Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Rocket your D&D 5E and Level Up: Advanced 5E games into space! Alpha Star Magazine Is Launching... Right Now!

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Greg K" data-source="post: 5777316" data-attributes="member: 5038">Why I picked up 3e1. Unified Ability scores (i.e., no more % strength)2. Unified Ability progression a. ability modifiers starting at 12-13b. no more fighter con bonus. Everyone gets the same bonuses for equal stats3. Race: no more level limits4. Classesa. Fighter: Get bonus feats gave room for customizationb. Sorcerer's spontaneous arcane castingc. Class customization: With feats and the skill system, I saw a lot of potential to do 2e kits right.5. Multi-classing: everyone follows the same rules regardless of racea. everyone can multiclass6. Skill system: I still like it7. Feats: I disagreed with some of them feeling they should have been combat maneuvers or had a basic combat version (e.g., power attack)8. Combat maneuvers (I liked them back in 2e Complete Fighters Hanbook and PO: Combat and tactics.9. Saving Throws: 3 save categories10. Monstersa. Get ability scoresb. Armor Class broken down: Natural armor, Dex, etc.Despite buying the books, it was not until 3.5 that I, really, ran anything beyond a 1-shot.  I was still running Rolemaster (one of many game systems I turned to after leaving 2e). The switch to 3e came from two things:11. d20 STL and OGL: Anyone that has been on these boards know that, in general, I was not a fan of WOTC supplements.  On the other hand, there were many  third party products that provided me with the support material to make many of the additions and changes that I wanted.12. Unearthed ArcanaBy the time of the announcement of 4e, I was ready for a new edition.  Between Unearthed Arcana and d20STL/OGL products, I thought there were a lot of good things to be added back in (which was stated to be one of the reasons behind the d20STL and OGL).Furthermore, there were things that I still had wanted from my pre-3e questionaire:- Fewer Absolutes.  Sean Reynolds covered this in his web articles Fewer Absolutes and, my reaction was, "It is about time".- The non-biological aspects of race removed and moved to another system (I think recommended the proficiency system weapon and non-weapon and a RMSS like adolescence).  After 3e feats, d20M occupations, PHB class customization, Unearthed Arcana 's class variants, and the Cityscape wilderness/urban skill swaps, I  thought all of these should be incorporated into 4e.- removal of Level Drainand, now, there were changes I wanted with 3e itself- removal of 3e XP costs- a Book of Iron Might maneuver system (or something close since Mearls was working at WOTC)- new magic item creaton rules based upon the Artificer's Handbook (Mystic Eye Games)- new poison rules similar to Poisoncraft- Spellcasters balanced with non-spellcasters- multi-classing.  I did not want new classes to grant the new classes armor, weapons and new good saves. This just allowed circumvention of certain feats and made the initial choice less important. I also wanted the need for a trainer and time to train to be the default.- the incorporation of Sorcerer Heritage Feats- many of the UA class variants and Complete Champions non-spellcasting Paladin and Ranger in the PHB or DMG as examples of class customization- action points based upon M&M Hero Points- a medum progression save- UA incantations- UA complex skill checks- UA weapon groups- maybe siloing class abilities into talent trees as per d20modern and Star Wars.- a rewriting of clerics to make them more tied to their deity's domains for the spells and class abilities (including BAB, Hit Die, armor and weapon proficiencies)4e instituted some of the changes I wanted, changed many things that I did not want changed, and some changes I wanted were instituted in a manner that I did not like. Anyway, as of this time last year, I was ready for another change. The edition wars were turning me off to D&D and I was becoming  tired of D&D's list of spells (many of which are just minor changes of existing spells or changes in appearance to fit a school and the majority of WOTC  supplement spells, in my opinion, are not worthy of the paper that they are printed upon . I also realized that I still never want to run D&D above levels 10-12.(I am still willing to run a house ruled D&D 3e, but Savage Worlds and True20 are my two initial choices in that order).  At the time I was ready to switch to True20, but I already knew that many of my favorite d20Modern third parties had started supporting Savage Worlds so I gave it another look (a few years earlier I took a look at the Test Drive and was turned off) and, eventually, made the switch  (I chose it over True20 as my first choice, because I decided that I needed a change from class/level systems). I am glad that I did. It does pretty much everything I want except that I miss D&D's official settings and the write-ups of the demons and devils (e.g, Demogorgon, Orcus, Asmodeus, Geryon).</blockquote>

Verification