Ever since I was a
little kid I loved playing games. Sorry, I
mean that I lived to play games. I played
card games, pinball, computer games, and board games.
Then when I was all of 13 years old I discovered this great game called Dungeons and Dragons. Well that was 10 years ago and I still think that
it is the finest game there is. So when I was
given the chance to review the Dungeons and Dragons
3rd Edition Players Handbook I jumped at it.
I have to admit that I was worried that I would be as disappointed with it
as I was with the ill-fated conversion of the DragonLance Game Setting to the Saga System. My
fears were unfounded, though--this game is a worthy successor to 2nd Edition AD&D. When you first see this book youll
probably want to call up Jon Schindehette and Dawn Murrin (the Visual Creative Director
and the Art Director respectively) just because it looks so good. The cover makes you think of some exotic tome
containing lost and forgotten knowledge. Then,
when you open it and begin to look through, in almost no time you will find page after
page of excellent artwork making the races and characters come alive in your imagination. I, in particular, like the illustrations of the
races because they allow players to better visualize their characters. For instance, I had been playing second edition
for over a year without once realizing how tall (or should I say how short) a halfling
really was. With these pictures new players
can picture the way their characters look more quickly and get into and enjoy the game
more. In second edition you determined
skills through the secondary skill system, or as an option the proficiency system. In third edition, the skill system is most similar
to proficiencies. Each class is given a list
of class skills. There are other skills that can be learned by any class called
cross-class skills. All of these give a huge
choice of skills to a character. To develop
ability in a skill, skill-points are spent to obtain ranks. Your rank and the appropriate
characteristic modifier are applied to your roll on a 1d20 when using the skill. Each class has a certain amount of skill points
they gain each level. This skill system
provides the opportunity for characters to be made unique by emphasizing or ignoring
certain skills. All in all, this system was
well thought out and detailed in an easy to understand manner. It seems that third edition was
developed around giving players the opportunity to develop unique characters. So in third edition a new aspect called feats were
added. These are outstanding. They incorporate a wide range of possible bonuses
for characters. They allow mages to learn how
to use armor or warriors to fire a bow in a melee effectively. These feats allow characters to grow and change in
ways that would not even be allowed in second edition. There have been many rumors abounding
for the last year or so about the changes that the character classes were undergoing and
what classes would be included into third. So it is probably best to put some of these
rumors to rest. First, all characters
regardless of class use the same experience chart. Unfortunately,
there is no mention of psionicists or psionics at all in the Players Handbook; although, I
believe that they will be incorporated at a later date like they were with second edition. Im glad to say that the monk and the
barbarian are back in third. In addition theyve
created a new class called the sorcerer that is very powerful but also limited in
important ways. So the grand total is 11 different
possible character classes. What are these
classes, you ask? Well, they are: the
Barbarian, Bard, Cleric, Druid, Fighter, Monk, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Sorcerer, and
Wizard. These are all separate classes--not
sub-classes. Each class has its benefits and drawbacks, so Ill discuss each briefly. The Barbarian is a fighting machine with 1d12 hit points each level, multiple attacks by sixth level, and the ability to fly into fits of rage that make him faster, stronger, and tougher. He can be a veritable enemy blender. Having lost several abilities that veteran players will remember from the days of yore, the barbarian was changed from a wilderness warrior into a very tough fighter. But dont get me wrong; I would love nothing more than to have a half-orc barbarian between me and the people who want to see if Id make a nice throw rug. The Bard has a few good points such
as the ability to use his music for a variety of effects, such as inspiring others,
countering sound-based magic, and fascinating others. In addition, he has bardic knowledge
that can be used to see if the bard has heard any useful information about virtually
anything. The bard unfortunately has very
poor magic ability (the ability to only cast 0-level spells until third level), he gains
half as many skill points as the rogue, and has fairly mediocre fighting ability. The Cleric is a very strong character
with a good spell list and the ability to cast bonus domain spells. This is coupled with
his ability to wear any armor and to even, depending on the deity, use martial weapons. Even better, the clerics ability to ditch a
pre-prepared spell in favor of a healing spell of equal level frees them up to pick out
useful spells for situations that might arise without sacrificing their ability to heal
themselves or their party. Druids havent changed much in
third edition. They still have their ability
to shape change, to become immune to poison, and to move normally through undergrowth
without leaving a trail. The only things that
they have lost are the ability to enter and survive on the elemental planes at will. Since this was only a very high level ability I
dont consider it a big loss as the new druid has the ability to shape change into
elementals by then. The fighter has been vastly altered
since the lions share of their abilities from second edition were made into feats
for third or incorporated as part of each class, such as the multiple attacks per round. As a consequence, the fighter class is given so
many bonus feats that it gets them almost every level.
Other than that, though, they get no other real bonuses. The monk was an old favorite that has
been resurrected in third. In general their
abilities are similar to the abilities they had in back in Oriental Adventures, but these have been revamped
and better explained. And the annoying
negatives that they used to have were removed so that can survive to a high level. Paladins and ranger were left mainly
alone with certain slight alterationsfor example, a paladins laying on of
hands can be used to damage undead, and the ranger gets bonuses when fighting a selected
class of creatures. The rogue is the new version of the
thief. When I first saw this class, I was
left asking, Where are the thieving percentages? I didnt have to worry; the thieving abilities were made strictly
into normal skills, and the rogue gets a huge amount of skill-points each level that make
them very good at what they do. Sorcerers are a new class designed
for third edition. They are spell casters
that can cast the same spells as a wizard, but they do not have to choose which spells
they can cast each day. Sorcerers let fly
with whichever one of their spells they want so long as they have spells of that level
available to cast. This is an excellent
class that allows players unused to playing spell casters to learn how to play them and to
develop confidence in their ability to play them. The Wizard wasnt changed much
in third. They still have the ability to scribe scrolls and to summon familiars, but they
also gain bonus metamagic feats that can make their spells phenomenally powerful. I mean,
if you want to have a character that can toss a fireball that automatically does maximum
damage and has no verbal components, the wizard is your man. The races in third are very good for
the most part. They almost all have
statistical bonuses that even out. The only one thats a bit eccentric is the
half-orc who gets +2 strength and 2 to intelligence and charisma; but if you want to
play someone whos stupid, ugly, and strong, go for it. Each race has certain abilities that help such as
an elfs immunity to sleep spells or a humans additional feat at first level. Because each race has its own bonuses that are
fairly equal to each other, the races are balanced. This
is a big improvement over second edition where the races werent very balanced and
which led to entire bands of adventurers that were 90% non-human. Lord, I just noticed how long this
review is getting so I better wrap it up. The
Dungeons and Dragons 3rd Edition Players
Handbook is well balanced. It encourages players to develop characters that have
personalities, and gives them nearly endless opportunity to customize their characters to
suit their own imagination. It has been made
easier to understand, which is excellent for new players.
And to all you veteran gamers out there that have spent more on their
collection of second edition books than you have on your cars, all I can say is that
change can be hard, but that this game is worth it. |