Post/Author/DateTime	Post
MinoruSuzuki 08-21-07, 10:20 PM	A while ago, someone stole my 3rd edition Monster Manual. I went to the local hobby store and attempted to replace it. All they had was the 3.5 Monster Manual, as the first was out of print--I was told. I mentioned that I run 3.0 games, and the clerk said that there was little difference. So I ended up buying the 3.5 MM. Was that a wise decision? Or are there going to be problems when I next run a game?
zook1shoe666 08-21-07, 10:22 PM	there are a few things they changed from 3.0. several skills were taking out or changed and several feats changed, otherwise almost identical.
Archangel_Tyrael 08-21-07, 10:29 PM	Damage Reduction is completely different.
Freefall 08-21-07, 10:32 PM	The biggest difference when it comes to monsters is probably going to be Damage Reduction. In 3.5 DR is overcome by combinations of alignments, materials, and weapon types, rather than magic potency (so instead of DR x/+2 you get things like DR x/silver, x/piercing, x/evil, x/silver and evil, etc). The number in front of the slash was also reduced in 3.5 by quite a bit, to make it somewhat reasonable for fighters and barbarians to actually hurt something even without the right weapon (usually it is only DR 5/y or 10/y; going higher than 15 is very rare). Oh yeah, and things like fire and cold resistance had their numbers reduced as well, but this is because the mechanics changed (it applies to each attack now). Skills and feats were tweaked. Ambedextrous isn't a separate feat in 3.5, for example. This shouldn't be too big an issue though. If you liked using demons or devils, you'll definitely need to recheck the 3.5 ones. Most of them lost a number of SLAs but received significant boosts in Hit Dice and their Ability scores. Pit Fiends and Balors are now both rated at CR 20 (though some people debate whether or not they deserve it). That's about all I can think of. Overall I don't think the changes are that big a deal.
MinoruSuzuki 08-21-07, 11:29 PM	The biggest difference when it comes to monsters is probably going to be Damage Reduction. In 3.5 DR is overcome by combinations of alignments, materials, and weapon types, rather than magic potency (so instead of DR x/+2 you get things like DR x/silver, x/piercing, x/evil, x/silver and evil, etc). The number in front of the slash was also reduced in 3.5 by quite a bit, to make it somewhat reasonable for fighters and barbarians to actually hurt something even without the right weapon (usually it is only DR 5/y or 10/y; going higher than 15 is very rare). Oh yeah, and things like fire and cold resistance had their numbers reduced as well, but this is because the mechanics changed (it applies to each attack now). Skills and feats were tweaked. Ambedextrous isn't a separate feat in 3.5, for example. This shouldn't be too big an issue though. If you liked using demons or devils, you'll definitely need to recheck the 3.5 ones. Most of them lost a number of SLAs but received significant boosts in Hit Dice and their Ability scores. Pit Fiends and Balors are now both rated at CR 20 (though some people debate whether or not they deserve it). That's about all I can think of. Overall I don't think the changes are that big a deal. Thanks a lot, man. I have two questions: what are SLAs? And would all of these changes amount to these monsters being just as difficult, easier, or harder than the previous versions?
Archangel_Tyrael 08-22-07, 02:58 AM	Thanks a lot, man. I have two questions: what are SLAs? And would all of these changes amount to these monsters being just as difficult, easier, or harder than the previous versions? SLA's is the abbreviation for Spell-Like Abilities. The difficulty depends on the monster you're using. Example: Skeletons are less powerful now because they have a set amount of Damage Reduction (usually DR 5/Bludgeoning, which means they take full damage from bludgeoning weapons). Before 3.5 skeletons had "this creature takes half damage from piercing or slashing weapons"--which could be anywhere from 0-100, or even more. Note: There are still 3.0 SRD (http://www.dragon.ee/30srd/)s around, if that's an option.
Sildatorak 08-22-07, 08:11 AM	Another subtle but pervasive change is the way feats are given to monsters in 3.5. With 3.0 racial HD only gave 1 feat per 4 HD, IIRC, but in 3.5 HD and levels are the same for feat purposes (1 feat per 3 HD and/or levels). Considering the number of monsters that have alertness, toughness, skill focus (underwater basketweaving), etc. I do not consider this to be a significant balance issue.
Naderion 08-22-07, 08:17 AM	All in all, the revision of the MM really made a lot of things much better. It's the book that benefited the most from the changes, in my opinion. Also, with exception of Damage reduction, you can almost completely without much adaptation in a 3rd Ed. game and it still will improve a lot of things.
MinoruSuzuki 08-22-07, 03:48 PM	Gracias, fellas.:)
pres_man 08-22-07, 04:12 PM	I use both in my games, with the 3rd edition (I run 3.5) being variant monsters of the "standard" ones.