Really good things in theory, but in practice...

[Shades of Green]

It really depends on what the DM rules as "overcoming" an encounter. If you HAVE to kill/beat up everything to earn any xp then without a balanced party you are pretty SOL. If the DM sees a clever use of abilities and skills to overcome/ avoid combat situations as a legitimate victory ( which I do BTW) then an all rogue party would work fine.

I agree, but keep in mind that the difficulty of overcoming/avoiding a foe without resorting to combat (i.e. by stealth, trickery, intimidation and/or negotiation) might be different than the difficulty of overcoming the said foe in combat; and the CR/EL values were mostly calculated with combat in mind.

 

[drothgery]

Magic Resistance/ Spell Resistance has been a part of the game since 1st edition. Its ok if some DM's don't want to use it but I like having some mechanic in the game that allows spellcaster level to really mean something ( since it doesn't affect the save at all) and as a side note, SR isn't just for monsters anymore.

I wouldn't ditch them out of hand, as it would cause balance problems. But SR and DR should be gone in 4e. Buckets of saves, THAC0, and level limits were in the game until 3.x, and we got rid of them too.

 

[JoeGKushner]

That is the one that bugs me the most (and I was having a hard time thinking of one honestly). It is just irritating having undead 'flee'. I've toyed with the idea of having Turning do 1d6/level damage to undead but it seems way too powerful. Fortunately I intoduced a lot of feats from Scarred Lands and other sources that use turn attempts to power them. Rarely do my PC clerics waste time attempting to turn undead - they'd rather activate Cleansing Flames and do 2d6 holy damage with each melee hit!

The turning as damage is an option in Complete Divine too.

You just have to make sure that your clerics have enough levels to destroy the undead!

 

[iwatt]

Regeneration, Fast healing, Damage Reduction, Hardness.

What really bothers me is that they're applied inconsistently throughout the game. For example, from reading the fluff text, and from most film and literary sources, werewolves should have either Regen or Fast Healing. What ability a monster has seems applied without a consistent base throughout the game.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

SR is a totally unnecessary and rather sloppy additional mechanic that could be done away with minor tweaking of some spells and some racial bonuses to saves.

Pre-3.5 DR was pointless, too. <sarcasm>Gosh, who would have thought that I should want to use a reallypowerful magical sword to fight monsters?</sarcasm>

In theory, both of these look like interesting tools that can add texture and tactics. In practice, they boil down to: "The DM has decided your PC will make no significant contribution to this combat. Have a nice day."

I am a big fan of CR, ELs, etc. The DM just has to recognize that the system has limits. It is heads and shoulders above what came before.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

Magic Resistance/ Spell Resistance has been a part of the game since 1st edition. Its ok if some DM's don't want to use it but I like having some mechanic in the game that allows spellcaster level to really mean something ( since it doesn't affect the save at all) and as a side note, SR isn't just for monsters anymore.

In practice, there is not much granularity in controlling spellcaster level outside the Spell Penentration feat, so this does not add anything positive to game play.

Either you are a Real Spellcaster and therefore your caster level is approximately your HD, or you a some kind of multiclass and therefore casting offensive spells is probably a desperate or suboptimal choice regardless of SR.

Neat idea. But on the balance it detracts more fun than it adds.

 

[Joshua Randall]

SR is a totally unnecessary and rather sloppy additional mechanic that could be done away with minor tweaking of some spells and some racial bonuses to saves.

In theory, [SR] look like [an] interesting tool that can add texture and tactics. In practice, [it] boil down to: "The DM has decided your PC will make no significant contribution to this combat. Have a nice day."

That's the best encapsulation that I have ever read of my feelings on SR. Thank you, sir.

Oh... and also... Preach it, brother!

 

[Cadfan]

I don't like prestige classes.

PrCs tend to lead to characters who are overpowered when they complete the PrC, then underpowered when they go back to their regular class. Or, they lead to characters that dip just a toe into the PrC for a particular ability that was overly frontloaded, as part of some sort of whacky combo PrC mixing creation, and upset the game's power balance.

As an example of the first type of problem, look at the Master of Shadow (book isn't with me at the moment, its the shadowcaster PrC that gets a pet shadow elemental and focuses on enhancing and controlling it). At level 15, you get a pet with the stats of a medium shadow elemental, plus 8 hit dice and plus large size. That's a 13 hd monster with some nice special abilities. Very powerful. Then, at level 20, you have... exactly the same monster. Except now its comparatively very weak. I don't like this sort of design.

As for dipping classes, well, we've all seen that. Sometimes it can be done nicely for good flavor, but usually not.

Some PrCs are well written, and add on well at any point in a character's career. PrCs that mix classes tend to do this well, or PrCs that add generic abilities. The Dread Commando, for example, works very well as a PrC no matter when you take it. But that's because it gives relatively generic abilities- helps you with armor, sudden strike, skill points, and attack bonus. PrCs that give genuinely innovative abilities tend to work poorly, as those abilities stop growing the moment you leave the PrC, or you can dip them obnoxiously.

My vote for a change would be to make more PrCs begin at level 11. Then you could make the level 10 PrC ability actually balance with level 20 gameplay, instead of being too good when you get it and too weak later.

 

[Cadfan]

Personally, I'm ok with SR. Generally speaking, bypassing it isn't that tough, and making your caster level check is usually better than a 50% chance even if you have no feats invested in it.

 

[wingsandsword]

3. Wealth-by-level table, and wealth-by-town guidelines. Good in theory...but does anyone actually *use* them?

All the time.

In every 3.x game I've been in, the Wealth-by-level tables are standard issue for creating characters above 1st level so players can properly equip their characters (since in practice, most characters I've seen are created above 1st, either to join an existing party that's above 1st, or because the campaign is starting above 1st). Also, the NPC version a standard DM tool for assigning how much gear an NPC adversary would be carrying, and equipping major NPC's.

As for Wealth-by-town, I see it often used as a quick guideline of "can you get that here", a quick way of figuring out what is the most expensive equipment or services that can be arranged for in a town. If it's too low, it's not likely that you'll find anybody who is willing to sell (or make) a given item, or anybody who can perform the given service (like spellcasting).

My own say on things that are good in theory but not in practice:
Attacks of Opportunity. I like the concept, and something like it should exist, and I do generally understand them myself, but they do create an awful lot of confusion among the player base, probably more hassle than they are worth.

Grappling. Nearly useless for PC's past early levels, as everything becomes bigger and stronger, and grappling always seems to be something that immediately brings the game to a halt as everybody pauses to look up the grappling rules.

Turn Undead. It's better than the AD&D version to be sure, but it seems awkward, like it could be improved. Maybe something that forces undead to make a save with the DC being affected by how well the cleric rolls, and failing by enough makes them take damage, which could destroy them. It's more dice rolling most likely, but it seems like it would be more consistent.

Weapon Sizes. One of the few 3.5 changes I hated. You can buy a Large-Size Dagger and a Tiny sized greatsword, and sometimes the incompatibilities it creates are almost silly. Sorry Frodo, don't use Sting, it's a Medium-Sized shortsword, you'd take a -2 from using it.