The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Sometimes it's not the ingredients, it's the chef.

As any fan of the Food Network knows, when you have someone like Iron Chef Chinese (Chen Kinichi), you can point him at the cupboard of an average American, and, after having him blink a few times in delicately restrained horror at what he finds there, produce a gourmet dish from the same ingredients most people would be hard pressed to make edible. Likewise, a skilled game designer, or team of designers, given appropriate freedom, can take the bloated corpse of one of gamings' greatest relics, strip it, fillet it, and serve it up as a completely edible -- perhaps even delicious -- new meal.

If memory serves me right, D&D began back in 1973 as a small step beyond a wargame, and slowly accumulated layer upon layer of rules, options, additions, correction, revisions, and confusions. It won loyal fans, but also alienated many, and there seemed to be no balance between keeping up with the times and keeping the spirit of the game alive. To create a modern game out of the heaving carcass of the old is a task suited only for a true Iron Game Designer!

(Bites into a large handful of cheetos)

D&D Third Edition (henceforth 3e) is right on the cusp between being a revision and being a new game. The bones of D&D -- classes, levels, hit points, armor that either stops blows cold or lets them through, 'fire and forget' magic, etc., are all there, but they're merely the theme ingredient for this episode of Iron Game Designer. It's what's been done with them that matters.

Fukui-san!
Yes, Ohta?
Look how thoroughly Iron Game Designer is stripping away the congealed carcass of old rules and accumulated cruft!

The first, and most important change, is that there is one resolution mechanic:Roll a D20, add your bonuses, if any, and compare to a difficulty number. No, it is not original, not even slightly, but it's simple, clean, and workable. Want to pick a lock? The DM notes that it's DC 22. You have a lockpicking skill of 9 and a Dex bonus of 2, for a total bonus of 11. Roll 1d20, add 11, and if the result is higher than 22, you succeed. Want to hit an orc? His Armor Class is 15. Roll a D20, add your combat bonus, and if you roll more than 15, you succeed. Want to sing for your supper? Roll a D20, add your Perform skill, and the higher you roll, the more you impressed the crowd. (And every skill has a chart of DCs for common situations, enough examples so that any DM worthy of the Screen can easily come up with a new one on the fly)

Fukui-san!
Go ahead, Ohta.
I think the Iron Game Designer is mixing Half-Orcs and Paladins in that bowl!

Change number two -- perhaps the most radical to traditionalists -- is the elimination of racial class and level restrictions. Human fighter/magic-user? Gnome Sorcerer/Ranger? Half-Orc PALADIN? Absolutely. Obviously, the DM will have to approve any such combo as suitable or not suitable for his world, and long-established campaigns may require some retconning as to where all these Halfling barbarians came from.

Since there are no longer level limits, how are humans balanced against the awesome innate racial powers (slight sarcasm there) of demi-humans? Bonus XP and an extra Feat at first level, as well as suffering fewer penalties from multiclassing too broadly.

Speaking of multiclassing....

Fukui-san!
Yes?
According to tradition, you have to mix classes right at the beginning of the meal! But I just spoke to the Iron Game Designer, and he said you will be able to mix classes at any time!

So Ulf the fighter has been out adventuring for a while, and he almost dies but is saved by the grace of a priest of St. Cuthbert. Overwhelmed, he decides to devote his life to the service of this god. Under traditional D&D rules, he can roleplay this, but he can't become a paladin or a cleric, not without invoking arcane and confusing sections of the rulebooks, and not at all if he's a dwarf. In 3e, anyone can choose a new class when they gain a level. As with the class system in general, this calls for strict DM control. Already, message boards are filled with debates over how to minmax skill points and feats by careful selection of classes, without regard to roleplaying or game logic. (And there are some logical issues...how does Snoddi the Halfling, who has spent his whole life baking scones and occasionally working as an 'adventurer for hire' suddenly become a ferocious barbarian? Barbarian is a lifestyle, not a profession! But it wouldn't be D&D without a few "Huh?" moments, I suppose..)

Even more importantly, classes are no longer as restrictive as they once were, though they're still classes. A mage can use a sword, or even plate armor -- though he risks spell failure when using the latter and sacrifices a more mage-centric Feat when using the former. Feats? Yes. All characters are now defined by a mix of class abilities, skills, and feats. Skills have ranks -- Hide 5, Spot Hidden 6, Arcane Lore 3. Feats are or are not -- that is, either you have Toughness or you don't. (Some Feats can be taken multiple times, though.)

Some of the boundaries between Feats and Skills strike me as odd. Tracking is a Feat, not a skill, though it's highly dependent on the Wilderness Lore skill. Proficiency in armor or weapons is a Feat. So are abilities like 'Cleave' (allows you to take a second attack if your first attack killed your foe) or Uncanny Dodge (allows you to apply your Dex bonus even if you were unaware of an attack). The system is designed in such a way as to encourage people to come up with new Feats, and I expect to see hundreds of them filling the net soon. Most of them will be crap, of course. Sturgeons Law is second only to Godwin's on the net.

