D&D 3E/3.5 Worst 3.5 rule from core books?

[Allegro]

I detest how a paladin is penalized for 30 days if her mount dies while a druid can have a new animal companion every day. I always envision the paladin engaging in ridiculously dangerous and heroic acts until death. I fully expect a mount to be killed now and then.
I also dislike how the cleric and druid knows all spells unlike the wizard, bard, and sorcerer.

 

[aboyd]

I also dislike how the cleric and druid knows all spells unlike the wizard, bard, and sorcerer.

For the cleric, at least, that was deliberate. WotC felt that the cleric was an undesirable class in previous editions and in order to make playing a healer more tantalizing, they gave the cleric some silly good options.

I'm not saying it's right. I'm just mentioning that they had some reasoning behind it. There might have been better ways to achieve the same effect.

 

[Shin Okada]

For the cleric, at least, that was deliberate. WotC felt that the cleric was an undesirable class in previous editions and in order to make playing a healer more tantalizing, they gave the cleric some silly good options.

I'm not saying it's right. I'm just mentioning that they had some reasoning behind it. There might have been better ways to achieve the same effect.

AFAIK clerics knew all the spells in the rule book in older editions, too. They never had spell books like wizards. So that decision was not made by WotC but by TSR. I tend to agree with you that cleric was the strongest core class in 3.X editions in overall, though.

Maybe, wizards not knowing all the spells was the bad rule.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

No, wizards do not need more power. The stupid rule for wizards is all the hoops they have to go through to add spells to their book. They have to buy EXTREMELY overpriced ink, pay large sums to some other wizard or magic library for the privelage of copying down a spell even though it's basically free money* for the lender, and to add insult to all, you can only learn one spell a day! Add in the fact that spellbooks fill up fast and are heavy (and easily ruined), and you basically come to the realization you need to scrimp and save for a blessed book in order to properly do your job, the "12,000 gp b@#ch tax," as I call it. I don't mind havng limited spells to choose from, but dangit that's too much work!

*i was in an online character community, and once I had my wizard well established, other players' wizard characters would come to me for spells to add to their books, as I gave a 10% discount over standard costs the PHB gives. Worked well for me, I was getting paid hundreds of gp just to let someone look at my spellbook!

Also, I'll put in my two cents that the divine/arcane power divide is vastly overrated, and that by the levels spellcasters are making noncasters feel useless, all the primary casters are about equal. The main advantage of the divine casters is not sucking early on. Once the wizard has enough spells to be literally impossible to harm, hp and AC don't matter terribly much anymore.

 

[green slime]

No, wizards do not need more power. The stupid rule for wizards is all the hoops they have to go through to add spells to their book. They have to buy EXTREMELY overpriced ink, pay large sums to some other wizard or magic library for the privelage of copying down a spell even though it's basically free money* for the lender, and to add insult to all, you can only learn one spell a day! Add in the fact that spellbooks fill up fast and are heavy (and easily ruined), and you basically come to the realization you need to scrimp and save for a blessed book in order to properly do your job, the "12,000 gp b@#ch tax," as I call it. I don't mind havng limited spells to choose from, but dangit that's too much work!

Yep, its tough.

Sort of like how its unfair the fighter has to spend all this gold just to cover his rear end in a fight: Armour should just be bestowed upon them.

And what about weaponry? It just aint right that the fighter has to spend all this cash just to get a decent, level-useful item to fulfill their role as party bruiser.

 

[Starbuck_II]

Yep, its tough.

Sort of like how its unfair the fighter has to spend all this gold just to cover his rear end in a fight: Armour should just be bestowed upon them.

And what about weaponry? It just aint right that the fighter has to spend all this cash just to get a decent, level-useful item to fulfill their role as party bruiser.

The Wizard has to spend more money if he wants to wear armor: it has to be mithral Chain Shirt + stuff like Spellsword or Arcane Spell failure. Or he can get twilight Enhancement + Mithral Chain Shirt.

And Weaponry: just get a Clewric to cast G. M. W. Much cheaper. Lasts almost all day (with lesser Extended Metamagic it is all day).

 

[Shin Okada]

The Wizard has to spend more money if he wants to wear armor: it has to be mithral Chain Shirt + stuff like Spellsword or Arcane Spell failure. Or he can get twilight Enhancement + Mithral Chain Shirt.

And Weaponry: just get a Clewric to cast G. M. W. Much cheaper. Lasts almost all day (with lesser Extended Metamagic it is all day).

The 1st-level spell Mage Armor will gives +4 AC for 1hr/level. Then, 3rd-level spell Greater Mage Armor (Spell Compendium) gives +6 AC for the same duration.

And, when a wizard really need to avoid melee/ranged attacks, it is much better to use spells like Mirror Image, Displacement, Greater Blinking, Greater Invisibility and such.

And no wizards will bother buying expensive melee waepons anyway.

 

[Psion]

The 3e refluffing so that you do most of the casting of each spell first thing in the morning... that doesn't seem to reflect any non-D&D-inspired fantasy fiction I am aware of anyway.

Do most casting in the morning? Who does that (since 3.0 buffs got nerfed)?

The idea of preparing a spell prior to casting does have several fantasy precedents. The most prevalent being Amber.

Nonetheless, even if it didn't, novels have constraints that are different than games. Games have to do things that makes a good game. I've never found "no novel does this" to be a particularly damning complaint.

What does happen with this change that you have brushed off as "refluffing" is internal logic of the game is restored. That, to me, is important.

 

[Psion]

Zelazny's Amber.

Beat me to it.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Yep, its tough.

Sort of like how its unfair the fighter has to spend all this gold just to cover his rear end in a fight: Armour should just be bestowed upon them.

And what about weaponry? It just aint right that the fighter has to spend all this cash just to get a decent, level-useful item to fulfill their role as party bruiser.

Does the Fighter have to pay the shopkeep to try on the armor before he can buy it? (fee for use of spellbook)

Does the Fighter have to limit himself to buying one piece of gear a day? (can only copy one spell a day)

Does the Fighter have to pay money to "attune" his body to his gear, every single piece, and even when he's merely increasing the bonus on one of his items? (paying for the ink of spells)

Does the Fighter have to pay a fee for holding onto items that exceed his body slots, even though he's not currently using them? (buying multiple spellbooks)

Can the Fighter's precious gear be stolen, either all of it or several pieces in a grouping, by a single theft attempt? Can they be destroyed with laughable ease? Of course, you can spend a feat to retain the benefit of a fraction of your total gear if something should happen to it, but why do that? That's just encouraging the DM to mess with your gear. (stealing or destroying a wizard's spellbook, the "convenience" of spell mastery feat as an option)

Like my first sentence explicitly stated, I don't think wizards are weak or need a helping hand. I DO think making them go through all that tedious bs just to fullfill their function (know lots of arcane spells) is a dumb way to "balance" them and makes the game (remember? game? supposed to have fun?) a lot less enjoyable for the person playing one. Hmm...how about I make up a class that always scores a confirmed crit on every hit. But, in return to "balance" it, the DM gets to punch the player in the face every time he attacks with the character.