why many people play Memoir 44: to collect the expansions for a comprehensive yet easy to play WW2 game.
The Air Pack on the other hand added much more to the game mechanically. It revised all the scenarios to include all the new rules, as well as add in planes. However, IMO it fails to understand the "yet easy to play" part of Memoir 44. The planes are fun but a little too complex for my liking.
Definitely not essentially, but a great idea for the completist.
Descent: Journeys in the Dark - Road to Legend
OK, so this has already mentioned already, but it IMO one of the greatest board game expansions ever. Road to Legend takes the already huge dungeon crawling game of Descent and adds a huge campaign structure on top. Where it excels is actually improving the base game play by breaking the game down into 1 hour slots to make 2 or 3 hour games possible.
The campaign structure also has a purpose, unlike most previous dungeon crawling board game attempts. Road to Legend is like adding Runebound or Arkham Horror to a game which plays out the detail of each location and encounter. There are 6 villains to play and 3 plots, 10 lieutenants and a hoard of new options.
It isn't without a few flaws though. The rules have a few jarring gaps in synching the two parts of the game together. Fortunately, this has mostly been dealt with under the FAQ.
D&D4e - DDI Character Creation Program
OK, so not an official supplement, but IMO more essential than any D&D4e book after the core books to date. The Character Creation Program is cheap to access (you retain it even after the licence finishes) and comprehensive. It makes creating and maintaining PCs a breeze.
If you own or play D&D4e, you should have this like now.
WFRP 2e - Old World Armory
Probably the most reviled WFRP 2e book after Renegade Crowns and Karak Azgal, the Old World is a big book of stuff. The prices are poorly done, inflated to "adventurer" levels that if used by everyday people would mean that a peasant couldn't afford to live. Then again, when are you going to not play an adventurer of some ilk :)
If you play WFRP for an old school experience, I recommend this book. Shopping is an essential part of old school fantasy RPGing and in my game we have used this book more than any other, trying to squeeze out any advantage and break the GM.
Exalted 1e - Scavenger Sons
The book that sold me on Exalted. It covers the entirety of the setting of Exalted outside of the Blessed Isle. However, rather than provide a comprehsenive survey, it provides a few examples and leaves contentinental sized holes for your imagination to run wild. This approach is essential to what makes Exalted so awesome IMO and also highlights where 2e went wrong, turning this book into 5.
CthulhuTech - Vade Mecum
Whilst not technically esssential, any one who plans to play or run Cthulhutech should own Vade Mecum. It adds para-psychics, combat forms and doubles all the options from the corebook. By doubling the options, it actually makes the combinations of ideas and PCs exponentially larger.
The book is as pretty as the core book and it really does round out the RPG in so many ways, that it is essential in all ways, except the technical one.
OK, time to leave these Top 3+1s behind :)
