Good lord what have I begotten?

(Also I've played plenty of 3e so please don't tell me I don't know what I'm talking about when I say the fucking rules support salad-bar character builds and the complete pushing away of the archetype.)

Quote from: Melan;414881I cannot guarantee everything in the design doc makes sense, especially if you don't have a copy of the original Judges Guild version - but I hope you will at least find it interesting and entertaining. :cool:

Everything made sense to be. Of course, I have the original version Tegel Manor handy.  Thanks much for posting this. It's a shame your work never saw print.

Quote from: Benoist;414934

You've been waiting two days to spring that, haven't you.

How did you know?

Quote from: thedungeondelver;414935You've been waiting two days to spring that, haven't you.

Quote from: thedungeondelver;414928Good lord what have I begotten?

(Also I've played plenty of 3e so please don't tell me I don't know what I'm talking about when I say the fucking rules support salad-bar character builds and the complete pushing away of the archetype.)

Quote from: thedungeondelver;414940How do you intend to do that?

In that last frame DiCaprio looks like he's decided to "take two levels of monk" right there in his shorts.

OH GOD. I am laughing so hard my ribs hurt, you bastards!!!

Quote from: Benoist;414946OH GOD. I am laughing so hard my ribs hurt, you bastards!!!

Careful, man, you don't want to lose your "two levels of monk" or nothin'

In all seriousness, yes 3e is more like AD&D than it is like 2nd edition AD&D. 3e is not "3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons", it is the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons. It's the sequel to this:


Not the sequel to this:


If they made a new AD&D, it would be 3rd edition AD&D, not 5th.

And 3e D&D has a very core rules-centric approach. Everything is written to be compatible with the basic set, the basic combat rules are all in the basic set, and people who read the basic set are expected to be able to play with people who have read all the source material without having to really scratch their heads. Meanwhile, 2nd edition AD&D is fucking Icelandic Law, where "secret rules" are all over the place, and you won't know how crossbows "really work" without reading 4 different books that are each ironically named "complete".

To the extent that AD&D was more like D&D than 2nd edition AD&D was, AD&D was also more like 3rd edition D&D than 2nd Edition AD&D was.

-Frank

Quote from: thedungeondelver;414928(Also I've played plenty of 3e

I roll to disbelieve.

My two (late) cents about Prestige Classes.

I like the idea very much, but I'm not the average "delve into the system and compare every +1 to every stat penality" gamer. To me Prestige Classes are mostly about narrative ideas and opportunities for the players.

The first time I used them was when a first-time player wanted to play an "Inquisitor" (because she was big on a novel featuring a medieval inquisitor). I checked the manuals and there it was: the Inquisitor Prestige Class. We rolled one and the character worked well in this function for the rest of the campaign.

Another player wanted to be an "Harper Agent" because she likes the organization. She built her character towards this end, and threw a party when she got the pre-requisites. We never cheched if it was balanced/overpowered/underbalanced, because no one cared.

Then there are the Prestige Classes that, simply, give you narrative ideas. One of them was "The Malconvoker". I read the description and immediatly found a key use for one of them in my campaign. I rolled out an NPC Malconvoker using eTools, but it was almost superfluous: I never used the character's stats and powers in game, he was only someone now "living under a protection program" who spilled some beans to the PCs. But it was the idea itself what I was really looking about for that part of my campaign.

I must say that maybe I'm a little bit lucky: in my group what is important is to have fun with your character. That the paladin delivers tons of damage while the "halfling economist" is the comic relief dude is the whole point, as long as the player is happy with his/her role.

Which, interestlingly enough, was the philosophy behind the original "Dragonlance" modules (which I loved): Raistlin started out as a 3rd level Magic User with a bunch of low-level spells a cool staff, while Sturm was a 6th level Fighter with a +3 two-handed sword. Total unbalance: but who cared? What mattered was *who they were in the story*. This, in a way, sums up why the advent of Prestige Classes only added flavour and variety in my games.

Quote from: Caesar Slaad;415178I roll to disbelieve.

You fail.  The target is beyond all of your combined skill bonuses and your raw stat scores.

Sorry, Charley; I played in a couple of year+ 3e campaigns, some d20 modern, a single short (6mo) 3.5 campaign and a 2 year d20 Wheel of Time campaign.

You can wish it away all you like, but I know of what I speak.

Quote from: FrankTrollman;415135In all seriousness, yes 3e is more like AD&D than it is like 2nd edition AD&D. 3e is not "3rd edition Dungeons & Dragons", it is the third edition of Dungeons & Dragons. It's the sequel to this:

I thought they just dropped the 'A' to avoid a perceived brand confusion, not divorce it from the AD&D legacy. :hmm: