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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Desdichado" data-source="post: 2008740" data-attributes="member: 2205">The Player's Handbook for Dungeons and Dragons 3rd edition led the charge in a revitalization of the industry what... a year and a half ago now?  So, rather than review the book again (at the time of this review, there are already 18 reviews for this product) I figured I'd try to add whatever wisdom I've been able to gain from having the book since its release, and looking at how well its stood up over time.Relative to other editions of D&D, the new Player's Handbook is miles ahead.  However, relative to some other games, it still lags in terms in complexity.  Oddly enough, some of these games are d20 games produced by Wizards of the Coast!  The Wheel of Time Roleplaying Game for instance, and the Star Wars Roleplaying Game are about the same size as as our beloved PHB and yet contain not only the same information, but also a small equivalent of the DMG and the MM to boot.  It's hard to put my finger exactly on why the D&D game is larger.  Perhaps the larger size of the spell lists, or equipment lists?  Or perhaps the other books are simply written better; are more concise, and convey the same information much more clearly and succinctly?  Certainly, they feel more like reading a roleplaying game, while reading the PHB is often uncomfortably like reading a dictionary.Be that as it may, the mechanic introduced in the new edition is certainly, as I said earlier, the best edition of D&D ever released, and one of the best roleplaying games released as well.  The system certainly has proven to be flexible, converting relatively well to Star Wars and the Wheel of Time.  However, both Star Wars and the Wheel of Time are settings in which the heroic, larger than life actions of the D&D hero fit in pretty well.  How well does the PHB port over into other types of settings, as the promise of the d20 license unveiled along with it contains?Unfortunately, we can't really tell yet.  The PHB itself is not a particularly useful tool as a d20 document, but is rather uniquely tied to the D&D game still.  No one has yet tried to make a significantly different type of game yet.  Perhaps when Monte Cooks d20 Call of Cthulhu comes out, we'll be able to see just how flexible the d20 system introduced right here in the trusty, workaday PHB really is.</blockquote>

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