3.5 updates for good 3.0 sourcebooks?

[blargney the second]

I just picked up a copy of Arcana: Societies of Magic at my local gaming store. It's an excellent book, the only problem is that the rules-material is eminently 3.0. If I were an experienced DM, I might be able to convert it to 3.5, but as it stands I'm really quite lousy at it.

Do books like this get patches to bring them up to speed?
-blarg

 

[JoeGKushner]

Some but not all. For example, Green Ronin has updated two of their books, Legions of Hell, Armies of the Abyss, in one hardcover called Book of Fiends. They've also got some web expansions that update the Shaman's Handbook and the Witch's Handbook. Monte Cook's company has patches for their PDF files and have reprinted and expanded with updates their Complete Book of Eldritch Might as well as the Hallowed Might.

What exact problems are you having with it? It's not full of monsters, one of the more time consuming things to update, so most of it should be fairly easy.

 

[blargney the second]

Some but not all. For example [...]

What exact problems are you having with it? It's not full of monsters, one of the more time consuming things to update, so most of it should be fairly easy.

Thanks for the reply, Joe! It makes sense that they'd only update their best selling books - I guess I could restrict my purchases to 3.5 material, or at least 3.0 products that have known updates.

Just seems a shame to limit myself, as my local gaming store is starting to accumulate a fair-sized collection of inexpensive used or never purchased 3.0 material. (Which is where I found this book.) It only really occured to me after I bought it that it might be a bit difficult for me to ensure 3.5 compatibility.

I agree that it's not full of monsters, but the ones that are there are dauntingly complex, at least to a neophyte DM like me. I'm not too sharp on rules-heavy stuff, although I peruse the Rules forum regularly to mitigate that lack. So I look at the condensed statblock for an NPC like Master Galardoun, a Ftr 1/Mnk 5/Wiz 5/GSM 9, and I mutter to myself, "Damn. I don't even know where to start converting that."

Skrazargul the Dragon presents a similar challenge to me, as do any of the other high-level characters. I can manage low-level conversions easily enough, I think!
-blarg

 

[Silveras]

First, don't let it intimidate you. Rules can smell your fear, and use it against you.

Most NPCs should not need much in the way of updates. If you have not yet visited the Wizards web site, go there and get the 3.5 Accessory Update PDF. It presents the upates for some of Wizards' own books to 3.5, but it also neatly lists most of the changes. It is a very good tool for getting a handle on what needs to be updated.

Most NPCs will work pretty much "as is"; they may not be 100% 3.5 accurate, but for most gaming, 90-95 % is close enough. The things to look out for are spells that changed. If a new spell is based on an old spell that changed, THAT would need to be adjusted. Take Emotion, for example. Some Cleric domains included emotion. The spell is gone in 3.5, replaced with individual spells for some of the effects (and the others are just gone).

Second, nothing HAS to be updated. So that Emotion spell can be used as it was in 3.0 as a "special" spell in your world.

The designers have made the comment that people could be playing a mix of 3.0 and 3.5 in the same game and not realize it for a while. Depending on the game being run, this could well be accurate.

The point is, though, don't agonize over it. A 3.0 book is still quite usable in 3.5, generally. Check the publisher's web sites for updates occasionally, though. It never hurts to have the information.

 

[Psion]

Most NPCs will work pretty much "as is"; they may not be 100% 3.5 accurate, but for most gaming, 90-95 % is close enough. The things to look out for are spells that changed.

Bard skill points
Class abilities for various classes (frex, you might want to tweak the monk PrC in Arcana: Societies of Magic.)

 

[blargney the second]

First, don't let it intimidate you. Rules can smell your fear, and use it against you.

*lol*
I should get a spritzer to spray the rules if they start behaving badly.

If you have not yet visited the Wizards web site, go there and get the 3.5 Accessory Update PDF.

Done.

Most NPCs will work pretty much "as is"; they may not be 100% 3.5 accurate, but for most gaming, 90-95 % is close enough. The things to look out for are spells that changed.

Second, nothing HAS to be updated. So that Emotion spell can be used as it was in 3.0 as a "special" spell in your world.

I'll buy that! The game I'm working on is still in the planning stages, so these CR 20 guys are a LONG way from being used. I'm actually already thinking of changing the ancient green dragon into a mature blue with sorcerer levels. I want him (her?) to have an earth mephit familiar who will be the planar knowledge and summoning expert at the PC's academy. I just dig the idea of a little mephit with hundreds of HPs and insane skill bonusses.

-blarg