D&D 3.5+ Impressions

I mentioned in The Great D&D Schism that there are some revisions to D&D 3.5, including Pathfinder, True20 and the Book of Experimental Might. I've had a chance to browse through the Book of Experimental Might and some of the Pathfinder Alpha document. Someone asked me my opinion of them, so I thought I'd share my impressions here.

A common theme with both is evolution over revolution. They start with the assumption that the core system is pretty good, but could use some tweaks. Pathfinder finds a lot more places to tweak, but the changes in Experimental Might seem to be a bit more revolutionary where they do occur. As a result of that, and the fact that I have it in hardcopy, I've spent more time with the Book of Experimental Might than with Pathfinder.

The Book of Experimental Might makes me want to play a magic user. In fact, for the first time ever in a D&D game I think I'd really like to play a wizard. The combination of hit point changes, disciplines, increased feats and changes in the spell levels really makes the class look interesting, even at lower levels.

Although the changes to magic are big, and are both the core of the product and what I find the most inspiring, it's the changes to healing and hit points that I think will really make the biggest difference in game play. I don't want to go into too much detail, but the number of ways you can be healed are increased, and the limits are mostly on the character being healed, not the one doing the healing. Characters can only be magically healed a fixed number of times each day based on their level and Constitution bonus, in return many of a Cleric's abilities to heal are effectively unlimited within the party (they have a limit on the number of people they can heal per day, but not the number of times they can heal each person). This splits up the bookkeeping involved with healing to each player, instead of forcing the Cleric's player to do it all.

In addition to the changes in magical healing, there are also changes to Hit Points themselves, with characters getting more of them, but divided into two pools. One pool is made of easily healing Grace Points, and the other more traditionally slow healing Health Points. Characters can even "take a breather" once per encounter to gain back some Grace points and get a bonus for their next action. I really like the possibilities of this mechanic from a dramatic standpoint.

The one part of the book that I think misses the mark is the section on skills. It's not that I don't think the suggestions there are bad, it's just that they don't go far enough. I think this is the one area where Pathfinder does it better by borrowing the system from Star Wars Saga Edition. That system doesn't force you to spend skill points on different skills each level, instead you just buy a skill and your bonus in that skill is equal to your level (plus some other factors). The result is both simpler, and better tied to the level based system that D&D is.

So, right now, if I was to run or play in a D&D 3.5 game my choice would be for 3.5 core plus the changes in the Book of Experimental Might and the core skill system from Pathfinder/Star Wars. Not the new skill descriptions from Pathfinder, just the core advancement scheme to replace the skill points per level system that exists now.

All that said, I'm still looking forward to seeing just what 4.0 has going for it. Aside from there being a little too much focus on tactical combat, it sounds very interesting.

The Great D&D Schism

Every upgrade to a new version of a roleplaying game tends to create a schism, leaving some diehards who refuse to change from the old to the new. The bigger the changes between versions, the bigger the schism. This has been especially true among D&D fans.

For the most part these diehards get fewer and fewer as time goes on and no new material for their chosen system gets published. The introduction of the original OGL with D&D 3.0 changed this dynamic some by allowing AD&D to legally continue as both HackMaster and Castles & Crusades (and possibly other versions that I am unaware of). It also will allow D&D 3.0/3.5 to continue indefinitely for fans of the system. The only real question before now was how heavily it would continue to be supported.

The answer, according to Paizo at least, is that it will be supported just fine.

Paizo is now in the process of updating the 3.5 rules to produce a new core rulebook that they are calling the Pathfinder RPG, named after the 3.5 setting that they've been developing ever since they stopped publishing Dragon and Dungeon magazines for Wizards of the Coast. They've already uploaded an alpha version for free download and playtesting, with an announced beta version to be released at GenCon, and a 'release' version to be released at GenCon 2009.

Also coming up (albeit only planned for a .pdf release at this point, or through lulu.com) is yet another book from Monte Cook , one of the designers of 3.0 who has been providing both support and tweaks to the system pretty much from day one.

In addition, there's already Green Ronin's True20 which will continue to be supported, and while it is meant to have a broader appeal than just fantasy, it appears to be a big hit among many gamers looking for an updated version of D20 gaming.

In fact, the thing that is most likely to keep 3rd edition D&D from being a serious competitor to 4th edition D&D, and thereby causing a more serious schism within the D&D community, is not that its support is ending, but the fact that it seems to be headed in so many different directions with the support that it will continue to get.

At least one other company not directly involved in this potential mess is also making an effort to take advantage of it. White Wolf's Graduate your Game promotion offers a copy of the Exalted core rulebook in exchange for a 3.5 Players Handbook. I've seen Exalted described as "D&D on steroids" before, so this might just be a good way for them to grab some new players as they consider transitioning out of 3rd edition.

It's really going to come down to just how good 4th edition is. The majority of people I've seen commenting on it say they are going to give it a try, but they are also saying that if it doesn't seem to get the job done after a few months of play, then they are ready to drop it and go back to some version of 3rd edition. Paizo is even getting praise from some for not releasing its version in direct competition with 4th edition for this very reason. If 4th edition proves to be a dud, then Paizo's schedule could put them into a position to pick up people as they give up on it.

At this point the biggest obstacle to the success of 4th edition would seem to be those who have said that it just doesn't "feel like" D&D. If that holds true for a majority, or even a large minority, of players, then the game could be in real trouble for the first time since WotC took it over. Fortunately for them, most people seem to be committed to giving it a serious try, so if it simply takes players a while to get used to the changes, then they should be ok. If not, then it's going to get interesting.