Been in the sand box for a year what did I miss?? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Been in the sand box for a year what did I miss?? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Sgt Rogue
03-26-04, 09:52 AM Hey all! I've been out of the loop for the past year and I had no idea what a lot of the stuff that came out this year is. Would you tell your thoughts on what came out I want to start playing and running my game again. The just isn't many people I could talk to about DnD in Iraq and I didn't have internet till 4 days ago. So if you could please give me your take on what I miss this past year and what do you think is a good book and I'll probley get it. I just miss out on all the fighting you guys normaly do when a book comes out.

Thanks Sgt Rogue
DungeonMaster
03-26-04, 10:17 AM Did you miss 3.5? Stay in the sandbox! :D
Mercurius
03-26-04, 10:57 AM Well, I love Complete Warrior, and would buy Unearthed Arcana if I had the money. D&D 3.5, despite what all the very vocal naysayers would like you to believe, is a pretty nice improvement, IMHO, of the 3.0 ruleset, so if you did miss out on it, at least check it out. No one's forcing anyone to move to the revised rules, but at least give it a shot if you get the chance.
airhead
03-26-04, 12:09 PM Let's see what you missed:

Orcy turned pink
Fixxxer got ate by his pet mindflayer and she is pregnant.
Airhead quit smoking 6 months ago.
We have new wiz-o's because we drove the old ones crazy. (but sith is still the meanest)

D&D came out with 3.5 and fixed all of the old loopholes, but made more.

The D&D Miniatures game was released and has a couple of expansions so you are way behind in collecting crappy prepainted plastic minis - but a few are cool.
NestroEmichae
03-26-04, 12:34 PM You missed the Draconomicon (what I consider to be one of the best DnD books put out in recent years), me finally giving in and converting to 3.5 (despite the fact I still hate it), Skippy losing even more respect and making more opinions that contradict the rules, the releasing of the errata for the errata (otherwise known as 3.5 errata), and quite a few entertaining flamewars. Otherwise, not much.

Edit:

Oh, about the Book of Vile Darkness: Waste of money. Don't buy it. My players are more evil than it is and they are inexperienced.

Also, the bard still remains the underpowered class and now the sorc and wizard have joined the ranks of the lesser-powered spellcasters (the wizard is arguable, but the sorc is almost proven by this point). Clerics and druids are even more overpowered than before. WotC also managed to fail their Knowledge (necromancy) check even worse and further damaged the school.
Sgt Rogue
03-31-04, 05:37 PM Ok I got the 3.5 stuff and the Draconomicon, which by the way I have to go to that borad and ask how do you give class levels to a dragon. But the Complete Warrior isn't that just the other fighter book with more fluff and a hardcover? But the other stuff like DragonLance and ghostwalk that was no good?? oh well thinks for the info but those 2 books are the only ones worth getting??
Willie the Duck
03-31-04, 06:58 PM The complete warrior is a splatbook, so yes it is sort of like sword and fist. It offers new PrCs and feats. Unlike S&F, there is stuff in there that non-fighters (/monks) would be interested in.

Unearthed Arcana is an experiment in deliberately throwing wrenches into your game-rules. It works as long as you don't expect the power levels before and after to match.

Giving class levels to dragons is not different than giving class levels to ogres.

Book of Vile Darkness has corny attempts at evil (about akin to skinny teenage goths trying to be 'scary'). It offers a few splatbook features that someone might be interested in.

Book of Exalted Deeds has corny attempts at good (akin to a dudley dooright cartoon). If you like playing paladins, this might be a good alternative or suppliment.

Ghostwalk is interesting, but doesn't really seem to have caught on. Since life and death are blurred, it a is mechanically and flavoristically very different from a normal D&D game.

Dragonlance is mechanically mostly like D&D (it changes things more than the Forgotten Realms books do, but not as much as Ghostwalk or Ravenloft). It focusses way too much on the new books (and by new I mean everything after the first 3-4 trilogies) for my tastes, but it is an adequate campaign world.

Forgotten realms has gotten quite a few regional suppliments, as well as a "Players Guide" which is really more of a revamp of parts of the FRCS and Magic of Faerun books. Very little new (I do not consider update for 3.5 to be new).

