The Inside Scoop on Gaming

I've been a D&D player now for nearly 20 years. I've seen the original Basic set, Expert, Companion, Campaign, Advanced (1st ed.), Advanced (2nd ed.), and now the 3rd Edition of Dungeons & Dragons. After the long wait from 2nd Edition, the 'new' stuff is finally here. It's *finally* here!

Before I get on to the good stuff, let me bring out a few minor quips I have with the new edition ...

For the most part there isn't much wrong with the new system. I mean at first, it looked as though WOTC made the game far to over-balanced in the players favor, particularly towards being a demi-human. The 'Countdown to 3rd Edition' column in 'Dragon Magazine' seemed to give us just enough to confuse us then in the letters section of the following issues discount that information as "Not really being what the rules are like."

After finally purchasing the 3rd Edition rules and reading them over, I've found that they had, for the most part, made the game a very balanced system. The reborn d20 system is a common sense leap, one which should have been taken when 2nd Edition shipped all those years ago. Bringing the Monk, Barbarian, and Half-Orc back was a step in the right direction. But, as in the first edition of AD&D, the Monk ends up being far too powerful. Yes, there is the common sense realization that the DM can allow or disallow anything he/she wishes, and there are always house-rules and modification of the base rules to tone parts down or what not. But, if done correct the first time, most of the house rules and modifications need not be made. The weapon proficencies disappearing is another aspect that I generally find a bad thing. The reason being? Not every Fighter knows how to use a mace, an axe, or a bow. Now, every warrior type knows every simple and martial weapon. True, bring in the house rules again, but hey, get it right the first time and this becomes moot.

Now on to the good parts. The book is laid out extraordinarily well. Items of interest are stored in the appropriate chapters which deal with their subject matter. Spell descriptions are no longer listed by class then level but alphabetically and on top of this, divine (priest) and arcane (mage) spells are all on the same list so you don't have an entry that points you back to a different page for its effects. Combat has been simplified. It's now a simple matter of adding or subtracting your bonuses and only your bonuses to a d20 roll. No more THAC0 which was rather illogical to begin with. I could go on and on about things which have already been pounded around the net for months. So I'll move on.

