pawsplay
Hero
I think some of it has to do with how you learned and acculturated. For instance, if you started mainly with 2e or 3e and started as a player, you learn certain things about how to make PCs. You might think that the same skills transfer to GMing 3e, but if so, you would be in for some surprises. For instance, one comment I've heard many times is how much work it is assigning NPC skill ranks. My response has always been ...
WHAT???
Seriously, you just pick Int + number of class skills, and max them all out. If they don't have eough skills, you just start taking skills and breaking them in half. Or if you want them to start with a PrC, you figured out what is needed, subtract it out of the available skill points, and assign the rest by either dividing them evenly or maxing out a number of skills until you run out. Multiclass? For every class the first, just add one rank to Int + number of class skills. Don't think about it. Do they need a language or one rank of a knowledge skill? Steal it from Climb or something. Do they need X ranks of skill for story reasons? NO, THEY DO NOT. Figure out if they have enough ranks to theoretically have succeeded. If so, good. If not, take Skill Focus or something.
Similarly, as to the barrage of PrCs... I just don't allow a given PrC unless it is cleared by me first. If something seems a little overpowered... well, if it makes someone happy, why not? If I don't like it, I just say "no."
But here's the thing. I learned to play D&D starting with the Red Box when I was eight years old, and I had DM'ed my first game before the age of ten. By twelve I was dabbling in TMNT and GURPS and DC Heroes. I was not married to any particular system, and minmaxing designs was a far second concern to me to running games efficiently. I was used to games taking a certain level of customizing and I was used to monitoring PC creation. I had no problem with three round combats. To me, what made a combat exciting was not how many rounds it took or who did what thing, it was the context.
To me, spending an hour or two poring through books to max my PC was a pleasure since I rarely got to spend much time on character development. I usually GM, so to me locating a sweet PrC or some quirky feat combo or just maxing out an axebearddwarf has a lot of appeal.
In short, NPC design in 3e was never hard for me because I never worried about details I considered unimportant. PC design was never a chore because I knew what I wanted.
But I can certainly understand how someone would find it frustrating if they felt every PC and every NPC required an exhaustive search through a dozen or more books, if every PC had to be optimized and every NPC balanced. I could understand why D&D would be frustrating if you were expecting the climactic duel of Return of the Jedi and instead you got a grease spell, a few wild crits, and a beatdown.
WHAT???
Seriously, you just pick Int + number of class skills, and max them all out. If they don't have eough skills, you just start taking skills and breaking them in half. Or if you want them to start with a PrC, you figured out what is needed, subtract it out of the available skill points, and assign the rest by either dividing them evenly or maxing out a number of skills until you run out. Multiclass? For every class the first, just add one rank to Int + number of class skills. Don't think about it. Do they need a language or one rank of a knowledge skill? Steal it from Climb or something. Do they need X ranks of skill for story reasons? NO, THEY DO NOT. Figure out if they have enough ranks to theoretically have succeeded. If so, good. If not, take Skill Focus or something.
Similarly, as to the barrage of PrCs... I just don't allow a given PrC unless it is cleared by me first. If something seems a little overpowered... well, if it makes someone happy, why not? If I don't like it, I just say "no."
But here's the thing. I learned to play D&D starting with the Red Box when I was eight years old, and I had DM'ed my first game before the age of ten. By twelve I was dabbling in TMNT and GURPS and DC Heroes. I was not married to any particular system, and minmaxing designs was a far second concern to me to running games efficiently. I was used to games taking a certain level of customizing and I was used to monitoring PC creation. I had no problem with three round combats. To me, what made a combat exciting was not how many rounds it took or who did what thing, it was the context.
To me, spending an hour or two poring through books to max my PC was a pleasure since I rarely got to spend much time on character development. I usually GM, so to me locating a sweet PrC or some quirky feat combo or just maxing out an axebearddwarf has a lot of appeal.
In short, NPC design in 3e was never hard for me because I never worried about details I considered unimportant. PC design was never a chore because I knew what I wanted.
But I can certainly understand how someone would find it frustrating if they felt every PC and every NPC required an exhaustive search through a dozen or more books, if every PC had to be optimized and every NPC balanced. I could understand why D&D would be frustrating if you were expecting the climactic duel of Return of the Jedi and instead you got a grease spell, a few wild crits, and a beatdown.
