3.5 Scoops Discussion

[theoremtank]

Now the 'Mighty' rules are included in the regular description and there is a -2 Penalty to Attack when useing a bow you're not strong enough for. Any now Composite bows are considered the same as their normal counterparts as far as Feats are concerned (so Weapon Focus: Longbow works for both a standard Longbow and a Composite).

Excellent news! I've been pushing for the generalization of bows and their composite counterparts for a while.

 

[TheMilitantOne]

I found a way to get all three 3.5 books for $26. Go <a href = "http://ekajsmash.tripod.com">here</a> and click on the 3.5 link for details. It's all done through amazon.com and saves over 70% of cover price.

Don't say I never gave you anything...

 

[diaglo]

It's a good spell.

plus you can swap it for a spontaneous summoning spell if you need a scout or friend.

 

[Apok]

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Rogue changes

Sure, the rogue is just as good as it always was - but the ranger is now about as good a scout in urban terrain,

He's a decent scout in urban terrain, but he gets no special bonuses there. Not to mention the fact that Rangers don't usually hang around cities for very long, so they don't know the terrain as well as a Rogue who is more familiar with it.

and can cast spells as well,

Spells with limited usefulness. If you are in the wilderness, then these spells will make a big difference, but that's the way it should be; Rangers are better in the wild than Rogues are.

and has several nifty abilities,

So does the Rogue. Both share Evasion, but the Rogue also has Uncanny Dodge, Trap Sense, Improved Evasion, Opportunist, Skill Mastery, Sneak Attack, etc.

and is a better combatant.

Again, this is the way it should be, as Rangers are one of the primary fighting classes. However, the only real advantage a Ranger has over the Rogue is his BAB. Damage-wise, the Rogues Sneak Attack keeps him on par with most front-liners. He just lacks the HP to last long, but I don't see an issue with this.

If you have favored enemy: Human you can prowl the human cities and will have boni to many skill checks as well, effectively negating the advantage of 2 skill points per level the rogue has.

Assuming they've dropped the restriction regarding same-race Favored Enemies and non-evil Rangers. That's a very good question, I think I may just post it...

Granting Hide in Plain Sight to the ranger and not to the rogue just adds insult to injury, so to speak...

Again, a Rangers HiPS only functions in the wild, he can't do it in a city or dungeon setting.

 

[drnuncheon]

Here's an interesting bit on the Monk:

"At 20th level, a monk has tuned her body with skill and quasi-magical abilities to the point that she becomes a magical creature. She is forevermore treated as an outsider (an extraplanar creature) rather than as a humanoid for the purpose of spells and magical effects. For instance, charm person does not affect her. Additionally, the monk gains damage reduction 10/magic, which allows her to ignore (instantly regenerate) the first 10 points of damage from any attack made by a creature that dosn't have similar damage reduction. Unlike other outsiders, the monk can still be brought back from the dead as if she were a member of her previous creature type."

Looks like the 3.5 Perfect Self nicely resolves all the questions about the monk's changing type. No more arguments about whether he gets darkvision or whether he can be ressurrected...

J

 

[Conaill]

Aha! Apparently, you need to be a spellcaster to use Craft (Alchemy). Sounds like effectively they're making it an exclusive skill after all.

And how exactly is this better than having it as a separate skill... ?

 

[coyote6]

I must be grumpy today; most of these spell list changes seem utterly arbitrary, and pretty hard on backwards compatibility. The peeks were getting from Roytheodd & ShadowStar (and Andy Collins) are lessening my interest in the new edition; it's like the inverse of 3e. :-/

I think the few bard characters I've seen would need to change most of their spell lists.

Oh, well, my D&D house rules document will get longer.

 

[blckdg001]

True Res

Did I hear right. True Res is 25,00gp worth of Diamond Dust?

 

[coyote6]

Re: True Res

Did I hear right. True Res is 25,00gp worth of Diamond Dust?

Yup, that's what he said. If so, that's fine; I think coming back from the dead was a bit too trivial, and a pricier material component is a fair solution. If the GM wants to make it easier on a dead PC, he can always have a friendly NPC donate some or all of the material component.

Having it be dust rather than one diamond is easier on PCs -- you can grind up a few dozen diamonds to get it, rather than try to find some monster of a diamond.

 

[bret]

According to the scoops, you need to be a spellcaster to use Alchemy.

I wonder if this means that all Gnomes can learn Alchemy, since one of their racial abilities is to cast a few cantrips. Considering they get a bonus to Alchemy in 3ed, this may be appropriate.