As for the balance factor, all splatbooks and all campaign settings seem to be more powerful than just the 3 core books, and the more of them you play with, the more ways a sutably munchy person can mix and match to find broken combos. That said, the newest splat books are no worse than, say, Masters of the Wild or Tome and Blood.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Sgt Rogue 03-26-04, 09:52 AM	Hey all! I've been out of the loop for the past year and I had no idea what a lot of the stuff that came out this year is. Would you tell your thoughts on what came out I want to start playing and running my game again. The just isn't many people I could talk to about DnD in Iraq and I didn't have internet till 4 days ago. So if you could please give me your take on what I miss this past year and what do you think is a good book and I'll probley get it. I just miss out on all the fighting you guys normaly do when a book comes out. Thanks Sgt Rogue
DungeonMaster 03-26-04, 10:17 AM	Did you miss 3.5? Stay in the sandbox! :D
Mercurius 03-26-04, 10:57 AM	Well, I love Complete Warrior, and would buy Unearthed Arcana if I had the money. D&D 3.5, despite what all the very vocal naysayers would like you to believe, is a pretty nice improvement, IMHO, of the 3.0 ruleset, so if you did miss out on it, at least check it out. No one's forcing anyone to move to the revised rules, but at least give it a shot if you get the chance.
airhead 03-26-04, 12:09 PM	Let's see what you missed: Orcy turned pink Fixxxer got ate by his pet mindflayer and she is pregnant. Airhead quit smoking 6 months ago. We have new wiz-o's because we drove the old ones crazy. (but sith is still the meanest) D&D came out with 3.5 and fixed all of the old loopholes, but made more. The D&D Miniatures game was released and has a couple of expansions so you are way behind in collecting crappy prepainted plastic minis - but a few are cool.
NestroEmichae 03-26-04, 12:34 PM	You missed the Draconomicon (what I consider to be one of the best DnD books put out in recent years), me finally giving in and converting to 3.5 (despite the fact I still hate it), Skippy losing even more respect and making more opinions that contradict the rules, the releasing of the errata for the errata (otherwise known as 3.5 errata), and quite a few entertaining flamewars. Otherwise, not much. Edit: Oh, about the Book of Vile Darkness: Waste of money. Don't buy it. My players are more evil than it is and they are inexperienced. Also, the bard still remains the underpowered class and now the sorc and wizard have joined the ranks of the lesser-powered spellcasters (the wizard is arguable, but the sorc is almost proven by this point). Clerics and druids are even more overpowered than before. WotC also managed to fail their Knowledge (necromancy) check even worse and further damaged the school.
Sgt Rogue 03-31-04, 05:37 PM	Ok I got the 3.5 stuff and the Draconomicon, which by the way I have to go to that borad and ask how do you give class levels to a dragon. But the Complete Warrior isn't that just the other fighter book with more fluff and a hardcover? But the other stuff like DragonLance and ghostwalk that was no good?? oh well thinks for the info but those 2 books are the only ones worth getting??
Willie the Duck 03-31-04, 06:58 PM	The complete warrior is a splatbook, so yes it is sort of like sword and fist. It offers new PrCs and feats. Unlike S&F, there is stuff in there that non-fighters (/monks) would be interested in. Unearthed Arcana is an experiment in deliberately throwing wrenches into your game-rules. It works as long as you don't expect the power levels before and after to match. Giving class levels to dragons is not different than giving class levels to ogres. Book of Vile Darkness has corny attempts at evil (about akin to skinny teenage goths trying to be 'scary'). It offers a few splatbook features that someone might be interested in. Book of Exalted Deeds has corny attempts at good (akin to a dudley dooright cartoon). If you like playing paladins, this might be a good alternative or suppliment. Ghostwalk is interesting, but doesn't really seem to have caught on. Since life and death are blurred, it a is mechanically and flavoristically very different from a normal D&D game. Dragonlance is mechanically mostly like D&D (it changes things more than the Forgotten Realms books do, but not as much as Ghostwalk or Ravenloft). It focusses way too much on the new books (and by new I mean everything after the first 3-4 trilogies) for my tastes, but it is an adequate campaign world. Forgotten realms has gotten quite a few regional suppliments, as well as a "Players Guide" which is really more of a revamp of parts of the FRCS and Magic of Faerun books. Very little new (I do not consider update for 3.5 to be new). As for the balance factor, all splatbooks and all campaign settings seem to be more powerful than just the 3 core books, and the more of them you play with, the more ways a sutably munchy person can mix and match to find broken combos. That said, the newest splat books are no worse than, say, Masters of the Wild or Tome and Blood.