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3E
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My thoughts
on Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition
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Pro:
</b><BR>
3rd Edition is the culmination and clarification of
everything that has made Dungeons and Dragons the most popular roleplaying game
in the world. 3E fixed almost everything that was broken in
previous editions, versions and variations.
No longer is there confusion and interpretation involved in
reading the rules.
The books are laid out with an artist's touch, every page is
full color, and most have action.
The system no longer requires players to memorize and refer
to numerous charts, and gone is the sense of arbitrariness in rules:
<i>Why can't my elf become a druid?</i>
There are now compelling reasons to be a human. Gnomes are
no longer goofy. The classes make sense, and any character can multi-class. Any
race
can be any class.
So, if you want to be a 1/2-orc wizard/ rogue/ paladin, go
for it.
<BR>
The game uses one mechanic, the d20 system, for almost all
of the task resolution.
Gone are percentile rolls. Gone are cryptic saving throw
charts.
One d20 roll will determine success or failure. And you must
always roll high.
The rules are sort of a burden to read through, but once you
do, tare incredibly smooth and elegant in practice.
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Con:
</b><BR>
3E is still essentially nothing more than wargaming with
some rules for character interaction. It is a very detailed combat system. In
creating 3E the designers strove to bring adventures "back to the
dungeon," there was to be less emphasis on engaging in conversation with
meaningless PCs. It shows. It is as much of a roleplaying game as you and your
fellow players want it to be, but the rules emphasize combat and task
resolution relating to it. 3E still suffers from a couple carryovers from past
editions and what I consider to be some of the major flaws of D+D:
<BR>
1) Elves are still striving to be Tolkein elves, tstill are
creatures of nature, yet can detect secret doors.
Yet, in trying to make them their own, the designers are
still sticking with the <i>Elfquest</i> archetype of the short
elves. Explain to me why creatures attuned to plants and animals can find
secret doors better than someone else…
<BR>
2) Alignment- with games having evolved greatly from their
inception (which was of course D+D), and most modern games ignoring alignment
altogether, focusing instead on character interaction and motivation and not
wanting to pigeonhole players specific behaviors, D+D's alignment system,
and even more the ability to detect alignment bugs me. Why
are orcs and kobolds evil? This carryover from its wargaming roots makes it
seem dated compared to many current games.
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