Tips for 1E, 2E DM in 3E

[RJKrik]

Hi all, I'm a rather avid lurker so this is one of my few posts. Thanks for all the help in advance.

I'm going to (hopefully) have a game starting up, and from the title of the thread you would think I was the DM, sorry bit misleading there.

Anyhow my DM has never run a game in Third Edition, only First and Second, so I was wondering if there were any tips from people who had done the same thing before. Rules to look over in particular, what was most confusing for you when you switched, that kind of thing. So that we (the players) can help him learn the rules so that he can DM to the best of his abilities.

Any help will be appreciated, and the reason he's not starting the thread himself is that he doesn't have a computer up and running at the moment. So I'll pass any info along to him.

 

[Zaruthustran]

1. Get the 3.5 edition books. All the cool kids are playing it these days. Seriously, it has much, much clearer rules--with all kinds of big useful diagrams and examples.

2. Use miniatures and a battlemat. 3/3.5E as written requires precise placement of figures and whatnot. You *can* play without mins and a mat, but the rules assume you have these things.

3. Read the "combat" section front to back. Every word. Twice. Pay particular attention to attacks of opportunity and what you can and cannot do with Standard Actions and Move Actions. Also pay attention to the Ready action--once you know how it works, you'll use it a lot.

Have fun, and welcome to the boards.

-z

 

[La Bete]

let the gm know that he shouldnt panic at the faster level advancement - but it takes a lot of getting used to.

Also, if he has a rogue in the party, yes the rogue gets to sneak attack more than once in a round.

Make sure hes prepard to deal with players creatign minor magic items at lowish levels.

Make sure that when people are using attack mod option s (i.e. power attack) that the bonuses/penalties are tracked to the next initiative.

farm tracking init to a player.

and have fun! its a good game.

 

[NPC]

I would suggest that your DM spend a good amount of time reading and re-reading the rules.

And let him know that he (she?) can't assume everything works the same way as it did in 1e and 2e.

In fact, I'd say pretend the previous versions never existed and treat 3e like a brand new game.

 

[rounser]

Some resources which I'd recommend:

1. Download Jamis Buck's NPC Generator and Jonathon Jacob's NPC Equipment Generator from the following page:
http://www.aarg.net/~minam/npc.cgi
3E requires a lot more statting overhead than earlier systems, and these will allow your DM to create NPCs of a certain class/race/level with a couple of clicks.

2. After reading the books, have your DM take the RPGA entry test, found here:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=rpga/gmprogram/heraldtest
It's a quiz which emphasises a lot of the subtler 3E rules, and if you take it until you get through, you'll have more of a grasp of some of the more obscure 3E ins and outs.

 

[Barendd Nobeard]

Tell the DM to remember that there is no x.p. for treasure gained. Only for "defeating/bypassing" monsters and traps.

 

[infax]

If everyone at the game table is new to 3E there shouldn't be too much trouble, you'll adapt slowly as a group. Still, it would be nice to read the rules before game starts (if possible).

If some of the players are familiar to 3E, then special attention should be paid to the combat section and the Spell section (I have a friend, a veteran of 1E and 2E that keeps assuming everything is the same, especially the spells). That's what may come to be the most confusing.

The stuff in the MM and DMG are only of his concern and if he blunders a bit with them it shouldn't detract too much from the game.

 

[diaglo]

run, and run fast back to the one true game.

 

[Droogie]

I'll mention it as well. Make sure he KNOWS THE COMBAT CHAPTER like the back of his hand. Skills chapter as well. These two things will slow the game down the most.

Make sure he knows about CR and EL. If he's not careful, he could TPK the party if he doesn't have a handle on how difficult an encounter is.

Make sure he realizes that his old 1e and 2e modules will be lots of work to convert.

 

[Keith]

Personally, I think that while comprehensive knowledge of the whole combat system is a nice goal, there are some areas where you can be a little hazy without things going off the rails. Since nobody else has mentioned it specifically, I will suggest that special attention be given to the topic of Concentration and associated checks, and in general the mix of magic, movement and combat. Which brings me around to something that was already mentioned, the Ready action. Have DM and players both be conscious of how this as well as AOO relate to spell use in combat.