D&D 3E/3.5 Conceptual Problems with 3E/3.5E and Desired Solutions for 4E

[Henrix]

Healing magic should get a powerup to become a par with hit point and damage - or hit points and damage should be lowered so that healing magic is on par with it.


The rules for playing non-standard races needs to be redone. Farewell to LA/ECl.

Less emphasis on dungeon combat and more on worlds and campaigns.

 

[Li Shenron]

So... what are your biggest conceptual problems with 3E/3.5E? How would you like to see them addressed? Even if you are able to ultimately get past it in the game, does anything in particular jar you or your fellow players in the 'this is completely nonsensical' way and would like to consequently see dealt with?

The only thing which I can call a "big conceptual problem" is the D&D economy.

It will only get worse in future editions.

 

[hexgrid]

The rules for playing non-standard races needs to be redone. Farewell to LA/ECl.

Agreed. I don't know what the solution is, but LA/ECL is my least favorite 3.x mechanic.

 

[TerraDave]

Big conceptual problems. Not much in the mechanics.

But for the game as a whole, the ratio of options for players to customize their charecters vs. aid for DMs to run their game. This is all out of whack.

In other words, I want more help as a DM. As a player, there are already a bunch of existing variations I would like to play and will never have the time to.

 

[mhensley]

I would love to see them seriously revamp the money system used in the game. Even for a first level character copper and silver coins are useless to carry around. They either need to simplify and just have gold pieces as the only currency (like most crpg's) or revamp the price lists so that silver is the main unit of exchange. Having silver pieces at the center would give some value to copper pieces and make gold as valuable as it should be.

Another area I would like to revamped would be that of weapon proficiencies. Instead of basing it on class or feats, base it on Strength and/or Dexterity like GURPS and T&T do. If you want your wizard to be able to use a sword, he just has to be strong enough to wield it. That's much better than arbitrary class limits.

 

[thedungeondelver]

The only thing which I can call a "big conceptual problem" is the D&D economy.

It will only get worse in future editions.

 

[thedungeondelver]

I would love to see them seriously revamp the money system used in the game. Even for a first level character copper and silver coins are useless to carry around. They either need to simplify and just have gold pieces as the only currency (like most crpg's) or revamp the price lists so that silver is the main unit of exchange. Having silver pieces at the center would give some value to copper pieces and make gold as valuable as it should be.

Another area I would like to revamped would be that of weapon proficiencies. Instead of basing it on class or feats, base it on Strength and/or Dexterity like GURPS and T&T do. If you want your wizard to be able to use a sword, he just has to be strong enough to wield it. That's much better than arbitrary class limits.

What, then, of electrum and platinum?

 

[Nebulous]

Have a separate Spell Book! The Tome of Magic, or the Book of Magic, or whatever the heck they want to call it. And therein, take the Vancian system that we all know so well, break it down, and incorporate it with some new magic rules. d20 has tons of stuff to use as inspiration in this regard: Arcana Evolved, Elements of Magic, etc. We can keep the Vancian slot system if players want it (and it's the easiest one to learn) but there should be rules for more complex spell casting that includes free-form and other techniques. Just what i'd like to see anyway.

 

[Arashi Ravenblade]

I dont have a Problem with too much mechanicaly. I love the options and rules for just about everything.
But I do have to say the economy is pretty messed up. As well as the availability of certain Items. Magical and Mudane. We dont need a new Edition for this, but something I would like to see is Items with an availability percentage based on the Gp limit of a town. I get so tired of trying to explain to someone you cant just walk into any town with 200,000 GP and buy A +5 Vorpal Great Mercurial Great Sword, and there arent Wizards just sitting around making this stuff.

 

[Lanefan]

Oh, where to start?

I agree the economics are screwy, but that's been true since Day 1 in D+D; I doubt it'll change, if only because people like seeing great big numbers in their g.p. column.

As a traditionalist, I'd like to see non-standard PC races come right out of core, and at most be a minor option in some expansion book. (and if DM's want them before then, they can always wing it)

Slow down level advancement. Or, have a dual-track advancement and ExP table - one track for short (1-2 year) campaigns and one for long (5+ year) campaigns.

Give DM's more latitude to tweak the game to suit their/their players' style. About the only way to do this is to make things a bit more modular, to remove some of the knock-on effects where changing one thing affects 12 other things, but this would be a nasty design challenge.

In general, bring back some of the notion that it's the DM's game. 1e is the DM's game all the way, 3e is much more the players' game; there's a good mid-point somewhere between.

Get away from the slavery to having linear progressions for everything. For example, I'd really like to see Bards' BAB go up quickly for the first few levels, then slow right down after that, and eventually stop. Ditto wizards; after about 10th level, why would they ever bother learning how to fight better?

Dont' be afraid to look back at earlier editions for good ideas to incorporate; System Shock Survival and Resurrection Survival are two examples.

Lanefan