Subj : Re: 3rd Edition, part 1 To : All From : yl112@cornell.edu Date : Mon Sep 04 2000 11:55 am From: yl112@cornell.edu Subject: Re: 3rd Edition, part 1 On Mon, 4 Sep 2000, Michelle & Boyd Bottorff wrote: > > I received the new Players Handbook yesterday, and I've only gotten to the > > beginning of the classes section. Here are some of the major differences > > I've seen so far: I don't think our local gaming store even has it, and I'm not interested enough to order it; I've been running freeform (PBeM) and Legend of the Five Rings (tabletop). > > The 4d6 + drop lowest method of rolling attributes is now standard. That's what I've seen used anyway. > > There's a small section on how to roleplay differences in Intelligence, > > Wisdom and Charisma. > > Not that it's likely to make much difference. I've seen few > low-charisma players that can effectively role-play a higher-charisma > character. Interesting--how about higher-charisma players attempting low-charisma characters? (I've seen it done, but most people don't *want* to.) > > A wish can grant you up to 5 points in any attribute. > > > > Exceptional strength is gone. All stats are sorta open-ended. A gold wyrm, > > for instance, typically has a strength score of 46 or 47. > > Makes sense this way. Thank heaven. Exceptional strength was just silly. I would never use wish anyway. =^) > > Your class may allow you to learn additional languages. Besides Druids > > learning Druidic, a cleric may learn Abyssal, Celestial, or Infernal, and a > > wizard may learn Draconic. > > And fighters can learn grunting! But why class-based? I can't think of any linguistic reason. Mystical reasons, OTOH... > > Racial attribute adjustments are typically in the form of one +2 bonus and > > one -2 penalty. The exception is the half-orc which has an additional -2 to > > intelligence, though this can't force the score below 3. > > How well do the races balance, playwise now? Back when I was but a lad, > all the munchkins took elves because of the racial bonuses. I remember this. One of my friends just kept generating elven or half-elven wild mages......though none of them got played. > > Sample personal names are provided with every race. Now that's something I'd like to see. Did they actually do their linguistic homework? :-) > > Infravision is no more. Dwarves and half-orcs have darkvision, which allows > > black & white sight when there is little or no light. Elves, half-elves and > > gnomes have lowlightvision, which doubles their visibility range when under > > torch, star or moonlight, without any loss of color. Halflings have neither > > ability. Pity. I *liked* infravision. > > Elves do not sleep. They have a four-hour trance every night, in which they > > may experience "dreams". So how's it functionally different from sleep? How does it not being sleep, as opposed to the lower time requirement, affect culture or play? Does the book say? > > You start out with the maximum number of hit points allowed by your > > starting class's hit die. > > I saw this one a few times as a house rule. Ditto here. > > Your "level" is the total of the levels you have in all your classes. A 4th > > level rogue/2nd level wizard is a 6th level character. > > > > You lose 20% of any experience you earn if any class of yours is more than > > one level away from your highest class. This penalty is cumulative for > > every class below the limit. So, a 9th level rogue/1st level barbarian/2nd > > level monk would receive only 60% of any experience earned. Funky. Is this also for "game balance" reasons? I can't think of a whole lot of real-life reasons (otherwise I would be losing tons of experience for my phrases in half a dozen languages, plus pennywhistle, plus harmonica, plus classical guitar, plus piano, plus math...come to think of it, maybe I am!). YHL -- |Fidonet: yl112@cornell.edu |Internet: scott@conchbbs.com | | Standard disclaimer: The views of this user are strictly his own. --- # Origin: (1:106/357.99) * Origin: ConchGate (1:106/357.0) .