Improvements after 3.5

[GlassJaw]

They are actually in the SRD now, so that's about as core as you can get.

I primarily use the CMG SRD - I don't think they've made it into that.

But I think I do remember reading about them in the MH at one point I didn't like them.

 

[Quasqueton]

I had already begun to see the seams in 3.0 despite having played it for only a year.
...
I can't help but feel that some of these improvements would have made it into the core had it been delayed until 2005 as originally planned.

You saw a need for improvements in 2001, 3.5 came out in 2003, yet you would rather they have waited *another* two years to release it?

Quasqueton

 

[HellHound]

Interesting...I had never caught that they were in there. Apparently that means that 3rd Party Publishers can now use Swift and Immediate actions in their publications?

Of course. Swift and Immediate actions are a core part of the revised Psionics rules, and thus had to be implemented into the SRD when the new psionics rules were.

 

[The_Fan]

You saw a need for improvements in 2001, 3.5 came out in 2003, yet you would rather they have waited *another* two years to release it?

Quasqueton

Not exactly...call it mixed emotions. Sorry if I'm unclear, I always get slightly incoherent after giving blood.

 

[Remathilis]

You forgot the new Deity format in Comp Divine

 

[Maliki]

What I will disagree with is that all of this is for the better. Some of it is, but a lot of it is just adding complexity on top of complexity. Until WotC releases a D&D book with implicit rules for not using miniatures, not using Attacks of Opportunity, and a simplified or unified skills/feats system, I plan on ignoring most of these additional rules.

I agree 3.0/3.5 just went way overboard with the complexity of the game, and each new idea just adds to the complexity. They had some good core ideas but way overdid it, IMHO.

 

[CM]

Of course. Swift and Immediate actions are a core part of the revised Psionics rules, and thus had to be implemented into the SRD when the new psionics rules were.

They have also been in a sidebar in just about every hardcover WotC has released in the last six months.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Look at it this way -- haven't you ever had a project at work or school that you handed in, and then a week later realized out of the blue there was a minor change you wish you'd made? If George Lucas can screw with his movies 25 years after the fact, surely there's room for a tweak in D&D here and there.

The difference is that D&D is actually getting better...

The Auld Grump - Han shot first!

*EDIT* That said, Henry seems to have hit all the main points.

 

[The Shaman]

Immediate actions
Swift actions

Must...fight...urge...to...stab...screen...with...letter...opener... :\

The biggest improvement to fantasy gaming since 3.5 is the release of Castles and Crusades.

 

[Samothdm]

They have also been in a sidebar in just about every hardcover WotC has released in the last six months.

Yes, but that doesn't necessarily make them "core" or even "usable" by other companies. I don't use psionics and I realized that Swift and Immediate actions were mentioned in, among other things, the Miniature's Handbook and Complete Adventurer (for the Ninja class).

There are a lot of game mechanics that WotC uses in their books (even the same idea across multiple books) that aren't considered core and they are also not part of the SRD.