Fukui-san!
Go ahead.
I think that the Iron Game Designer is adding Wisdom and Charisma to that Gelatinous Cube!

Almost two decades after Runequest, all monsters now have full stats -- and intelligent monsters can gain levels and classes. This is a major step away from the wargaming roots of 3e...the idea that there were Players, and Monsters, and they were represented differently in-game reinforced the idea that the game was about killing the monsters. The ability to design any creature as an individual, and give it appropriate skills, feats, and abilities, greatly enhances the scope of the system. YES, any competent DM could, and did, give any monster he wanted a personality and abilities -- but having this rolled into the system, and standardized, is a major step forward, or at least a major catch-up with something games have done for over 20 years, now. Further, it goes along with the general theme of mechanic simplification -- if you know the Wisdom of the wolf, or the Dexterity of the demon, any spells or effects or skills which require those abilities now work efficiently.

Could we get a closeup there? Look at the presentation!

Let's face it -- photocopies in a ziploc just don't cut it anymore. There's no doubt about one thing -- the PHB is *beautiful*. The faux-mystic-tome cover is actually quite classy, and the internal art is both attractive and functional. Almost every illustration serves to highlight the rules, whether it is orcs hiding in a cave (showing cover) or a DaVinci-esque sketch of the various races. Even where the illustrations convey no information per se, they are directly related to the text, and are very well placed within it. No pointless full-page Elmore paintings of lookalike knights bloating page count. For that matter, the font is small, and the margins narrow -- this is a dense, information packed book!

(Unfortunately, some of the art in the spell section is done in a very different, and, in my opinion, inferior style. So it goes.)

And now...the tasting...

BDJ: Oh, this reminds me of my childhood! It brings back memories of killing my first orc or casting my first magic missile!
That rock star guy: Yes, but sometimes I wonder if it is too nostalgic. Some things cling to the past a bit too much. The preparation included a lot of hacking and slashing...perhaps some more roleplaying? Still, excellent!
That Lower House Guy: I enjoyed it immensely, but it left me wanting more. It feels incomplete, still. I cannot judge it completely until I have seen the DMG and the MM, but from this first course, I am confident the other two shall be superb!
The Obligatory Annoying Trout At The End: Well, it is good, I guess. But is it good enough for modern games who are no longer used to such things as classes and levels? That's my concern.

Final score---victory to Iron Chef Game Designer! A clean sweep in points and votes, but not a perfect score. A fine beginning, but the full dinner still awaits.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