Each chapter is laid out very well. In each one is exactly the type of information you'd think would be there. Abilities contains everything about abilities, character classes has loads of information about classes, and so on. The addition of 'Starter Kits' was a very intelligent idea. Need to roll up a character quick and don't want to spend too much time on the details? Roll the dice and grab a starter kit and with a few modifications and writing, you're off. I did find that all the references to the DMG rather irritating. It's good that the DM has specifics, but without the book there is absolutely no clue what they're talking about (they should have released the 3 core books at the same time IMHO). The new experience tables are a bit to get used to ... er or should I say table. It doesn't seem like much to get to the next level, but without the DMG I can't say for sure. The added pictures for the equipment really made a difference in figuring out what your character was using and gave a better picture of what he /she looked like as you stomped some monster butt. Speaking of monsters, the new format is pretty sweet. I'm only mentioning them because of the 2000 survival kit in the back. It gives, again, teaser information from the DMG and the Monster Manual. It's spiffy and all, but I think it could have been done better in a free handout like the Conversion book. The extra space that was wasted for it could have been used for something more interesting. The Character Generator Demo is pretty nifty for those of you who never got Issue #274 of Dragon and it does a good job. Though it's too high for recommended resources. The graphic interface is nifty but it was way too over-engineered. A simple windows program would have sufficed. You get a PDF of the Conversion Manual, so that's nifty (if you don't already have the free handout). The way the 'Demo' was programmed, it might as well have been done for a Mac as you only use the left mouse button, though they don't plan on porting it over. Even though I hate the Mac, I think they should make port of the Master Tools for it, there are far too many gamers that have Macs out there. There really isn't much more I can think of to say about the D&D PHB. It's been a long time in coming, but I think that WOTC/TSR has a really good product on their hands. The unifying d20 system is the star of this edition. Feats, Skills, and compiled spells are a godsend and help to classify a good portion of the 2nd Edition Rules. Unfortunately for me, I have a group who has pre-conceived notions about 3rd edition so I'm stuck with 2nd edition (another group I'm in is converting hooya!). I can say, I'm going to be one unhappy little camper until these guys swap over.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, 3rd Edition
Author: Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook and Skkp Williams Category: game Company/Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Line: D&D Cost: $20.00 Page count: 285 ISBN: 0-7869-1550-1 SKU: TSR11550 CapsuleReview by Excalibur on 08/15/00. Genre tags: Fantasy	I've been a D&D player now for nearly 20 years. I've seen the original Basic set, Expert, Companion, Campaign, Advanced (1st ed.), Advanced (2nd ed.), and now the 3rd Edition of Dungeons & Dragons. After the long wait from 2nd Edition, the 'new' stuff is finally here. It's finally here! Before I get on to the good stuff, let me bring out a few minor quips I have with the new edition ... For the most part there isn't much wrong with the new system. I mean at first, it looked as though WOTC made the game far to over-balanced in the players favor, particularly towards being a demi-human. The 'Countdown to 3rd Edition' column in 'Dragon Magazine' seemed to give us just enough to confuse us then in the letters section of the following issues discount that information as "Not really being what the rules are like." After finally purchasing the 3rd Edition rules and reading them over, I've found that they had, for the most part, made the game a very balanced system. The reborn d20 system is a common sense leap, one which should have been taken when 2nd Edition shipped all those years ago. Bringing the Monk, Barbarian, and Half-Orc back was a step in the right direction. But, as in the first edition of AD&D, the Monk ends up being far too powerful. Yes, there is the common sense realization that the DM can allow or disallow anything he/she wishes, and there are always house-rules and modification of the base rules to tone parts down or what not. But, if done correct the first time, most of the house rules and modifications need not be made. The weapon proficencies disappearing is another aspect that I generally find a bad thing. The reason being? Not every Fighter knows how to use a mace, an axe, or a bow. Now, every warrior type knows every simple and martial weapon. True, bring in the house rules again, but hey, get it right the first time and this becomes moot. Now on to the good parts. The book is laid out extraordinarily well. Items of interest are stored in the appropriate chapters which deal with their subject matter. Spell descriptions are no longer listed by class then level but alphabetically and on top of this, divine (priest) and arcane (mage) spells are all on the same list so you don't have an entry that points you back to a different page for its effects. Combat has been simplified. It's now a simple matter of adding or subtracting your bonuses and only your bonuses to a d20 roll. No more THAC0 which was rather illogical to begin with. I could go on and on about things which have already been pounded around the net for months. So I'll move on. Each chapter is laid out very well. In each one is exactly the type of information you'd think would be there. Abilities contains everything about abilities, character classes has loads of information about classes, and so on. The addition of 'Starter Kits' was a very intelligent idea. Need to roll up a character quick and don't want to spend too much time on the details? Roll the dice and grab a starter kit and with a few modifications and writing, you're off. I did find that all the references to the DMG rather irritating. It's good that the DM has specifics, but without the book there is absolutely no clue what they're talking about (they should have released the 3 core books at the same time IMHO). The new experience tables are a bit to get used to ... er or should I say table. It doesn't seem like much to get to the next level, but without the DMG I can't say for sure. The added pictures for the equipment really made a difference in figuring out what your character was using and gave a better picture of what he /she looked like as you stomped some monster butt. Speaking of monsters, the new format is pretty sweet. I'm only mentioning them because of the 2000 survival kit in the back. It gives, again, teaser information from the DMG and the Monster Manual. It's spiffy and all, but I think it could have been done better in a free handout like the Conversion book. The extra space that was wasted for it could have been used for something more interesting. The Character Generator Demo is pretty nifty for those of you who never got Issue #274 of Dragon and it does a good job. Though it's too high for recommended resources. The graphic interface is nifty but it was way too over-engineered. A simple windows program would have sufficed. You get a PDF of the Conversion Manual, so that's nifty (if you don't already have the free handout). The way the 'Demo' was programmed, it might as well have been done for a Mac as you only use the left mouse button, though they don't plan on porting it over. Even though I hate the Mac, I think they should make port of the Master Tools for it, there are far too many gamers that have Macs out there. There really isn't much more I can think of to say about the D&D PHB. It's been a long time in coming, but I think that WOTC/TSR has a really good product on their hands. The unifying d20 system is the star of this edition. Feats, Skills, and compiled spells are a godsend and help to classify a good portion of the 2nd Edition Rules. Unfortunately for me, I have a group who has pre-conceived notions about 3rd edition so I'm stuck with 2nd edition (another group I'm in is converting hooya!). I can say, I'm going to be one unhappy little camper until these guys swap over. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, 3rd Edition