I picked up my copy of the Rules Compendium last night. I found myself unable to put it down because of all of the developer commentary through out it. I read the entire book in one evening.
What I noticed is a very interesting ploy on the part of WOTC, brillant really.
The book very conviently gathers all of your rules for 3.5. It is the very best book for both DMs and Players of 3.5 to own, ever. This product makes using little known about sub systems and finding special rules extremely easy. Everything is errated too. This book will add to any 3.5 game, period.
But that is not what is brilliant about it. The commentary includes house rules, design processes, insight and behind the scenes of quirky or troublesome rules. It also includes their understand of things that really don't work - everything from rules that aren't fun, to skills that are wastes of skill points, to the ins and outs of special abilities and rules that make the game hard to run.
As I read it, I found myself thinking, yeah that would be better like that or that is a dumb rule, or I hope that is in 4e.
Then I realized, this book serves two purposes, it gives a final gift to the 3.5 crowd, giving them a tool that caps off their game system. One theu can not afford to play without. It will only streamline and improvee their use of that game system.
But it has another, more subtle purpose... reminding them constantly as they are reading the commentary, what 4e is going to be like. If you were to take all of the ideas in that book and implentment them you would have a game worthy of 3.75 reprint that players would be happy with. It clearly showed me that 4e is going to be awesome, truely awesome.
Check it out. I like to see other players and DMs take on the Rules Compendium commentary. That thing in my impression is like sticking medication in a piece of cheese for you pet or kid so they take it
Pretty smart.
What I noticed is a very interesting ploy on the part of WOTC, brillant really.
The book very conviently gathers all of your rules for 3.5. It is the very best book for both DMs and Players of 3.5 to own, ever. This product makes using little known about sub systems and finding special rules extremely easy. Everything is errated too. This book will add to any 3.5 game, period.
But that is not what is brilliant about it. The commentary includes house rules, design processes, insight and behind the scenes of quirky or troublesome rules. It also includes their understand of things that really don't work - everything from rules that aren't fun, to skills that are wastes of skill points, to the ins and outs of special abilities and rules that make the game hard to run.
As I read it, I found myself thinking, yeah that would be better like that or that is a dumb rule, or I hope that is in 4e.
Then I realized, this book serves two purposes, it gives a final gift to the 3.5 crowd, giving them a tool that caps off their game system. One theu can not afford to play without. It will only streamline and improvee their use of that game system.
But it has another, more subtle purpose... reminding them constantly as they are reading the commentary, what 4e is going to be like. If you were to take all of the ideas in that book and implentment them you would have a game worthy of 3.75 reprint that players would be happy with. It clearly showed me that 4e is going to be awesome, truely awesome.
Check it out. I like to see other players and DMs take on the Rules Compendium commentary. That thing in my impression is like sticking medication in a piece of cheese for you pet or kid so they take it
Pretty smart.
