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Is this a new design philosophy for 3E? It was my understanding in earlier editions that the DM was encouraged to design a world by addition, not by subtraction. That is, you were expected to figure out which animals, humanoid races, and so on were in your world. That was the active step. Not...

Because you can have one or a few medusae exist as cursed individuals. If you have the dinosaurs existing as a sustainable population, as animals filling an ecological niche, they're going to have much more of an impact. On ecology: many D&D worlds are heavily over-populated with predators, so...

D'oh! I have the movies on the mind too much and the books not enough.

No. Very small animals can exist in great diversity; random anomalies and aberrations can exist here and there. But Medium or larger animals present in great enough numbers to have a sustainable population should be noted. The DM should have an idea of what the world looks like, and be able...

Agreed. MarauderX updated it to 3.5 to begin his campaign (which has now gone to level 20). Outstanding fun, and that battle made very clear to us that we should not expect 4 encounters per day of average CR = APL. Best campaign I've ever been a part of.

I agree with RC. The existence of dragons and magic does NOT make the game "anything goes." I don't know what Olaf's game was like before the dinosaur, but it could well have had a feel resembling European myths and legends (e.g. King Arthur) or LotR or something like that -- or at least...

I'd recommend Elusive Target (for the "negate Power Attack" option) and Improved Toughness in order to best stay on your feet making your TWF attacks.

Because I know I've wandered a bit here, let me sum up. And hey, it's my 1000th post, I'll make it a good one: There are many ways to balance casters against fighters. Spells per day is a possibility and, although it has its flaws, it can be made to work. For those who don't like it, I've...

The rules say nothing at all about what actual gameplay looks like. Nowhere does it say "You must play to level 20 before you can start another campaign." Nowhere does it say how long an average campaign will last. Certainly it wasn't true in BECMI that the top nine levels were 25% of...

Oh, absolutely, if it's what the monsters would logically do. If the PCs went after the local orc tribe, killed a few guards, realized they were in over their heads and fled... you now have a very cool "pursuit" adventure on your hands. I wouldn't say you only track them if they're "bad" --...

No, they're not. ACTUAL gameplay, I said. Not what is possible by the rules. Most campaigns end before level 20. When you factor in the many, many campaigns that only run for levels 1-8, 3-10, 1-12, or what have you before falling apart, I believe that about 5% of all 3E/3.5 game sessions...

Okay, but if it doesn't become a problem until 13th level, then it's not a problem at all for about 95% of all actual gameplay. That's a pretty good start, isn't it? And there are many other things you can do to about Teleport -- adding risk, raising the spell level, or changing the way it...

Not to derail this too much, but a great number of adventures do NOT permit PCs to rest up. 1) The opponent is intelligent or can track and will pursue them back to their base, possibly laying waste to the town. Many unintelligent monsters DO have Track, and many of these would be kept as pets...

Definitely a dagger, not an at-will magic blast (and I meant not necessarily absolute numbers but relative damage to the fighter). Magic shouldn't be convenient, reliable, and unlimited. It's a matter of flavor for me. I'm not a fan of wizards being defined as just spell-slingers and nothing...

Clerics should be nerfed back to the BECMI spell list -- fewer buffs and attack spells, mostly defensive and healing spells, and spells capped at a lower level than wizard spells. I'd compensate them with more opportunities for improving their weapon skills (as BECMI did). They should be very...

Wait, does Improved Bull Rush count? Especially since, as a campaign-specific creature, it was modified to Improved Bantha Rush for Star Wars?

These were included in the BECMI Weapon Mastery System. Certain weapons could delay (make foes lose initiative next round), stun (make them lose actions), strangle (the bola), hook (trip), disarm, skewer (trident), or deflect (an overpowered version of parry). Tracking conditions does become...

It's an instakill against a opponent of up to certain Large sizes with no means of teleporting, plane shifting, Dim Dooring, or Disintegrating. That's about it. It's ineffective against most high-CR dragons, giants, and brute monsters (size), most other high-CR monsters (teleporting -- demons...

I voted 3 because I think any other option understates the DM's importance. Even if all classes are designed equal, some players will take more advantage of the abilities. In 3.0 and 3.5, I've seen druids and clerics be generally ineffective background characters and rogue/fighters be the...

In my experience a fighter's damage generally IS good enough in actual games. I have seen casters struggle with SR to a greater degree than melee types struggle with DR. I have seen high-level foes usually make their saving throws. I have seen a fighter's Shock Trooper Leap Attack as reliable...