What changes from 3.0 to 3.5 should *not* have been made?

[scruffygrognard]

Weapon sizing rules in 3.5 suck.
Spell Focus shouldn't have been undercut.
Buff spells are now too limited.

 

[MoogleEmpMog]

I have a problem with the square bases, not for realism purposes but for miniatures purposes! (Jeff brilliantly summed up the realistic reason for the 5 ft. corridors/squeezing rule)

I like having square-based ogres, giants, etc., because that's how every company that provides bases for L-sized creatures makes them - most importantly Games Workshop.

Unforunately, GW, and several other miniature producers, also make 'cavalry base' creatures. 1 x 2 squares. For horses, centaurs, and quite a few other creatures. Which are now supposed to be square.

:\

Anyway, I agree with almost all of the 3.5 changes, but the removal of crit stacking annoys me. That could be because I was playing a crit-based fighter at the time of the changeover.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

The ranger class in 1st edition is clearly modeled on Aragorn (it even includes the use of scrying devices) and that has been translated down to 3.5. In all versions, spells have been a component. I'm content that the spell list has become one that seems to fit well with the ranger's adventuring out in the

Pippin was able to use the Palantir as well; it's not a ranger ability.

 

[Wolf72]

wow, I think I've learned more about 3.5 than I did by reading through the SRD!!!

... I like magical rangers ... more of nature's warrior, than expert woodsman (not that I don't like expert woodsman ... but I'd just tweak the expert a bit to get the non-magic ranger ... in the early days someone posted the var.ranger, remember bertman4 anyone?, which was more skill oriented).

never caught the 2hr thingee for Paladins ... not decided about it, it is kinda nice to loose the horse once in a while

 

[dead]

I'm not sure if anyone's mentioned it yet, but what about Haste.

I just took a gander at the SRD and it seems the new Haste spell is now only useful to warriors making a full attack.

No longer do you get a free partial action. Fullstop. You now only get it with a melee weapon while making a full attack action.

How's this gone for people?

 

[Umbran]

Pippin was able to use the Palantir as well; it's not a ranger ability.

One might have a solid argument that he didn't use the palantir, but that it used him.

Be that as it may, this is why Use Magic Device is a skill - so you can have the occasional oddball who can use magic items they otherwise coudln't.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

Good point. However, I am not always concerned when an *option* is inferior. Hopefully players will recognize when their resources are best spent, frex, if an axe fighter might be better off taking improved crit where a sword fighter would be better off with weapon specialization.

Of course, in such a situation, you'd either have to make certain weapon-based feats unusable with certain weapons, or accept the fact that you'll never, ever see a sword ever again. The former requires more rules, and will be picked to death everywhere. As to the second, if I can get more benefit out of Improved Crit and WS for an axe rather than a sword...why should I pick up a sword again if I have a chioce?

Making an option inferior means that it won't see the light of day, ever.

Brad

 

[cthulhu_duck]

Sling damage is what irks me about weapon sizing

I'm happy enough overall with weapon sizing, but what irks me is that the difference in damage dealt extends to missile weapons as well as melee weapons.

I keep thinking about kinetic energy being 0.5mv2, where the speed is what matters more than the mass of the item - and wondering why small combatants are penalised in terms of the sling. Penetrating missile weapons presumably do most of their damage through shock - so again, it's more the amount of energy (which is more proportional to v than m) that matters...

...maybe I'm just over analyzing the thing, but I have seen players of small characters not have as much fun because they simply can't deal damage as well as medium sized characters (and to me, everyone having fun playing characters they want to play is an important thing).

 

[VirgilCaine]

Much better. The scry skill was bad mechanically; nobody would take it before they could cast scry, cause duh, but then when you got the scry spells, you had to dump a lot of skill points into it to be at all good at the spell. It was also odd conceptually, because other spells don't have associated skills, you don't even need to make ranged touch attacks to target fireballs on a precise point in space. Will saves with adjustments for familiarity are just better.

..which is why I have Spellcraft not Scry...and you only get half your ranks to it...IMG.
And I'm a 3.5 Resistor.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

Things I don't like about 3.5:

Grapple: what the....? All the stuff we faced have grapple checks so high, even our epic characters would have probs.

Weapon sizes: Makes me NOT want to play a halfling or gnome.

Heal spell: got nerfed. Not quite as powerful.

Righteous Might: got nerfed recently. Article on wotc site.

Divine Champion PrC (Faerun): Nerfed, IMO, as the feats that it allows are much, much more limited than before.

More to come later, I'm sure.....