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How about prestige classes? Does anyone feel like listing them? Are there any especially cool or troublesome ones?

Yes, you're right -- unless you do more than 20 points of average damage (which is feasible, but not until high levels), Weapon Focus always adds less than one point of average damage per attack. But it is a prerequisite for Weapon Specialization, which is much more powerful. Improved Critical...

Yes, I know. And this is why you can use normal critical hit systems to express percentile increases to expected damage (taking chances to hit into account) according to threat range and multiplier. But I wanted to express the marginal damage increase that threat improvements provide under...

Consider the following three extensive sets of house rules for Arcana Unearthed; more house-rules (including additional prestige classes, the "journeyman," a setting-neutral akashic that's not based on the concept of universal memory, and racial-level based treatments for such races as aasimar...

Okay, let's take a high-damage weapon like a greatsword, which turns out to be only slightly better: Improved Critical with a greatsword that you're specialized with provides an extra 10% chance to do an extra 2d6+2 damage (assuming you confirm your threat -- again, not confirming is a real...

I completely agree with you. I also think the 3.5e Power Attack is as stupid an idea as the 3.5e crit stacking rules. Both of them should be consigned to the house-rule garbage can. Leaving your burst enchantment rules aside, the problem with this rule is that keen and Improved Critical become...

This moderately favors high-threat range weapons. Consider: - Optimized longsword; 17-20/x3. 20% chance to do +200% damage, for an expected +40% critical damage. - Optimized scimitar: 15-20/x3. 30% chance to do +200% damage, for an expected +60% critical damage. - Optimized battleaxe: 19-20/x4...

If that. A typical fighter 15 wouldn't want to trade his bonus feats for the skill set of a 20th-level aristocrat. Although 3/4 is probably as good an equivalence as any.

It's nitpicky, but you get a larger array of weapons for the feat than just Devanian weaponry, and, unless you want to use finesse, you only need to buy one Devanian weapon, for your off-hand. And once you get past second or third level, the price becomes pretty trivial.

Note that I used a similar version of this implementation, but I just built-in Perfect TWF into Greater. (The extra attack at -15 is really not worth that feat.) I'm not sure whether it's more balanced to have a +6 ITWF and a +11 Perfect TWF or a +9 perfect-style ITWF. The problem with your...

So, basically, because you changed the AU weapon rules so that they can't support the AU implementation of two-weapon fighting, the AU implementation of two-weapon fighting doesn't work? I don't see why you have to change Devanian weapons at all, and, again, if you don't change them, the system...

Look at the math again. The AU Two-Weapon Fighting feat is often worthwhile without Ambidexterity and would be too powerful if you included both benefits. You're underestimating the importance of Devanian weapons, which in effect provide the same benefit as Massive Two-Weapon Fighting, and some...

For the record, I think that this rule -- like much of the other 3.5e revisions -- is just idiotic. In a sensible game, this issue just shouldn't come up.

Right; and so does the Snake Totem Warrior, for that matter. This is actually very important: the point is that if you've got the right character class for two-weapon fighting, you can do very well just by spending one feat (Two-Weapon Fighting). I don't think including Greater Two-Weapon...

Yes, it certainly is. And when I find a book that actually articulates a morally complex world -- rather than the sort of Manichean/Christian nonsense in the BoED -- I'll certainly call it "mature."

I'm really surprised nobody has plugged Monte Cook's approach to two-weapon fighting in AU, which I think solves the problem (and is easily adaptable to D&D). Basically, he uses the following rules: 1. Two-Weapon Fighting reduces your total penalties by 4, on each hand (for a total of -0/-4...

That's funny. I prefer the opposite (Spell Focus at +2 and Greater Spell Focus at +1, for the same total), because I think that specialization should bring diminishing returns under most circumstances. Also it makes the choice between focusing on different schools or casting the spells of one...

If the WotC excerpts are any indication, I'll have both conceptual and mechanical problems with the BoED. Conceptually, it looks like it'll play up the Judeo-Christian ethical and mythological themes already present in D&D, but I'd really like to have seen a more sophisticated treatment of...

Well, for skillful elven lightly-armored longsword wielders, there's always the bladesinger (and the errata'ed version is available for free), although it can be tough to qualify for. It's actually one of my favorite prestige classes: a graceful elven swordmaster who uses magic to enhance his...

What does the DMG list as the standard total value (in gp) of a 5th-level character's gear?