Down with the negativity! Tell me what you like about 3E.

[Blue Sky]

Well, we have another pet peeve thread, so I figured we might as well have a thread where everyone says what they like about third edition/3.5. Ya' know, just keeping it positive...

My likes?

The ability system makes small differences in scores mean something.

More customization through multiclassing, feats, skills, and prestige classes.

No more thac0.

"Preparing" spells instead of "memorizing" them. I know, this seems minor, but it allows me to picture elves singing spells into crystals hung around their neck, dwarves scribing runes to hold their spells, and humans using dreamcatchers to hold their dweomers until cast.

So, tell me what you like about this edition of D&D. And, as an added bonus, you'll have at least one thread free of diaglo!

 

[deltadave]

The system is radically streamlined from previous versions.

High is always good.

 

[fredramsey]

Let me be the first one to bet that this thread gets taken over by the 3E whiner's club in no time flat

NO THAC0! Woo-hoo! What you roll is what you hit (WYRIWYH!)

Miniatures rules built into combat (combine this with pre-painted mini's and I get all moist)

3rd party products! (I mean, really. Especially to those of us old enough to remember Judges Guild and RoleAids).

 

[DragonLancer]

What do I like?

Modular. Everything fits in well with each other. The rules are well built around that concept.

No more THAC0.


Sorry, but theres more I don't like than i do.

 

[Old Fezziwig]

I'm pretty much in agreement with fredramsey on the lack of THAC0 and the 3rd party products. I'd say that the system is definitely more streamlined, but also that it's more transparent. It's easier for me to design things that work in this system than it has been in any other iteration of D&D.

Nick

 

[Psion]

Creature formats (full statistics, classes, templates.) REALLY what sold me on the game.
Consistent and easy to use core mechanic
Named bonuses (minimizes cross referencing and guesswork)
Consistent attribute modifiers
One class XP table
Sensible multiclassing
Preparations instead of memorization (makes much more sense. Now I understand why a scroll behaves different than a spellbook.)
Psionics finally work
Spell slots (less accounting...)
Prestige classes (prepackaged concepts)
Archetypes/niche protection
Class structure
Class skills
OGL - brought us third party support and immunity from another Rob Repp

price - $90

Being able to chuck most of my house rules - priceless

 

[Aaron2]

Well, we have another pet peeve thread, so I figured we might as well have a thread where everyone says what they like about third edition/3.5. Ya' know, just keeping it positive...

The biggest thing for me is the abillity to play any creatures in the MM. The rules in Savage Species could be clearer but you can still take any monsters and add classes to them. This alone makes would make me pick 3e over any older version.


Aaron

 

[Khayman]

But I thought that saying positive things was a full-round action that incurred an AoO... mea culpa.

Where to start...
1. Ding dong, THAC0 is dead.
2. Mechanics that are more consistently applied to different activities.
3. Skills and feats, not proficiencies. The old NWP system was vague, inconsistent in focus, and too slooooooooow to advance.
4. Monsters that are built as characters.
5. No level limits for non-humans (though I am still debating this with myself, I like playing an elven wizard who doesn't board a ship to the west when he hits 12th level) .
6. Darkvision. I was tired of arguing with fellow players over the nature of seeing into the infrared.
7. Magic item rules that make sense and allow PCs to make things, even if they encourage 'magic item emporia'.

 

[VirgilCaine]

I like that my PCs can actually make magic items without all the arcane blood and guts! This is something that I really, really, really like!

7. Magic item rules that make sense and allow PCs to make things, even if they encourage 'magic item emporia'.

Well, having some amount of trade in magic items is more logical than having no one sell them and them be a PITA to make and yet adventurers find oodles of them.

 

[Varianor Abroad]

Wow, all of those things so far!

Plus, no saves vs. wands. Oh and point buy.

Perhaps one of the biggest things about 3E that I like is that it was designed from the ground up to be internally consistent. Yeah, there are a few corner cases of things that could still be fixed (helloooo polymorph), but for the most part it all ties together well.

The biggest thing though is that it came out at the right time and got me playing D&D again!