Okay, so I finally got some money. Is there a certain edition core books that would be best? I see a lot of 3.5 going on, so I'd imagine that one. And also, besides the PHB, what other books should I get to start my collection?

I would say go for 2nd Edition Core books but all you young'uns like that new 3.5 stuff, though for the life of me I can't Imagine why

Bezmir, it totally depends on what you want to do with them. If you want to just play in 3.5 games, the PHB is all you need. You could go with the DMG as well, since it is really helpful in choosing magical items, and it has some prestige classes in it that you might enjoy. But you really only need the PHB as a player, as long as your DM knows what he's doing.

If you're looking to run an adventure, I'd recommend buying the DMG and the Monster Manual. You don't need any other books than those three to have a great time and create countless adventures.

For 2nd edition, the same things apply, but you don't need the DMG at all as a player. Again, as a DM you'll need all three.

All other books can be a lot of fun, but buying them is a big step if you don't have any experience using the first three. What I mean with that is this: many of these books (in my opinion) hold a few cool new additions to the game, but they are not necessary to enjoy yourself. Things like class-specific books, tomes of magic, PHB2 or campaign books are all extra, and not all of them are worth buying. Take a good look inside (if you can) before purchasing those.

Hope that's helpful.

If you haven’t already, then you might want to start by looking on ebay. You can normally pick up a 2nd edition Players Handbook for about £2 ($3) plus postage and packaging. I’d imagine that most of the 3.5 stuff will be quite cheap at the moment as well, since it’s just gone out of print.

Also, if you’re only interested in playing 3.5 online, then you don’t need to buy anything at all. WotC released it under an Open Gaming License, which means that you can read all of the core rules for free (completely legally) on their website.

http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/resources/systems/pennpaper/dnd35/soveliorsage/home.html

And if you are playing here (or your Tabletop DM will allow it/has it), often the best resource for spells in 3.5 is called the Spell Compendium. That book contains all the spells that are in the various supplements throughout the 3.5 era. It has a lot of interesting spells and doubles the amount immediately available in the PHB.

Your first purchase in any edition should be the Player's Handbook, though.

PHB any edition you want for the absolut basics, of course 3.5 PHB II is good too. But the basics is all in Core PHB, 3.5 Spell Compendium especially if you docast magic or divine spells next, DMG next, PHB II next, Magic Item Compendium is good to especially if you DM a game or like to know you options in magic equipment and item. If you have a favorite class that you like a lot and want some variations get the Complete series for that class.

Now this whole thread got me to thinking that we should have a buy sell thread at RDInn so those of us hwho have things to sell can reach those who want things. Recently I went through all my books and found some old stuff and new that I have duplicates of.

I will ask Olan about creating such a thread.

That website has all the information of the 3.5 PHB? Wow. I'm gonna ask around from friends who have books from when they used to play, see if they'll just give them to me.

Also, how well should I know the rules before playing, or is the best way to learn often by doing?

I know I'm asking a lot of questions, but free form is starting to bore me.

Also, how well should I know the rules before playing, or is the best way to learn often by doing?
If you’re looking to run a game, then you’ll want to know the rules inside out beforehand.

If you’re just playing, and the rest of the group know that you’re new, then just read the real basics and the rules that apply to the character that you want to play. You should be able to pick up everything else during the game.

If at all possible, I’d also try to join a game that only uses the core rules. Due to the way that 3.5 was designed, a character who’s been created just using the Players Handbook will often be totally outclassed by someone who’s taken feats and powers from a dozen sourcebooks. And that’s not normally a fun place to be when you’re trying to learn a new game.

Grugg, thanks for hosting those three. Vorrioch, thanks for showing me that SRD. Everyone, thank you for your help. I'm gonna look around for a 1st level game, and start working my way to understanding. I also might have got my roommate interested in DND.

How do we calculate carrying capacity? And if it says gold is 3/4 max, then how do we figure out how much we start with?