3.5 - Is your game better?

[Desdichado]

Most of the clarifications I already have in d20 Modern or Star Wars Revised or some such. If that's the best 3.5 has to offer, it's not much.

 

[Storminator]

Most of the clarifications I already have in d20 Modern or Star Wars Revised or some such. If that's the best 3.5 has to offer, it's not much.

I have neither of those books, nor any prospects of getting into a game of either. So for me, the 3.5 PHB is a cheaper option than buying that pair of books. I also don't need to lug around books from 3 different games and frankenstein (yes, it's a verb now!) the rules together.

PS

 

[Desdichado]

It's a darn good verb! And yes, clearly, folks that don't already have the clarifications in some other book would probably value that more than folks (like me) that do.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Oh! And the new sundering rules -- breaking magical swords -- changed a last fight in a different campaign in a large way, and I think everyone involved found the battle more entertaining because of it.

Look under "Magic Weapons" in the DMG.

Hardness and Hit Points: An attacker cannot damage a magic weapon that has an enhancement bonus unless his own weapon has at least as high an enhancement bonus as the weapon or shield struck...

-Hyp.

 

[D+1]

3.5 does not make the game any better. It did fix some things, but for the most part I house ruled things I thought were ill represented or broken...

I just wanted to vent and let people know I have switched sides. I dislike the concept of 3.5. They should have waited a few more years and made 4E.

What do you want it to do? Play the game for you? Use what you like, ignore what you don't. Play the game as you want to play it. Rules cannot force you to have fun any more than they can force you not to.

I happen to think that regardless of whether or not people like or use the 3.5 rules, in whole or in part, they have succeeded wonderfully in doing something they were never actually intended to do, but that desperately needed doing - get gamers off their fat, rotting, unused imaginations and put them back to work. I simply am unable to conjure up sympathy for anyone who seems to expect WotC to A) run their game for them, and B) provide infallible rules that will be universally loved and accepted.

Adapt, improvise, overcome, and roll dice.

 

[Iscariot]

Don't start on 4E. I don't even want to hear that for 5 years ...

Whats a $100 every few years for your hobby? You said it...

I think the point is, most of us put more than $100 into the 3e books...what with supplements, splatbooks, and all. Now we have to re-write it all to make it useable.

 

[Wycen]

3.5 exists.

It does not improve.

I am trying my best to ignore it.

What he said. Mostly I hate relearning all the spells for my cleric. So I've multiclassed into fighter now so I can worry about them less.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

What he said. Mostly I hate relearning all the spells for my cleric. So I've multiclassed into fighter now so I can worry about them less.

3.$ is a joke. Why on earth anyone would buy it is beyond me.

 

[Celtavian]

re

So far, I think it is an improvement. I liked that a few of the spells have been toned down. I like the skill clarifications and changes. I especially like the easier to use standardized monster creation.

The biggest thing I like is that it is all in one book. I haven't had to slog through pages of errata and such. I just hope WotC invests more time in editing their future splat books. The original splat books were horrendous. The new ones coming out better be nearly error free or I am going to be particularly unhappy.

 

[S'mon]

Markedly better, I'd say.

Both as a DM and as a player, the changes to haste and the buff spells are very welcome. I am also quite happy with the culling and clarification that went on with respect to skills.

I agree with this - all the PHB changes seem good, especially the buff-nerfing: as a DM the buffs were becoming a nightmare for me in 3.0; all the NPCs needed to be buffed to the max to compete with the ever-buffed PCs, and there was no logical reason not to do so.
The change to XP calculation in DMG seems good, although it's heavily reduced the XP awards to the highest level PC in my group. Some of the magic-item changes seem too extreme so I've retained some of the 3.0 versions.

Some of the Monster Manual changes are good, but some Outsiders have been made way too powerful - the 'weakest, most common' pit fiend or balor should not be a CR 20 nightmare IMO - stat-wise they're tougher than half the arch-fiends in BOVD!

"Move over Graz'zt, your pathetic demon princeliness cannot compare to my mighty Balor-power!"

I'm keeping my 3.0 MM for a lot of the Outsiders, I can use the 3.5 versions for Advanced/Greater types.