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Monte's 3.75? (A sequal is on its way)
- Thread starter TerraDave
- Start date
Baron Opal
First Post
Oh come on, the Robocrats can't hold a candle to the Zimbabwe Cubist Revivalists. Look at the pixels, man!
Wisdom Penalty
First Post
Reynard said:
I know you didn't ask me, but I'll answer anyway - I think 3.x was a better game prior to the onslaught of splat. I know, I know - a company wants to make money and if I don't want those books, then don't buy 'em or use 'em at the table.
I started no less than three 3.x campaigns with a mandated "CORE ONLY" sign hanging around my neck...
...and I ended up opening Pandora's Box each and every time. Just WotC stuff - no third party - but there's still a ton of splat.
Part of the reason is because standard, core only 3.x got old. Part of the reason was because I'm a pushover and a few of my players owned other books they wanted to see in use.
The problem isn't the splat. The problem is that I'm enough of a sucker to allow it.
W.P.
Last edited:
Dragonblade
Adventurer
Reynard said:
Interesting question. When 3.x first came out I really was in love with it after having played 1e and 2e for years beforehand. In fact, I still consider 3e a vast improvement to 1e/2e. But after having played it for years, some of the issues became more and more apparent.
Here is a small sampling of what I dislike about 3e (yes, some of these existed in 1e/2e as well):
Level drain - Nothing is more unfun and frustrating than having to level down a character because a monster simply TOUCHED you and you failed a Fort Save. This is a mechanic that should never have made it to 3e, IMO.
Imbalance in ability score determination and what some classes need to be effective - Some classes like the Monk or Paladin require multiple high ability scores to truly be effective in the class. Others like the Wizard or the Fighter can get by with one good score. The default point buy system really hamstrings you in this regard, IMO.
Rolled HP - Discussed in depth in another thread, this is another area where I don't like the RAW. My personal philosophy is that randomness in character stats is a bad thing. It leads to oddities like a wizard potentially having more hp than a fighter. That should NEVER happen, IMO.
15 minute adventuring day - This has become a huge problem in my group's AoW adventure path. So much so that we now use a spell point system that effectively allows casters to renew all their slots in an hour or less of game time. Essentially a pre-4e per encounter casting system.
Overdependence on magical gear at high levels - A fighter is virtually required to be brimming with magical items to be anywhere near as effective as a high level spellcaster with even no magic items. This causes several issues with the game.
Too much save or die and the required ease of raising and resurrecting needed to balance it - People might feel that 4e seems videogamey, but nothing is more videogamey than players constantly being one spell away from instant death, or instant life.
Too many spells that break the game - Disjunction for one. High level fighters are required to be equipped with gobs of magic to be on an equal playing field with high level monsters or casters, but one spell can take it all away? Scry/Teleport for another. Oh look, the Dark Lord is taking a leak, we'll just teleport the party into the lavatory and whack him before he can pull up his breeches. :\
Too much accounting involved in creating or running high level NPCs and monsters. Not so big a deal at lower levels, but at high levels, its a pain. I want to create a lich and his warrior lieutenants to challenge a high level party. I have to add class levels, find good spells and feats, outfit them with appropriate gear that is cool but won't be unbalanced if the party gets it. While I'm doing all of this, I have to bear in mind what resources the party has, then hopefully end up with something that won't wipe them out, nor be a speed bump. The CR system is less than perfect in this regard. And I just don't have the time for this that I had in my youth.
I could go on for pages. I have houseruled a lot of that stuff, and thats fine when I DM. But when someone else DMs I'm subject to their rules, or even worse, forced to play the game as written. :\
When I first heard about 4e, I was optimistic that this may be the edition that fixes everything I dislike. Based on the previews so far I think I will not be disappointed. In fact, this may be the first time in a long time that I really enjoy playing D&D right out of the book.
Dragonblade
Adventurer
As an addendum, I'll add this isn't an issue with splatbooks. Most of things I dislike are fundamental parts of the game. In fact, Bo9S really revitalized my interest in 3e for a bit. Until the 4e announcement that is. 
