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<blockquote data-quote="Nifft" data-source="post: 1638686" data-attributes="member: 6562">One of the nice things about 3rd Edition (and 3.5e, mostly), is that you can pre-calculate stuff, and it mostly doesn't vary with critter type. (There are exceptions, of course.) Bonuses have finite types, so you could in theory make a character sheet that allows you to do easy bonus accounting.An annoying trend I've noticed is the creation of feats which grant special bonuses in special situations, and the creation of new bonus types (&quot;sacred&quot; vs. &quot;divine&quot; vs. &quot;profane&quot; vs. blah blah). IMHO, these are both bad trends, because they add complication without adding complexity. (&quot;Complication&quot; is answered with rote memorization, while &quot;complexity&quot; requires thought -- there are often multiple only partially satisfactory solutions to a complex problem, while a complicated problem has a single, albeit obfuscated, solution.)The answer here IMHO is to:1) Limit the number of bonus types to a fixed list.2) Make nice character sheets that actually have a place for everything (and labels!), and room to the side for temporary bonuses. Automated computer sheets might help here, but a well-designed paper sheet would be wonderful.As a DM, I pre-calculate what effects I expect to place on certain critters, and keep separate listings for their AC, Saves &amp; Attacks under different conditions. Players should be able to do the same thing, especially since they can co-operatively plan their spells &amp; strategy.&nbsp;-- N</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Nifft, post: 1638686, member: 6562"] One of the nice things about 3rd Edition (and 3.5e, mostly), is that you can pre-calculate stuff, and it mostly doesn't vary with critter type. (There are exceptions, of course.) Bonuses have finite types, so you could [i]in theory[/i] make a character sheet that allows you to do easy bonus accounting. An annoying trend I've noticed is the creation of feats which grant special bonuses in special situations, and the creation of new bonus types ("sacred" vs. "divine" vs. "profane" vs. blah blah). IMHO, these are both bad trends, because they add [i]complication[/i] without adding [i]complexity[/i]. ("Complication" is answered with rote memorization, while "complexity" requires thought -- there are often multiple only partially satisfactory solutions to a complex problem, while a complicated problem has a single, albeit obfuscated, solution.) The answer here IMHO is to: 1) Limit the number of bonus types to a fixed list. 2) Make nice character sheets that actually have a place for everything (and labels!), and room to the side for temporary bonuses. Automated computer sheets might help here, but a well-designed paper sheet would be wonderful. As a DM, I pre-calculate what effects I expect to place on certain critters, and keep separate listings for their AC, Saves & Attacks under different conditions. Players should be able to do the same thing, especially since they can co-operatively plan their spells & strategy. -- N [/QUOTE]

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