Rules in 3.5 that need fixing and what you'd do to fix it.

[greywulf]

I mean, egads, I've never seen such an odd collection of bad ideas.

I consider myself banned and promise not to touch your D&D

Could you elaborate what you think was so bad about the ideas?

 

[Celebrim]

I consider myself banned and promise not to touch your D&D

Could you elaborate what you think was so bad about the ideas?

I'd hardly know where to begin.

 

[VirgilCaine]

Total pagecount: 304, including index. That's less than the PHB alone!

There's nothing there that couldn't be done under d20 in the same pagecount, and it would make it THE BEST gamebook out there, bar none.

No, it's close. PHB is 317.

 

[Kunimatyu]

Here are a few small fixes I'd make

-Give players more feats, and make more class abilities feats, just to cut down on the obscene amount of classes/PrCs needed to fulfill a character concept.

-Subsume the +X items(stat, AC, attack) etc into bonuses that PCs automatically accrue as they level up. Magic items still exist, but they have more unique abilities, and aren't as absolutely integral to the game

-Give PCs a chance versus the Huge size-and-above grapplers by losing the size modifiers to grapple. To compensate for this, add a rule that says that a smaller creature can't pin a larger one. (and of course, there would be a feat to let a grappling specialist do this)

-Keep a Vancian legacy caster(the wizard), but use an MP-based system for the Sorceror and have it be as good or better than the Wizard, so that new players can grok playing a caster more easily.

 

[greywulf]

No, it's close. PHB is 317.

And the D&D Rules Cyclopedia is 304. 304 < 317 last time I checked. I said it's less than the PHB and it is. Did I misunderstand, or did you?

Keep a Vancian legacy caster(the wizard), but use an MP-based system for the Sorceror and have it be as good or better than the Wizard, so that new players can grok playing a caster more easily.

Good call!

 

[Darklone]

I'd like skill bundles too. Str skills, dex skills, con skills... so simply 6 skills, not more.

Classes: More options, more versatility, no PrClasses (or fewer with more options).

Feat trees, talent trees.

Less hitpoints due to CON.

Spellcasters d6 hitpoints, rogue types d8, fighters d10, The only real Conan d12.

A more scholarly cloistered cleric, not the overpowered warpriest D&D loves to have.

Bards with more options.

I check my wishlist.

 

[Gentlegamer]

That book is a miracle of compact, precise writing.

As a reviewer in Dragon said years ago, Aaron Allston was genetically engineered to write/edit RPG books.

 

[Psion]

I'll start. Keeping track of class and cross-class skills is a nightmare.

I agree, but...

I would do away with cross-class skills altogether.

I think that's a bad solution.

Classes are an important representation of what the character is; to divorce a character class from their skills would dilute the meaning of classes in a telling way.

My solution here would be to do something like keep the in-class/cross-class caps. But instead of variable costs (which are were most of the pain comes in), give characters points in categories, or even a selection of points that must go to class skills and the rest can go anywhere (like CoC BRP and Cyberpunk 2020). Perhaps give character a background selection that these points can go to.

My fixes:

• Classes - base classes need to be more generic. Give them more options to minimize the "class mill" effect we are suffering under now. Prestige classes remain, but the need for them is minimized. So now, make a "oral historian/enterainer class" that can be bard or jester, a "holy warrior" that can be more than just a paladin.
• Psionics - if everyone's uptight about the psion overlapping with the sorcerer and want to make sorcerer a point caster, ditch the sorcerer and replace it with psion. Also, make the psychic warrior more flexible/configurable and replace the monk with it.
• Skills - more skill points, more categorical skills. The skill system for d20 is really very good, but it is underplayed.
• Feats - give out more. They are a nice option, but come out too slow.
• Iterative attacks - come up with something better, like a damage boost or free attacks if you make a good enough raw roll. Tracking different modifiers have proven to me to slow high level games to a crawl.

That's a start.

 

[Kunimatyu]

[*]Iterative attacks - come up with something better, like a damage boost or free attacks if you make a good enough raw roll. Tracking different modifiers have proven to me to slow high level games to a crawl.
[/list]

That's a start.

Good call on this one - nothing slows a high-level game down like lots of iterative attacks, and there are other ways, mathematically, of getting the same average damage with many fewer rolls. I'd prefer to see a system where you only roll two attacks if you're actually using two weapons, and everyone else just rolls the one attack. Perhaps the fighting classes can also gain some cool tricks to compensate for the lack of so many attacks a round?

Oh, and another minor point -- Make the fighting styles more equivalent, so that there are good reasons to use sword-and-board, 2handed, or TWF. Having one style so clearly dominant reduces options.

 

[Pants]

My fixes:

• Classes - base classes need to be more generic. Give them more options to minimize the "class mill" effect we are suffering under now. Prestige classes remain, but the need for them is minimized. So now, make a "oral historian/enterainer class" that can be bard or jester, a "holy warrior" that can be more than just a paladin.
• Psionics - if everyone's uptight about the psion overlapping with the sorcerer and want to make sorcerer a point caster, ditch the sorcerer and replace it with psion. Also, make the psychic warrior more flexible/configurable and replace the monk with it.
• Skills - more skill points, more categorical skills. The skill system for d20 is really very good, but it is underplayed.
• Feats - give out more. They are a nice option, but come out too slow.
• Iterative attacks - come up with something better, like a damage boost or free attacks if you make a good enough raw roll. Tracking different modifiers have proven to me to slow high level games to a crawl.

That's a start.

And a good one it is. These are the kinds of changes that help the game still be D&D rather than help it be 'generic d20 fantasy.'

My ideas:

• Classes: Make the monk, druid, and barbarian more generic. Let players choose different class abilities at different levels. Ditch clerics and bring back the priest spheres (at the very least as an option). Remove alignment restrictions. Make the paladin a generic 'champion' class. Grant all classes a Defense bonus or something.
• Turn Undead: Overhaul turn undead. Make it simpler so that you don't have to look at a table everytime it's used. Use the Complete Divine version?
• Grapple: Simplify grappling either in the way its presented or in the rules that are used.
• Polymorph: Simplify this spell without removing its versatility. It's possible, I know it is!
• Feats: Get rid of all the similar +2 to two skill feats and make an all-inclusive feat for that. Use the space for some higher level feats.
• Proficiencies/Weapons: I'd bring back Weapon Groups and replace the current system with it.

That's all for now.