What's your 3.5e wishlist?

[JeffB]

Most of my wants have already been posted..but here I go anyway

1) the "Combat Ready" monster Stats..Include Touch AC , FF AC, grapple check modifieretc. as well

2) I don't use Monks IMC, but I do allow Paladins to multi-class into Fighter or Cleric (reasoning that some will put more emphasis on fighting thier foes, and others will spend more time preaching the word)..but I can just rule 0 stuff like that..don't need the official word

3) A less front-loaded Ranger..nothing major..just more feat/special ability options

4) Better skill descriptions ala D20 Modern and SW RCB

5) Scrap the old Jump skill for the D20 Modern version..much cleaner and simpler

6) Other than potions and scrolls, I think Magic Item creation is too easy..I'd like to see that toned down

7) The CR/XP/ECL system is too dependant on a "deafult" amount of magic and firepower assumed to be had by PC's..either an overhaul of the system OR a DETAILED variant/option for tweaking the system for differing campaign styles

8) In general MORE CLARITY without being overly verbose. Many things are overly explained in the current books..to the point where it's confusing...e.g. AoO, Temp HP, and TEMP CON's effect on HP's.. or not explained well enough: Constrict, Grappling, etc. Adopting the D20 Modern and SW RCB format/explanations will suffice in most cases

9) More detailed examples: Most of the examples in the book are based on the most simple aspects of the system, yet the considerably more complex things have few (and poor), if any examples...give us a full combat example with various spells cast, feats used, special abilities used, etc.. The combat examples and the example of play in the DMG are entirely too basic...

10) Art equipment depictions by Jeff Dee, Bill Willingham, DAT, and Jim Roslof (ESPECIALLY in the MM). And heck, how about some pig-snout Orcs ala David Sutherland!

11) Get rid of those lines on every page..AGGGHHHH

12) Better PRClasses...I don't care for anything in the DMG...Or in the least add some that are more "organization based" and not "power up" based....Many of the PRclasses in the FR books, and quite a few in the Splats are much better than those in the current DMG

12) More (some?) Non-combat feats

13) Seriously: some of the pics (especially in the MM) are just way off from their "historical" presentation (in D&D)...pushing the envelope is kinda cool, but reverting to a HellHound pic that is a very poor imitation of the original (and poor) Hellhound pic in the Men & Magic book of the original game is not "pushing the envelope". The Vampire looks like some dorky "death" kid we used to shove in his locker in 9th grade

14) Better layout for all 3 Books. Especially the DMG an MM. No splitting up stat blocks. Put relevant tables on the same page as the descriptions. Make more use of boldface, make clear distinctions where one thing ends, and another begins, etc. Again, see the D20 Modern and SW RCB for an example. I don't enjoy looking up things or reading the 3E books..the D20M and SWRCB are much easier to use both as a learning tool, and as a reference work.

15) More simplified play with options to add balanced complexity as opposed to hard and fast rules with an option to take them out (and unbalance the game). (I know this won't happen, but I sure wish it would )

16) Get rid of the Iconics...I just don't like any of them...not even Tordek But Iconic pics/art is good. We have seen Emerikol the Chaotic and the fighter in the water trap with sword wielding Skeleton as well as a few others in previous editions (granted, the watertrap pic IS in the 3E DMG), but let's see Emerikol, and other "classic" art revamped for 3E..How about Mordy blasting the Wizards tower with his spellbook on the table in front of him (with or without the doofis). The Hobbits and Dwarves encountering the Magic Mouth. A Paladin in Hell. Thieves prying out the ruby gem-eyes as the rest of the party wipes the blood off their swords after slaughtering the Lizard-Men. An Imp sitting on the evil MU's shoulder as reads an old tome. An Umber Hulk under the effect of Otto's Irresistable Dance. The Troll winding up the rope the adventurers are using to keep from getting lost. No Honor Among Thieves. Blink Dogs making a meal out of the Displacer Beast they dispatched. We don't need no stinkin Iconic characters!

