Going Back to 3.0


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Reynard said:
So, I have BoEM2, BoHM and BoIM -- what else do I need for 3.monte? Is BoEM useful to have beyond understanding the few feats and spells referenced from BoEM2? Is BoRL worthwhile for rounding out the whole thing? Are there other 3.0 products from Malhavok that add to the game?

Mindscapes for psionics expands the 3.0 psionics a lot.

I don't know if BoEMIII is 3.0 or 3.5 in print, in pdf it is 3.5 now. Complete Book of Eldritch Might is 3.5. I believe Baur's Book of Rougish Luch and Mearls' Book of Iron Might are 3.5 timeframe.

There are the events books too, Cry Havok, the meteor one, the death of a god one, etc.

Also the alt PH Arcana Unearthed/Evolved.
 



Dannyalcatraz said:
Not me- the 3.5 rules seem more realistic.

The 3rd Edition weapon-size rules seem to be their own little case study in the "realism vs. playability" struggle that used to be the major point of game-design debate in the 80's.
 

Reynard said:
So, I have BoEM2, BoHM and BoIM -- what else do I need for 3.monte? Is BoEM useful to have beyond understanding the few feats and spells referenced from BoEM2? Is BoRL worthwhile for rounding out the whole thing? Are there other 3.0 products from Malhavok that add to the game?

I'd get the Complete Book of Eldritch Might if I were you. It has the CBoEM 1-3 compiled in the one book and updated for 3.5E.

Olaf the Stout
 

The 3rd Edition weapon-size rules seem to be their own little case study in the "realism vs. playability" struggle that used to be the major point of game-design debate in the 80's.

What did it for me was owning 2 different 6" blades. One is an actual knife, the other a scale replica of a sword in a Toledo (Spain) museum. The knife's blade is about 3/4" wide, and its hilt is just as wide- the replica has a volume that is but a fraction of the real knife, with a blade slightly narrower than 2 lines from this post.

Similarly, the knife's hilt is almost half the blade's length, while the replica's hilt is only as long as the first 2 words of this sentence.

A Size M person using the replica as a knife would slash his hand horribly because his hand would envelop much of the blade's length, while a person for whom the replica would be a functional sword would probably weigh much less than the knife- he'd find using it much like fencing with a caber.
 

Reynard said:
I am just curious: has anyone played 3.5 for a while and then decided to go back to 3.0? Why? What were the advantages? How'dit work out for you?

I have run a 3.5 game for something over half a year, playing from the SRD. It wasn't terrible, but nearly all the changes ended up being negative for us, even if before playing most of them looked positive. We simply ended that campaign, and continue with previous ones in 3.0. When I start a new campaign now it's 3.0 either with a small set of HR for a spin, or none at all.

OTOH I have been a player in a bunch of 3.5 games online. I'd prefer 3.0 as a player too, but I cannot find any of them anymore.

What were the advantages?

- Not having to spend money to buy the same material again (best books were written for 3.0)
- Not having to bother converting what I liked of the 3.0 material that was never updated
- Buying 3.0 books at a good discount
- 3.0 rules give me a feeling of being designed as a whole, 3.5 as a series of unrelated stitches

...plus a countless number of things which I definitely prefer in 3.0, in no particular order:

- 3.0 races are more balanced with each other
- Gnomes as illusionists are good, Gnomes as bards don't work at all for me
- Sorcerer was still balanced with the other classes; 3.5 boosted everyone but forgot the Sorc, and nerfed spells
- Druids, Bards, Barbarians and even Rangers are actually fine in 3.0; the 3.5 Ranger is way too good compared to other classes; furthermore I prefer the 3.0 concept of a Ranger "fighter of the wild" rather than the 3.5 concept "rogue of the wild"
- multi-purpose spells were great, particularly but not only for sorcerers, before they were split
- buff spells with random bonus were more exciting
- buff spells with long duration: shortening them boosted buff items, and restricted the spells to combat use
- many save-or-die changed to simple damage dealing, reducing spells diversity
- swapping known spells: I dislike any retraining rules with a passion
- Polymorph changes are confusing without improving the spell at all
- I like a Darkness spell that actually creates darkness
- Haste: yes it was powerful, but it also depleted daily spells quickly; it was an interesting tactical option, now it's just another buff
- standing up not provoking an AoO is more balanced, and not less realistic
- weapon sizes: old rules were simpler and were not less realistic really
- damage reduction: while I do like special materials, I think the different +s were good as a balancing factor of monsters and magic weapon pricing, compared to just "magic"
- facing: I still prefer my horses and snakes to be long and narrow
- cover rules have become too simple for my taste, I like some bit of variety here
- action types were simpler in 3.0, didn't need to get bloated with swift and immediate
- skills: generally more expensive in 3.0, which means players are more motivated to use them well
- exclusive skills: some of them were in fact class abilities (UMD, Decipher Script), and once available to everyone, they reduce niche protection
- scry: Scrying spells are powerful, and deserve an extra cost (skill points) rather than being free; I prefer this to be still a skill
- alchemy: in my favourite setting type, this should be available to non-casters as well
- power attack: 2 for 1 is too much of an advantage, especially at high level
- deflect arrows: automatic success is counterintuitive and doesn't give space for circumstance modifiers
- stacking the same metamagic was a great tactical choice
- spell focus +2 is not unbalanced at all, spell focus +1 devalues a perfectly fine feat

What were the disadvantages?

- Becoming a grognard of the one edition that has the least number of them
- Missing a couple of interesting books (the environmental ones, the prestige monster ones)
- Not being able to find an HTML-based SRD for 3.0
 


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