mbassoc2003 wrote:Best non-TSR campaign world
1. Judges Guild - Wilderlands Campaign (the 1980's versions)
2. Northern Sages - Starstone  <--------------------------------------------- Must Have
3. Midkemia Press - Midkemia Campaign World
4. Imagine Magazine/GameMaster Publications - Pelinore
5. The Companions Inc. - Islandia Campaign

Best non-TSR adventure
1. Mayfair Games - Beastmaker Mountain
2. Challenges Inc. - Seren Ironhand
3. Mercury Games - Lair of the Spider Mother
4. Delf Games - Lair of Medusa
5. John Scott Clegg - The Tombs of Valla

Best City Supplement
1. Judges Guild - City State of the Invincible Overlord  <---------------- Must Have
2. City Supplements Ink - Kalifax
3. Midkemia Press - Cities  <-------------------------------------------------- Must Have
4. Fantasy Systems - Tradervale
5. Sage Lore Productions - Small Town Shops

Best of the rest
1. Task Force Games - Central Casting: Heroes of Legend  <---------- Must Have
2. Tri Tac Games - The DM's Book of Nasty Tricks
3. Task Force Games - Central Casting: Dungeons
4. Paizo Publishing (Yeah! I know!) - Best of Dragon Volume 1  <----- Must Have
5. GRP Enterprises - Tome of Treasures

That is hands down a top shelf list of adventures, settings and supplements. The only problem is that for the average gamer most of  those are either insanely expensive or rare...except for the Best of the Dragon.

There is next to nothing there under $30 (except for the noted Dragon), most are well over $50 and some are well over $100. Now add the fact that except for the ones in your store    many of those come up once or twice a year if that....there are a few I have not seen yet. At least for the most part the top items on each of your lists  (except for adventure) are the most common and least expensive.

Shocked Gamelords hasn't been brought up, their Thieves Guild stuff is very good.

As for the best, has to be Tegel Manor..now a days most people would want the later versions, but regardless its great to have in any version/printing.

As for Campaign Setting: Wilderlands Box set - can be had for cheap, esp when compared to aquiring the older material that comprises it.

ShaneG.

bombadil wrote:Quest for the Golden Orb

Also quite good!

mbassoc2003 wrote:It's just a personal opinion. Some are out of the reach of many.

The Must Have's are absolutely top class products. And for the most part, fall withing the price rance of most serious DMs. I have picked them because they are specifically taylored towards DMs and I am a DM myself.

The Wilderlands Campaigns, CSIO, all the Midkemia Stuff and atleast three of the five Islandia Campaign modules can be bought for as little as $10. Most of them crop up frequently and if you're luck enough to find one no-one's watching you gat a bargain. I got a copy of TFG Legends for about $10 last week. Imagine magazines and all but the first GameMaster Publications issues are also dirt cheap (except maybe in eBay shops).

And don't forget eBay is not the only place to but D&D. I get some amazing bargains by doing searches on Google and buying through online games stores. And of course Aaron's stock at Noble Knight changes almost daily.

Price of course is dictated by the original print run, and demand, and in the case of non-TSR products in general, you're looking at much smaller print runs than TSR products. And subsequently, higher demand now that they are out of print.

If you want good cheap modern non-TSR product that is not 3E, then take a look in the 'Future Collectables' section of Afterglow2.com. Some are as little as $4, and are well worth the money.

I know its all opinion and I was saying yours is right. I have almost always been a DM myself so I understand what you are saying. In most cases I used modules only as reference materials except for the JG items. I was just making comment that most of that is stuff the average gamer might not be willing to spend money for and use. And yes they can be picked up on the cheap if you get lucky. Part of the problem with getting lucky is that the luck goes to those that have the freedom to sit and monitor eBay BIN items all day 95% of the time.

The Heroes of Legend you got for $10 someone else here was glad to have gotten cheap at $36 and it is not unheard of for it to go for $50+. Which of the Islandia modules are sub $10 without finding a bargain? And finding a complete CSIO sub $10 is almost a pipe dream I would say. And again unless it slips by there are not too many of the OOP Midkemia products that don't hit the $25 to $30 mark. All that being said your selections were spot on my comment was just that they were better collector items as they are pricier.

