At long last, the TSR group of games has gotten around to moving into the present gaming market by taking a step back and fixing almost all of the bugs that were left over from the base set of Dungeons & Dragons. I was a play tester for both the Base set (way back when all the game consisted of was three little books and five dice) and helped with the development of the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game. I remained faithful to the game throughout the years as they expanded and published more books right up to the point when TSR claimed that they wanted to simplify the game and reduce it back into three base rule books. That was AD&D 2nd Edition. Of course, by that time RPGs were big business, so once TSR got everyone hooked on the new rules with the three base books, they started releasing all these supplements and add on rules. Within a year, the game was back up to around twenty books of rules and it just cost too much to keep up with the new rules that came out almost as often as a monthly comic. That’s when I had to say farewell to the game and move on to a more playable game.
Last year, I got in touch with a gamer in Austin who wanted me to join his group. The group needed a replacement player for one of the regulars who had moved out of town. I was told that they played a bit of everything and that the GM duties rotated among the group. I joined up and got a hell of a ride. The first game was a Palladium game called Heroes Unlimited. Then I hosted a Warhammer game and then the D&D 3rd Edition game started up. I entered into the game with hesitation, afraid that I would get all caught up in the game and wind up having to pony up hundreds of dollars in order to get the current rules and be able to run efficiently. I was dead wrong. The new game has been out for a little over a year and it only has around eight books, with a new one released about once every four or five months. The beauty of the new system is that you only need the three base books in order to play. The only thing that the updates do is, well update!
What should you expect in the new game?
First you have a simple system for the attribute scores. All scores have the exact same bonus chart for determining what extra ability you get for having a high (or low) score. Another great thing that was done is the removal of all attribute requirements to become a certain class. They also implemented a “bonus point” system that I have been using as a house rule for the past 15 years. Every forth level, you can add a point to whatever score you desire, thus a character gets better with age and experience.
Next is the races. They took a step back and restored almost all the original races that are in the game for the use of Players. They also did something that I have been saying needed to be done for years. There are no class limitations on any race. That means that as long as the Player wants to try to become something, he can do it and continue to advance in level for as long as he likes.
After that you want to take a good long look at the classes that are available. Each one has strong points and weak points. But since any race can be anything it chooses to be, the race bonuses will often negate the class minuses. Of course, it would be foolish to place your stat points in such a manner that the class you want to play doesn’t get the best result possible, so that will help you as well. Not to mention the large array of classes to choose from!
For the previous versions of this game, the Players had to contend with a rather strange system of rules called the Proficiencies Table. There were Weapons and Non-Weapons Tables and for the most part, the overall system was very hindering and useless. Do you remember those rules? Well, you can forget all about because AD&D 3rd Edition has moved into the 21st century with a Skills System. With the new system, the player gets skill points each level. The number of points gained is based on both class and the intelligence score, so it is generally different for each character. These points are then spent to either learn a new skill or improve an existing one. Each attribute score has its own skills that it affects, thus making all six of them equally important in the long run.
After that you will find a few things that are completely new:
Perhaps the most impressive new thing is the Feats. These are class based, so not every class can learn every feat. They are basically super human abilities that are learned through time and practice, so most of the time they are gained after a long time of waiting. Some of the feats are “stackable” (meaning that they can be taken more than once and continue to improve the skill they affect), while others have certain required feats before you can learn them. All of them require at least something to learn.
Then there are the Prestige Classes. These are “super classes” that a character can become if he learns the correct skills, is a member of the right class, and gets powerful enough through gaining levels. Each of these classes are the best of the best in the world, and they can become very powerful. When I first glanced at this, I saw them as a means that would unbalance the game, but that was before I knew that ALL characters (even the monsters) can advance in the skills and classes the same way that Players do. This levels the playing field completely.
Back to the basics:
The equipment section is very well done. There are pictures of every weapon available in the game. Looks like TSR decided to borrow a page from Palladium Books by doing that. They also had the foresight to list prices for just about every object that a player would ever think of. I know, I racked my brains for a couple of hours by thinking of oddball items and then seeing if they had it listed. I couldn’t think of anything that a player might need that wasn’t in the book. That’s very impressive.
Combat is the heart of any RPG. The Players are always running into something that they will be forced to fight. In the D&D series of games, defeating monsters is how you improve your characters. Wait, what was that word? Defeat. That means to subdue or chase off or force it to run away, as well as kill. This is the first version of the game that allows the Players to gain points without killing the opponents. And does anyone out there remember that silly AC system that the previous games had? You know, the more armor the character was wearing, the lower the AC was. Then you had to look in a chart to see if the character could hit the AC and adjust it with Strength, magic, weapon and special bonuses or penalties? Throw that out the window, too. Now the game is set up so that all scores are positive and the AC is the total number you need to roll on the 20-sided die, after the bonuses are applied. Very simple and streamlined.
Last, but not least, is the new Magic system. In today’s game, almost any spell caster can learn a spell. About the only difference between the various magic using classes is the WAY they learn and cast the spells. Some of the classes still have to memorize the spells that they want to use each day. Others just have to learn the spell itself and then have the ability to cast it at will a certain number of times each day. That’s pretty sweet. I also like the Spell lists much better. Now they are listed alphabetically instead of being broken down by class and level. No more flipping through a couple dozen pages to find a spell and get the details about what it can do. This saves tons of game time for when a player is just getting started and isn’t sure what all his spells can do.
In my opinion, TSR has improved the game 1000% by making these simple changes. Now I have returned to the D&D settings for regular play and once more enjoy the game very much.
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