I'm sure I'll think of more.

 

[Epametheus]

Make bard a viable class. You know something's wrong when people who want to play bard-type characters are playing sorcerers with a few rogue levels instead (and going for virtuoso because it grants most of the few benefits of being a bard without requiring you to actually play a bard).

Probably won't happen, though.

 

[DustTC]

Apart from the usual things and stuff WoTC has already suggested they will do, here's some minor specific things I'd like to see adressed:

1) PHB
- improved explanations on grapple (they'll do this but I'll just mention it anyway)
- bard/sorcerer/horc/helf more skill points (+2/+2/+1/+1)
- ranger with bonus feats (which include TWF and favored)
- toughness +4 hp

3) DMG
- the FRCS rule for splitting exp in different lvl parties

4) MM
- pictures for every demon and devil... without a picture they might as well leave them out as far as I'm concerned... either that or I'm just not very good at figuring out which demon/devil is supposed to be which picture

 

[Darkness]

Remove TWF as a core Ranger ability.

I just found a rather good alt. ranger on the 'net while browsing the RPG.net equivalent to this very thread:

http://www.dragonlance.com/fan/rules/display.asp?id=11336

 

[Shadow64]

1. Skill sets ala CoC d20
This would be great all around, it would quell the howls for intimidate, move silently, spot, etc. for the fighters and allow for a more customized character. I see skills as accumilated life experience, by having hard-line skill sets it makes it difficult to make a character more "life like".

2. More modular monk
I think this one has been beaten to death, so not much more can be said. To be honest I think some of the monk abilities (such as unarmed attack damage) could be made into feats. It could just be me, because then I'd use the same feats to make a bare-knuckle boxer ala the Pikey in Snatch.

That's about it. Although I will go with everyone else - a revamped xp/ecl/cr system would be nice. I don't know about everyone else but the cr system just doesn't seem to work to well. I don't fault the designers for it - in play tests that CRs may have stacked up with the iconics, but against gaming groups that rarely keep within the bounds of normal treasure, magic item allotment, etc. The monsters just can't seem to keep up.

 

[Dinkeldog]

*snip* from JeffB
11) Get rid of those lines on every page..AGGGHHHH
*snip*

Keep the lines. Especially for non-technical readers, they ease eye movement along the page from word to word.

 

[Dark Psion]

Skills need some work, how about;

Racial skill bonuses should include making the skill a class skill.

Craft, Profession, Knowledge, Perform & Languages are Universal skills to all classes. I'd even be tempted to include CyberZombie's education skill points as an option.

My fix for Skill Focus is that the skill becomes a Class skill to all your classes as well.

Change Intuit Direction to Intution. As Sense Motive is to people, Intuition would be to Places and Things.

Make Endurance and Tracking into skills.

As to classes, the main problem with the Bard & Ranger is that if you asked 10 people to describe them, you would get 10 different answers. If any of the D&D classes could use the "Talent Trees" from d20 Modern, it is these.

And of course I would like the see Psionics finally included in the "big three", but it would probably require an actual "Wish" at this point to do it.

 

[Number47]

Spells that need fixing but haven't been mentioned:

Divine Power: No spell should set your strength score. To have a spell that benefits a 3 Str so much more than a 16 Str is absurd.

Poison: The DC for the poison works differently than any other spell DC and winds up raising questions. Just give it a normal DC.

Enlarge: Very little benefit currently.

Antimagic Field: There is simply no way to deal with this long-lasting spell.

Other things that need changing: there is no reason NOT to specialize a wizard. This gives them near the same amount of spells per day as a Sorceror. How about letting any arcane caster specialize?

 

[Kithmaker]

Improved Sorcerer and Ranger classes.

No, scratch that -- instead, I want non-overpowering Wizard and Cleric classes.

 

[Kithmaker]

Remove TWF as a core Ranger ability.

And what would you have in place of it?