D&D 3E/3.5 Spell/Rule Changes from 3.0 to 3.5 -- How did we survive 3.0?

[Mouseferatu]

Ah, you must have missed the memo! They actually went from the "warrior with his mystic weapon who happens to be screwed if he meets something with the wrong DR since his weapon is useless against it" to the "warrior who can still be useful even with the wrong weapon because the lowered DR allows some damage through". DOn't feel bad - it's a common error.

Indeed. The new rules allow for a warrior with a plain ol' longsword to have at least a chance of damaging most foes if he hits them hard enough.

Plus, I have to ask a question to everyone who complains about the "golf bag" syndrome... Is this hypothetical problem seeking, or have you actually seen this happen? (That's an honest question, not me being snarky.) I play in several different groups, and I've yet to see anyone attempt to collect a "golf bag" full of weapons, even when the group had money to spare. Most of the fighter-types focus on one--maybe two--signature weapons. If we come across something with a different DR, they either muddle through it, doing little bits of damage here and there, or provide backup for the spellcasters. Not a one of us would even consider carrying a whole collection of weapons, because it doesn't fit the character and it's just plain goofy.

 

[DanMcS]

Never seen the golf bag syndrom. Each fighting character in our game has their favored weapon (keen shortsword for the rogue, magical longsword for the paladin, fists w/monk's belt for the monk), and uses those. We have all picked up missile weapons, and my monk has a kama he's been carrying around since first level and mostly keeps for nostalgia's sake, and in case there's something that needs to be cut. I think I've used it once in a year of gaming.

 

[Sammael]

The lowered DR values make sure that fighters do not have to carry multiple weapons. They merely mean that monsters take a bit longer to kill without appropriate weapons. Nothing major.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

I think it depends upon your level to some degree:

My 1st level rogue bounty hunter has:
a livered light mace, a cold iron longsword, cold iron and silvered arrows

My 2nd level cleric will probably buy:
silvered and cold iron crossbow bolts, a cold iron spiked gauntlet, a masterwork cold iron heavy mace or morning star

My 5th level halfling fighter/cleric/monk type has:
masterwork silvered longsword, masterwork cold iron longsword, masterwork cold iron ltipped lance, masterwork cold iron kukri, and unarmed strike (bludgeoning weapon)

Those will soon be joined by a magic adamantine weapon as soon as it becomes available.

My 10th level cleric has:
+1 greatsword, silvered spiked gauntlet, cold iron spiked gauntlet

My 14th level fighter/wizard has a lot of weapons but carries and regularly uses:
+1 wounding adamantine guisarme
+1 undead bane longsword
+1 silvered light flail
masterwork bow with cold iron, silver, and adamantine arrows

A friend of mine has a character who regularly uses:
+1 holy cold iron spiked chain, +1 ghost touch adamantine spiked chain, +2 dragonbane spear or returning

In an Arcanis campaign, my 9th level barbarian/fighter/cleric has:
+1 greater masterwork Tralian hammer, Greater Masterwork Gladius, Sarishan Steel Longsword, silvered gladius, +1 bow, gladius of light (only works against undead and Entropic creatures--whatever those are), and a Fervidite dagger. The only ones he regularly uses, however, are the Tralian Hammer, bow, Sarishan Steel longsword, and Greater masterwork gladius.

Of course, adding ordinary "club, greatclub, and quarterstaff" to all those lists as appropriate whenever Spikes becomes available is a given. So, golfbags galore here.

As to the claim that lowered DR values mean that fighters don't have to carry multiple weapons, that's true about some kinds of fighters but not others. What it really means is that fighter/barbarians who max strength, use two handed weapons, and power attack a lot anyway don't have to carry multiple weapons. Any other kind of fighter still does. Two weapon fighting characters, characters who use one-handed weapons and shields, and especially any kind of finesse fighter does need multiple weapons to be effective.

 

[Wish]

I've seen the golfbag in action. I play with folks whose characters carry 3 bastard swords and a bottle of silversheen. One of my own characters carries enough hardware to outfit a small village militia. Every archer character I know of carries quivers of special arrows. It doesn't bother me though. It's just the characters responding to the realities of their world. I'm sure it probably ticks them off that they have to lug around an extra 20 pounds of metal all day, every day, just because the world is infested with werewolves and demons, but if that's the reality, they'll do it. It's really not much different from any other situation in which you lug around a lot of contingency gear. Do you keep a flashlight and spare tire and gas can in your car because you need them all the time? No, you keep them because you need them sometimes. And they take up space that could be used for other purposes, but it's better to be prepared.

 

[VirgilCaine]

Ah, you must have missed the memo! They actually went from the "warrior with his mystic weapon who happens to be screwed if he meets something with the wrong DR since his weapon is useless against it" to the "warrior who can still be useful even with the wrong weapon because the lowered DR allows some damage through". DOn't feel bad - it's a common error.

Gee, you must have missed the memo, too. It wasn't "The warrior...happens to be screwed" it's "The warrior who is screwed if he doesn't prepare by purchasing Oil of Greater Magic Weapon" It's a common error.

It doesn't bother me though. It's just the characters responding to the realities of their world....It's really not much different from any other situation in which you lug around a lot of contingency gear. Do you keep a flashlight and spare tire and gas can in your car because you need them all the time? No, you keep them because you need them sometimes. And they take up space that could be used for other purposes, but it's better to be prepared.

Yeah, you could say the same for Oils of Greater Magic Weapon.

There are 3 spell changes that really were justified:
HASTE. HEAL. HARM.

HEAL? How? By changing the amount of hitpoints it heals from any to 10/level?

 

[shilsen]

Gee, you must have missed the memo, too. It wasn't "The warrior...happens to be screwed" it's "The warrior who is screwed if he doesn't prepare by purchasing Oil of Greater Magic Weapon" It's a common error.

Oil of Greater Magic Weapon doesn't exist in core 3e, which is where the poor screwed warrior I was referring to comes from.

 

[VirgilCaine]

Oil of Greater Magic Weapon doesn't exist in core 3e, which is where the poor screwed warrior I was referring to comes from.

No, it comes from someplace where--GASP--a DM didn't think things out just a bit farther than was done for him by the developers.
Besides, it just shows how little was thought about 3e sometimes...

 

[Liquidsabre]

I've seen the golfbag in action. I play with folks whose characters carry 3 bastard swords and a bottle of silversheen. One of my own characters carries enough hardware to outfit a small village militia.

Sounds like a general overreaction, either that or reacting to a DM that is throwing an unusual ratio of creatures who possess special material-DRs at the characters.

Out of a total of 420 monsters there are a grand total of 13 creatures in the 3.5MM that have DR/cold iron, half of them are fey, the other 6 can have DR that can be bypassed by a good/evil-aligned weapon.

There are 14 creatures that possess DR/silver, 5 of these can have DR that can be bypassed by a good/evil-aligned weapon. And the rest:

adamantine & bludgeoning (2)
good & cold iron (2)
good & silver (2)
evil & cold iron (1)
evil & silver (1)
magic & cold iron (1)
magic & silver (4)

All added there are a total 29 creatures out of 420 that absolutely need a weapon either made of cold iron, silver, or adamantine in order to bypass their DR. That's a grand total of 6.9% of all 3.5MM creatures that require a weapon made of a special material in order to bypass DR.

 

[Gort]

HEAL? How? By changing the amount of hitpoints it heals from any to 10/level?

No, because the damn thing has a save when you use it on undead now.