Mustrum_Ridcully
Hero
I am not sure, if this was already discussed to death, but I really wonder:
What kind of pot did the 3.5 design team smoked when they changed the 3.5 dwarf?
Maybe my copy of the SRD has an error, and the Dwarf is actually an ECL +1 race, but I doubt so
The 3.5 dwarf gets all the benifts and drawbacks he had in 3.0:
+2 Constitution, -2 Charisma
Darkvision 60 ft
20 feet base speed
Stonecunning
+2 bonus vs. spells, poisons and disease(?)
+4 Dodge Bonus against Giants
+1 attack against Goblinoids and Kobolds (IIRC)
Favored Class: Fighter
Now, he does also gain:
No speed loss in medium or heavy armor.
+4 bonus against bull rushes and trips.
Weapon Familiary: Dwarfen Ugrosh and Dwarfen Battle Axe are martial weapons instead of exotic ones.
The Dwarf in 3.0 was reasonably powerful, I think. But in 3.5, the Dwarf seems definitely overpowered.
A Dwarf Fighter has definitely the most useful bonus he can get - he is as fast as every Human, Half Orc or Elf with the same armor if he uses the typical heavy armor Fighter tend to use (Full Plate). He can oppose Trips and Bullrushes better then they do (which can be very important regarding the new Trip rules). He can spare one feat in regard to the others if he wants to use a quite powerful weapon (The Dwarfen Battle Axe is as good as the Bastard Sword, the typical fighter weapon in D&D), and he gains some minor combat bonus against typical low level threats and a moderate combat against typical medium to high level threats. On top of all this, he gains more hitpoints in exchange for a low charisma Fighters usually have no use for anyway.
If he decides to play a Cleric, he as basically the same advantages, minus the weapon thing (and he could have used his charisma for turning).
If he chooses Barbiarn, the same Benefit as with a fighter (the Con becomes even a bit more useful since the Rage lasts longer)
If he chooses Wizard, he has at least more hp and might even have a chance when someone tries to trip or bullrush him.
If he chooses Monk, his speed becomes a disadvantage, but the bonus to trip and bullrushes can be quite useful in regard to the risk of countertripping.
Stonecunning and his bonus against poison and darkvision are quite helpful.
The Con bonus is a good thing for every class - you can never have enough hitpoints.
The Charisma Penalty is actually only a severe penalty for Bards, Paladins and Sorcerors, and a weak penalty for Clerics and Rogues.
On the other hand, we have the Half Orc.
+2 Strength, -2 Intelligence and -2 Charisma
Darkvision 60 feet
Orc Blood
Favored Class Barbarian
I tend to agree that a bonus to Strength is quite powerful for a fighter class, but unfortunately, it is effectiveley useless for any class not focusing on melee combat, and the penalties to Intelligence are always a disadvantage if you want to be able to do more than hitting with the largest stick. The penalty to Charisma makes several classes completely uninteresting.
So, what did they think? Giving nothing to the Half Orc, but giving several benefits to the Dwarf?
(And they could also have done more to Halfings and Gnomes - these small races may be able to use reach weapons in 3.5 - though this also allows one-handed reach weapons for medium size characters with a small penalty - but they can still forget bullrush, grapples and trips, and they can even forget trying to Intimidate anyone worth it, since Intimidate now also grants size bonus and penalties...)
Mustrum Ridcully
What kind of pot did the 3.5 design team smoked when they changed the 3.5 dwarf?
Maybe my copy of the SRD has an error, and the Dwarf is actually an ECL +1 race, but I doubt so
The 3.5 dwarf gets all the benifts and drawbacks he had in 3.0:
+2 Constitution, -2 Charisma
Darkvision 60 ft
20 feet base speed
Stonecunning
+2 bonus vs. spells, poisons and disease(?)
+4 Dodge Bonus against Giants
+1 attack against Goblinoids and Kobolds (IIRC)
Favored Class: Fighter
Now, he does also gain:
No speed loss in medium or heavy armor.
+4 bonus against bull rushes and trips.
Weapon Familiary: Dwarfen Ugrosh and Dwarfen Battle Axe are martial weapons instead of exotic ones.
The Dwarf in 3.0 was reasonably powerful, I think. But in 3.5, the Dwarf seems definitely overpowered.
A Dwarf Fighter has definitely the most useful bonus he can get - he is as fast as every Human, Half Orc or Elf with the same armor if he uses the typical heavy armor Fighter tend to use (Full Plate). He can oppose Trips and Bullrushes better then they do (which can be very important regarding the new Trip rules). He can spare one feat in regard to the others if he wants to use a quite powerful weapon (The Dwarfen Battle Axe is as good as the Bastard Sword, the typical fighter weapon in D&D), and he gains some minor combat bonus against typical low level threats and a moderate combat against typical medium to high level threats. On top of all this, he gains more hitpoints in exchange for a low charisma Fighters usually have no use for anyway.
If he decides to play a Cleric, he as basically the same advantages, minus the weapon thing (and he could have used his charisma for turning).
If he chooses Barbiarn, the same Benefit as with a fighter (the Con becomes even a bit more useful since the Rage lasts longer)
If he chooses Wizard, he has at least more hp and might even have a chance when someone tries to trip or bullrush him.
If he chooses Monk, his speed becomes a disadvantage, but the bonus to trip and bullrushes can be quite useful in regard to the risk of countertripping.
Stonecunning and his bonus against poison and darkvision are quite helpful.
The Con bonus is a good thing for every class - you can never have enough hitpoints.
The Charisma Penalty is actually only a severe penalty for Bards, Paladins and Sorcerors, and a weak penalty for Clerics and Rogues.
On the other hand, we have the Half Orc.
+2 Strength, -2 Intelligence and -2 Charisma
Darkvision 60 feet
Orc Blood
Favored Class Barbarian
I tend to agree that a bonus to Strength is quite powerful for a fighter class, but unfortunately, it is effectiveley useless for any class not focusing on melee combat, and the penalties to Intelligence are always a disadvantage if you want to be able to do more than hitting with the largest stick. The penalty to Charisma makes several classes completely uninteresting.
So, what did they think? Giving nothing to the Half Orc, but giving several benefits to the Dwarf?
(And they could also have done more to Halfings and Gnomes - these small races may be able to use reach weapons in 3.5 - though this also allows one-handed reach weapons for medium size characters with a small penalty - but they can still forget bullrush, grapples and trips, and they can even forget trying to Intimidate anyone worth it, since Intimidate now also grants size bonus and penalties...)
Mustrum Ridcully