The Imagine magazines do go sub $10 in most cases but if the GameMaster publications are the GM modules from England they usually go for closer to $30 than they do $10 and this is amplified by most of them being UK based and US buyers have shipping costs on top of that which would again prohibit me from using the 'future collectable" items in your store.

Most online game stores are selling things for more than eBay auctions and almost as high as the eBay Stores. Noble Knight's is probably the store I trust the most but his prices are almost always correct as to what an item normally goes for with his margin built in. It is one of the few online stores I use. As to the other online options I myself am hesitant to trust most web entities I do not have some means of verification for.

Again I am sorry if I cam across wrong. I agree with all of the items you listed (the ones I have or have seen). I was simply making the point that unless someone (barring luck) wants to spend $30 to $50 an item or more most of those would not be where I would direct the non collector without letting them know what to expect.

Nothing...I repeat...Nothing...from Tri Tac is a must have.


Zienteck (JG module) easy and fun. Not on par with DT, Caverns or Thieves, but solid.

Central Casting
TFG Central Casting: Heroes of Legend and Dungeons fluctuate wildly in price, and they both crop up quite a lot on eBay. Hardcopies of these two books will never leave my collection.

Islandia
The Companions (Islandia) Curn on Hareth, Plague of Terror and Streets of Gems are the cheap ones. They are far more common that Gems for Death and Brotherhood of the Bolt. Cougar sold a four or five copies of Curse on Hareth for between $5 and $10 a little while ago.

City State
CSIO turns up quite a lot and the one that tends to go cheap if not too many people are bidding is the one with the red and brown cover. But Grodog is right, I find the Thieves World boxed set far more useful tan Haven. It's well worth a looksee.

The Rares
Golden Orb is also quite good, but like Kalifax, it is practically unique (anyone know of a copy other than Allan's), and therefore out of reach of almost everyone. If you're a good DM and you're willing to put in the effort, City of the Revenant is most spectacular, but I didn't list it on account of it's extreme rarity (5 copies/3 confirmed).

Tegel Manor
The reason I didn't list Tegel is because it doesn't fit too well with my DMing style. I seem to find it easier to get a good game out of Thracia or Dark Tower, than Tegel, but that's just me. They are splendid modules. Most people will find that once they've got one JG product, they'll hanker after the other big names too.

Midkemia
As for Midkemia, don'f forget two things. Firstly, Chaosium republished Tulan, Carse and Cities, and they are all very faithful to the original. I have all of them, and I refer to them more often than I do the originals. Secondly, Midkemia Cities and Black Tower are available to download for free from the Midkemia website. You can't get a better bargain than that.

Noble Knight
Unfortunately the trick with Noble Knight Games is knowing what prices things should be sold for, and what items are rare. So it tends to be the experienced eBay buyers, established collectors and resellers who find the bargains. For those who are just testing the waters, or just finding their feet, it's hard to decide what to but and what not to buy. If you're reletively new to this, of feel you need the advice, I'd say hold off at Noble Knight until your sure about what you want, and if you must spend your money, go buy a copy of Creations Unlimited's Garden of the Plantmaster ($20 IIRC), although RJK may offer downloads of the CU stuff at some point. You might also want to look at Inner City Games Designs and Underworld Publishing.

Dragon Tree Press
Stones of Selt, Amazon Mutual, and Book of Plots can still be had pretty cheap on eBay and crop up like clockwork.

Buying on eBay
EBay shops are there for people who don't want to hunt and play the waiting game. If you want it now, you can pick things up in eBAy shops, but if you're willing to bide your time, you can cut your cost to probably a third of shop prices. Just ask Grodog or Deadlord. They're the kings of the waiting game.

mbass - isn't it "Towns of the Outlands", not "Cities" that is available for D/L on the Midkemia website?

http://www.midkemia.com/Products.html

Regardless, "Towns" looks nice.

whispers .. inferno

nn wrote:the Best of White Dwarf Scenarios 1 to 3 are not usually expensive.

There are a couple of good ones in there, too.

Mark