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 Playtest Review by lizard on 08/31/00. Genre tags: Fantasy	Sometimes it's not the ingredients, it's the chef. As any fan of the Food Network knows, when you have someone like Iron Chef Chinese (Chen Kinichi), you can point him at the cupboard of an average American, and, after having him blink a few times in delicately restrained horror at what he finds there, produce a gourmet dish from the same ingredients most people would be hard pressed to make edible. Likewise, a skilled game designer, or team of designers, given appropriate freedom, can take the bloated corpse of one of gamings' greatest relics, strip it, fillet it, and serve it up as a completely edible -- perhaps even delicious -- new meal. If memory serves me right, D&D began back in 1973 as a small step beyond a wargame, and slowly accumulated layer upon layer of rules, options, additions, correction, revisions, and confusions. It won loyal fans, but also alienated many, and there seemed to be no balance between keeping up with the times and keeping the spirit of the game alive. To create a modern game out of the heaving carcass of the old is a task suited only for a true Iron Game Designer! (Bites into a large handful of cheetos) D&D Third Edition (henceforth 3e) is right on the cusp between being a revision and being a new game. The bones of D&D -- classes, levels, hit points, armor that either stops blows cold or lets them through, 'fire and forget' magic, etc., are all there, but they're merely the theme ingredient for this episode of Iron Game Designer. It's what's been done with them that matters. Fukui-san! Yes, Ohta? Look how thoroughly Iron Game Designer is stripping away the congealed carcass of old rules and accumulated cruft! The first, and most important change, is that there is one resolution mechanic:Roll a D20, add your bonuses, if any, and compare to a difficulty number. No, it is not original, not even slightly, but it's simple, clean, and workable. Want to pick a lock? The DM notes that it's DC 22. You have a lockpicking skill of 9 and a Dex bonus of 2, for a total bonus of 11. Roll 1d20, add 11, and if the result is higher than 22, you succeed. Want to hit an orc? His Armor Class is 15. Roll a D20, add your combat bonus, and if you roll more than 15, you succeed. Want to sing for your supper? Roll a D20, add your Perform skill, and the higher you roll, the more you impressed the crowd. (And every skill has a chart of DCs for common situations, enough examples so that any DM worthy of the Screen can easily come up with a new one on the fly) Fukui-san! Go ahead, Ohta. I think the Iron Game Designer is mixing Half-Orcs and Paladins in that bowl! Change number two -- perhaps the most radical to traditionalists -- is the elimination of racial class and level restrictions. Human fighter/magic-user? Gnome Sorcerer/Ranger? Half-Orc PALADIN? Absolutely. Obviously, the DM will have to approve any such combo as suitable or not suitable for his world, and long-established campaigns may require some retconning as to where all these Halfling barbarians came from. Since there are no longer level limits, how are humans balanced against the awesome innate racial powers (slight sarcasm there) of demi-humans? Bonus XP and an extra Feat at first level, as well as suffering fewer penalties from multiclassing too broadly. Speaking of multiclassing.... Fukui-san! Yes? According to tradition, you have to mix classes right at the beginning of the meal! But I just spoke to the Iron Game Designer, and he said you will be able to mix classes at any time! So Ulf the fighter has been out adventuring for a while, and he almost dies but is saved by the grace of a priest of St. Cuthbert. Overwhelmed, he decides to devote his life to the service of this god. Under traditional D&D rules, he can roleplay this, but he can't become a paladin or a cleric, not without invoking arcane and confusing sections of the rulebooks, and not at all if he's a dwarf. In 3e, anyone can choose a new class when they gain a level. As with the class system in general, this calls for strict DM control. Already, message boards are filled with debates over how to minmax skill points and feats by careful selection of classes, without regard to roleplaying or game logic. (And there are some logical issues...how does Snoddi the Halfling, who has spent his whole life baking scones and occasionally working as an 'adventurer for hire' suddenly become a ferocious barbarian? Barbarian is a lifestyle, not a profession! But it wouldn't be D&D without a few "Huh?" moments, I suppose..) Even more importantly, classes are no longer as restrictive as they once were, though they're still classes. A mage can use a sword, or even plate armor -- though he risks spell failure when using the latter and sacrifices a more mage-centric Feat when using the former. Feats? Yes. All characters are now defined by a mix of class abilities, skills, and feats. Skills have ranks -- Hide 5, Spot Hidden 6, Arcane Lore 3. Feats are or are not -- that is, either you have Toughness or you don't. (Some Feats can be taken multiple times, though.) Some of the boundaries between Feats and Skills strike me as odd. Tracking is a Feat, not a skill, though it's highly dependent on the Wilderness Lore skill. Proficiency in armor or weapons is a Feat. So are abilities like 'Cleave' (allows you to take a second attack if your first attack killed your foe) or Uncanny Dodge (allows you to apply your Dex bonus even if you were unaware of an attack). The system is designed in such a way as to encourage people to come up with new Feats, and I expect to see hundreds of them filling the net soon. Most of them will be crap, of course. Sturgeons Law is second only to Godwin's on the net. Fukui-san! Go ahead. I think that the Iron Game Designer is adding Wisdom and Charisma to that Gelatinous Cube! Almost two decades after Runequest, all monsters now have full stats -- and intelligent monsters can gain levels and classes. This is a major step away from the wargaming roots of 3e...the idea that there were Players, and Monsters, and they were represented differently in-game reinforced the idea that the game was about killing the monsters. The ability to design any creature as an individual, and give it appropriate skills, feats, and abilities, greatly enhances the scope of the system. YES, any competent DM could, and did, give any monster he wanted a personality and abilities -- but having this rolled into the system, and standardized, is a major step forward, or at least a major catch-up with something games have done for over 20 years, now. Further, it goes along with the general theme of mechanic simplification -- if you know the Wisdom of the wolf, or the Dexterity of the demon, any spells or effects or skills which require those abilities now work efficiently. Could we get a closeup there? Look at the presentation! Let's face it -- photocopies in a ziploc just don't cut it anymore. There's no doubt about one thing -- the PHB is beautiful. The faux-mystic-tome cover is actually quite classy, and the internal art is both attractive and functional. Almost every illustration serves to highlight the rules, whether it is orcs hiding in a cave (showing cover) or a DaVinci-esque sketch of the various races. Even where the illustrations convey no information per se, they are directly related to the text, and are very well placed within it. No pointless full-page Elmore paintings of lookalike knights bloating page count. For that matter, the font is small, and the margins narrow -- this is a dense, information packed book! (Unfortunately, some of the art in the spell section is done in a very different, and, in my opinion, inferior style. So it goes.) And now...the tasting... BDJ: Oh, this reminds me of my childhood! It brings back memories of killing my first orc or casting my first magic missile! That rock star guy: Yes, but sometimes I wonder if it is too nostalgic. Some things cling to the past a bit too much. The preparation included a lot of hacking and slashing...perhaps some more roleplaying? Still, excellent! That Lower House Guy: I enjoyed it immensely, but it left me wanting more. It feels incomplete, still. I cannot judge it completely until I have seen the DMG and the MM, but from this first course, I am confident the other two shall be superb! The Obligatory Annoying Trout At The End: Well, it is good, I guess. But is it good enough for modern games who are no longer used to such things as classes and levels? That's my concern. Final score---victory to Iron Chef Game Designer! A clean sweep in points and votes, but not a perfect score. A fine beginning, but the full dinner still awaits. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook, 3rd Edition