Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="ciaran00" data-source="post: 1202193" data-attributes="member: 12493">My particular observations<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">3e balance and 2e balance are two different beasts. Neither is completely broken, though 2e IS more problem-prone than 3e. PrCs contribute in a major way to 3e unbalancing issues.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">2e's major issue is consistency of rules. Spells are half-explained and rules are patched together when things break the system (like Advanced Beings in Dark Sun).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">3e _appears_ to be more abuse-prone since it has no formal upper maximum. 2e appears to be less so because it placed an artificial 30-level limit on its characters with draconian multiclass rules.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">3e consistency is still half-assed: ie, the monster/PC line is still pretty thick. AU tried to solve this in one way with Racial Levels. All in all it still bothers me... so I've "fixed" it.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">A lot of 3e balance comes from subtraction. This is probably safer anyway (2e classes on the whole are a bit more powerful... the only ones who are about the same are fighters and rogues).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Much of 3e often forgets about "fantasy" itself in preference of rule consistency. Much of this is due to people who forget DM's Rule #0... Also, disturbingly, 3e mages tend to not resemble classic magely figures (Merlin, Gandalf, etc.)... they are more like statistic blocks part of a system than wizards with mysterious power. Of course 2e showed us how hazardrous "mysterious" can be to balance...</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Hands down, the basic framework of 3e is great to build your own system on. Side note: Several 2e systems (such as the class construction from Player's Options), which cannot be found in 3e, are too cool to pass up.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Why 3.5 came around is as much of a mystery to me as it makes sense.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Unwieldy/Inelegant 3e mechanics:<ol> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Obsessive separate spell selections for each class (as opposed to Bard/Wizard + Ranger/Paladin/Cleric/Druid). This I can see has been done to make multiclassing work.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Skill class/cross-class -ness: System with heavy history element (ie: you have to account for every level as opposed to being able to draw up skills from scratch for any level)... 18th level character's skills takes a while to add up from scratch, esp. if the guy's multi-classed; allows one or more levels of player error/cheating which is unresolvable without some involved checking/calculation.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">CR mechanic to encompass all player improvements non-existent. Ie, what if the players like to graft things?</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Setting-specific CLASSES still around: ie... a Paladin does not belong on 95% of worlds, like say... a fighter.</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Save vs. Spell mechanic that does not scale with level or saving throws (ie: a 50th level undead creature is flinging attacks with a save DC of 10 + 1/2 * 25 + say Cha... a wizard of equiv level is flinging spells with a save DC of 10 + 9 + Int. These aren't equivalent if the Wiz has to buy feats to compensate for 16 points).</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ol">Handling of items in distress... a potion sitting on a dias hit by a fireball just... croaks.</li> </ol></li> </ul>Anyway, enough rambling... just some thoughts.ciaran</blockquote>

Verification