Unearthed Arcana, what do you think?

[Blacklamb]

Greeting one and all.

As you can see this is my first post, i have Lurked here for quite a while, finishing(or at least catching all the way up!) on Wizadru's, Piratecat's, and Wulf's story hours(i am also starting to read others).

I have searched for a better place to post this question, but didn't seem to find any better, appologies if it's in the wrong place.

My question is this, what do you all think about Unearthed Arcana? Is it worth it to buy, plain and simple.

Any opinions are welcome, as it's 30+ dollars and i don't feel like being burned, and i can't check it out before buying as there are no shops close by.


Thank you all in advance.

Blacklamb

 

[Bloodstone Press]

I'd say it is worth it. I haven't had a chance to use it much yet, but I've read it, and I like a lot of the ideas in it.

 

[Crothian]

IT really depends if you are looking to change up the game or not. There are some nice rule changes in it, but for my group we really didn't see a need for them so it mostly sits on the shelf.

 

[DaveStebbins]

I wouldn't pay full price for it, but it was definitely worth it for me at the 60% discount Amazon.com is currently offering.

I do a lot to support my local gaming stores, but the steep discount was the only way I was going to buy it, so I don't feel bad going there.

 

[Pants]

Great book. Probably the book I reference most aside from the Core Rulebooks. If you are looking to add a little spice or flavor to your game, then I suggest this is for you. However, 2 warnings:
1) You will probably NEVER use every single thing in this book. You'll probably only use small tidbits here and there at the most.
2) Try to get it cheap. I got mine for $19 and it was one of the best D&D purchases I've made. If I had bought it at full price, I'm not sure what my reaction would be.

 

[Blacklamb]

Wow, thank you all for the quick replies!

Especially about the Amazon discount.
I think ill wait on a few more posts but i think Amazon just won my money if i decide to get it(and i am leaning towards it now).

Thank you all again.

Blacklamb

 

[Mouseferatu]

Great book. Probably the book I reference most aside from the Core Rulebooks. If you are looking to add a little spice or flavor to your game, then I suggest this is for you. However, 2 warnings:
1) You will probably NEVER use every single thing in this book. You'll probably only use small tidbits here and there at the most.
2) Try to get it cheap. I got mine for $19 and it was one of the best D&D purchases I've made. If I had bought it at full price, I'm not sure what my reaction would be.

What he said, with one caveat.

I paid full price, and I'm not at all disappointed in the book. If you can get it cheaper, hey, great, but it's not a prerequisite for enjoying the book.

 

[DMScott]

My question is this, what do you all think about Unearthed Arcana? Is it worth it to buy, plain and simple.

I like it because it has a lot of house rule ideas in one handy package, and I like tinkering with the rules. If you're not a DM, or you are a DM but don't do much rules tinkering, it probably isn't a good buy.

My main complaint with it is that they don't seem to have spent a lot of time playtesting most of the options - not real surprising, but a little annoying nonetheless. That means some of the stuff isn't suitable for dropping in as-is, it's more along the lines of an inspiration for where to start in coming up with your own house rules. C'est la vie.

Overall, it's best if you can flip through it before buying it, to make sure there's stuff in there that'd be useful to you.

 

[Eolin]

Not to hijack too much, but what do you all think of the gestalt characters? (Sure, I'm sure this was talked about recently.)

I especially dig such combinations as the Pal/Sor -- the combining of so much onto the cha stat just seems really neat to me.

Or, of course, the cleric/Pal. But I wonder, how strong is the Fighter/Barb?

any thoughts?

 

[Felon]

The rules for spontaneous divine spellcasting really went a long way towards making clerics both more balanced and more interesting. Instead of being a swiss army knife of every divine spell ever created, and thus completely ubiquitous with every other divine caster in the party, clerics are now very much focused and thematic. If someone gets a curse or a disease, the response isn't "let the cleric take care of it in the morning". Great little ruleset. Also makes it a lot easier for me as a DM to drop evil clerics on the party.