Okay, D&D 3.5 grognards . . . are you *glad* your game is out of print?

[danzig138]

Uh, no. Can't say as I am, since I don't buy the books when they come out, and I've never felt a need to be chained to a book treadmill or the Joneses. If the players want something, they can go buy the book and I'll think about it. But no, no pressing need, no must have, and I think the people who do feel that are a little weird.

 

[Li Shenron]

I'm still stuck in 3.0.

 

[amethal]

Its given me the chance to sit back and take stock of my D&D collection.

There's been no reason why I couldn't do it before, of course, but when I was always looking forward to the next new thing it never occurred to me to do so.

I've started designing my first 3.5 homebrew (previously I was running my 2nd edition homebrew upgraded for 3.5) and its been good fun including the bits I like and throwing out the rest.

I'm also waiting to see what the 4th edition SRD is like. I have this quaint idea of never buying any 4th edition books, using the SRD to run a trial game, and sticking with just the SRD if 4th edition turns out to be fun. In theory this will save me a lot of money, but past experience tells me I'm bound to start buying 4th edition books sooner or later.

 

[Arashi Ravenblade]

I am and im not. Im gald that I dont have to feel like I have to devote every but of my money to it, but Im also kinda upset that I dont have anything to look forward too.
Getting a new D&D book was one of the few things in this life I actually enjoy. Well at least i'll have FR books to get for 4e.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Having just loaded up on 3.5 stuff, started a 3.5 campaign, and done extensive work houseruling 3.5 to my liking, I am perfectly happy no books are coming out. I'd rather not have my houserules preempted by anything "official". I don't like changing rules during play. Having one rule set and sticking with it without trying to integrate new material sounds great to me.

 

[Jeff Wilder]

I have to admit, I get where he's coming from. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to jump on the 4e bandwagon (and really, how can anyone decide until it comes out?), but I'll tell you one thing: it's mightly appealing to just sit back with 3.5 and enjoy a collection that will finally be COMPLETE

I agree with this completely except that I found it trivially easy to decide to ignore 4E -- at least as a DM -- for the foreseeable future.

My thinking goes like this:

(1) I've got an incredible amount of 3.5 material, including a couple of dozen books I haven't even had a chance to read yet.

(2) My players and I are still having a grand time with 3.5, and I see no reason that would change.

(3) To make up for #1, 4E would have to be an all but perfect game system.

(4) There has never been an all but perfect edition of D&D. Even if 4E improves things tremendously (and I'm not sold on that yet), as 3E did, there will be significant improvements down the line, in whatever analog for 3.5 that 4E ends up with.

Given the above, sticking with 3.5 only makes sense.

But again: yes, I am very much looking forward to the completist in me being tamed when 3.5 comes to a close. Years in the future, when I pick up 4.5 or 5E, the process will begin anew ... but I'm going to enjoy relaxing my wallet-grabbing muscles until then.

 

[Presto2112]

You are blessed to have such understanding players. Some DM's find it frustrating that their players are always demanding the "next new thing" be added to the game.

While I won't say this has been a problem in the past I have felt pressure from players sporadically to add the newest shiny book. I have, however, discovered that saying "no" (or a more gentle "I'd rather you didn't") to a player when they want a feat / class level / whatever from the newest rulebook will not end the world.

 

[Stormtower]

For me it's a bit of both.

I'm glad to have the money back in my pocket since my game of choice is going out of print. However, I'm also going to be picking up what I can over the next months (Goodman Games modules, mostly) while it's still available.

I was always happy just buying what I wanted from WotC. I really enjoy the splatbooks and my players like the extra options. OTOH none of us are Forgotten Realms fans, so I've never felt the need to pick up FR stuff. Their decision to use FR as the new RPGA living campaign also made it easier to walk away from the RPGA (we will miss Living Greyhawk!).

What I am really looking forward to is seeing where I can take the 3.5/OGL system. I'm fortunate that my roster of gamers likes various different styles of game: hack-n-slay delves, deep immersion/sandbox exploration, political intrigue, horror, and tactics. I might spend 6 months or a year running Castle Whiterock on the side while Gaia's Dream takes a detour through a series of urban based mysteries. Then we'll dig out "Shards of Eberron" from Dungeon's 2006 era and make like we're playing the D&D Open, timed tourney style. It's all good.

We have the game we want, with all the supplements we'll ever need, and a core of loyal gamers to play with. It's quite liberating to have a "complete" (well, to my satisfaction anyway) game system, though I will miss the excitement of new stuff being released. The new excitment will come from digging out the toolbox and building monsters, stories, and worlds.

 

[RFisher]

When I found myself at the point where I was more interested in classic Traveller & classic D&D than any "current" games, I found that I still had this impetus to buy new products but no products I was interested in. When I thought about it, I knew that I didn't really need anything new & that I probably wouldn't get all that much out of anything new. But it still wasn't easy to diffuse the consume-for-the-sake-of-consuming impulse.

Later, a similar thing happened once I'd managed to pick up the bulk of out-of-print stuff I'd been looking for from ebay & second-hand dealers. I wanted to keep collecting, but there wasn't much that I actually wanted (& could afford).

 

[Mercule]

I thought I would be. I really did. The new 3.5 releases were pretty boring, other than one or two lines here and there. Last spring, I was cheering for 4E to be announced so those one or two-off bits wouldn't mount into something big that bugged me.

Since then, I've discovered two things. One of which is that 4E really, really sounds like I'm going to like it. There went that plan.

The other is that there actually is a lot about 3.5 that bugs me. Prep time is killer -- as much as any other game I've ever run and more than most. I like a lot of varied concepts like shadow magic, binders, combat styles, swashbucklers, etc. that require using a huge array of books in D&D. Plus, there are a lot of things that are implemented just enough off as to bug me -- Vancian slots, Bo9S maneuvers, swashbucklers, rangers, etc. Not to mention the Christmas trees, game-wrecking magic, and "sweet spot".

I've decided that the biggest benefit of 3.5 was in running published modules that use the framework. There are a lot of those, and many are very cool.

Being a homebrewer, I don't really get so many of those benefits. Instead, I get a game of exceptions (almost every feat is a unique way to break a rule) that is very high maintenance and lacks flexibility in the areas I most want it.

I'm going to finish up my current campaign without converting. Then, I'll check out 4E. At that point, I'll either move to 4E as my default fantasy rules or Hero system. Hero vs. 3.5 isn't even a contest.

My 3.5 PHB, PHB2, DMG, MM, and Compendiums are probably the most I'll keep of the three dozen source books I currently own. Those will be held just in case I want to run Savage Tides, Ravenloft, or Rappan Athuk. Or, in case the other GM in the group wants to run his Castle Greyhawk.