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Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook: Core Rulebook I ReviewThe new Player's Handbook (PH) D&D Design Team has created a marvelous product--filled with generally clear writing and excellent artwork--containing a major change in game mechanics. The PH nonetheless manages to retain the spirit of the D&D game created by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1974.
The 3rd edition replaces the old movement system, denoted in confusing scale inches--which goes back even before D&D to Gygax's Chainmail rules for medieval combat--with a clear system of speed denoted in feet. Yet the 3rd edition includes familiar races and character classes. It retains the bard, cleric, druid, fighter, ranger, rogue, paladin, and wizard, and resurrects the barbarian, monk and half-orc.
Fans of clerics and druids will cheer the addition of 8th- and 9th-level spells. Clerics will love the 9th-level Miracle spell, similar to a Wish. Barbarian fans will rejoice that the 3rd edition removes the unplayable restrictions of the original barbarian, even at the cost of somewhat reduced physical prowess. Fans of the monk and druid will celebrate elimination of limited levels.
Each class now requires the same amount of experience to advance in level. Regardless of which class you choose, your character initially will advance rapidly because reaching the lower levels requires relatively small amounts of experience; earning a mere 1,000 experience points, for example, will gain your character second level. The 3rd edition grants each 1st level character full hit points. Combining easy advancement at lower levels with full hit points at 1st level will help keep characters alive through their fragile early days.
The 3rd edition introduces a sorcerer class. The sorcerer gains access to the same spells as the wizard, gets more per day, and needn't carry spell books or prepare spells, but can't learn as large a repertoire. The sorcerer can't specialize in schools of magic like the wizard, while the wizard specialist now has some control over the school from which she can't learn spells. All spellcasters except the ranger and paladin now have access to zero-level spells, the way Gygax intended in 1982 when he introduced cantrips in Dragon magazine issues 59-61.
The spellcaster will find that she's more effective because a touch spell no longer needs to penetrate an opponent's armor. She also gains the ability to counterspell an enemy's spell, which, when successful, negates the enemy's spell entirely. A rogue will find that his sneak attack comes into play more often than did the old backstab, making him more useful in combat. Your rogue or barbarian will learn to avoid a surprise attack which leaves the rest of the party flat-footed.
Your warrior continues to grow in power at higher levels by gaining up to 4 attacks per round, substantial bonuses to hit, and even more hit dice. Characters continue to gain hit dice right up through 20th level. All character classes also eventually get more than one melee attack per round, but the warriors get more and get them faster than anyone except monks.
Any character, regardless of race, can now belong to any class. You can play hafling paladins, dwarven rangers or anything else you choose. Any character, regardless of race, can belong to multiple classes. The 3rd edition removes limits on class combinations and maximum levels. It allows you to decide in which class your character will advance with each new level she gains. Best of all, your character gains all the skills and benefits of each level she gains in each class! You can decide, for instance, that when your 4th level wizard reaches 5th level she should take her new level as a fighter. She will remain a 4th level wizard and become 1st level fighter, adding the hit points, skill points, and combat bonus normally gained by a 1st-level fighter to her existing hit points, skill points and combat bonus. She can train as a wizard or fighter, or in another class, each time she earns a new level. Humans gain small advantages over non-humans when advancing in multiple classes.
Humans gain a small advantage in acquiring skills too. The 3rd edition divides the old non-weapon proficiencies into skills, which you can "buy" with points your character earns at each level, and feats, which your character acquires more slowly. Skills include more ordinary abilities like Climb, Swim, and Wilderness Lore. Feats include more extraordinary abilities like Alertness, Endurance, and Lightning Reflexes. The 3rd edition fully integrates skills and feats into play, making often-neglected ability scores more important. Your barbarian, for example, may find the Intimidate skill quite useful, but if he has a low charisma he'll find that it won't work as often as he might like.
The 3rd edition bases the results of virtually every attempted action on the roll of a 20-sided die (d20). You roll a d20 to determine initiative in combat, whether your attack hits an opponent, whether you successfully save against a spell, and whether you successfully use a skill or perform a feat. In the 3rd edition, the higher you roll on the d20, the better. A higher roll hits a higher armor class (which now sensibly rises as it improves), performs a tougher feat, gives you a faster initiative (which likewise rises as it improves), and saves against a more powerful spell. Unlike the old system, which varied between high and low rolls being better, the new system always makes high rolls better.
The 3rd edition simplifies combat by generally limiting the initiative roll to the start of each encounter and eliminating weapon speeds and numbered casting times; it complicates combat with rules on movement, surprise attacks, partial actions, attacks of opportunity and being caught flat-footed. I believe that players will tend to have the most trouble adjusting to the new combat system. After a cursory examination, however, I think they'll find the adjustment worthwhile...
Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook: Core Rulebook I OverviewEach of the Dungeons & Dragons core rulebooks has been revised and updated for clarity and content. Each revision integrates user feedback received since the original product release so as to address the specific wants and needs of the player and Dungeon Master audiences. The overall rules system remains intact, with changes targeted specifically at elements of game play that were considered under-powered or incomplete. These revised editions also contain bonus content, such as new feats, that are exclusive to these editions. In addition, the new and revised content instructs players on how to take full advantage of the tie-in D&D miniatures line planned to release in Fall 2003 from Wizards of the Coast, Inc.Overall changes to all the titles include making complex combat easier to understand and provide more information on interacting with and summoning monsters. Specific changes include the following: the Player's Handbook received revisions to character classes to make them more balanced, and there are revisions and additions to spell lists.
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