Average Rating: 
Rating:  - A Good Step Forward
The D&D game has been in a state of constant evolution for about 30 years now--the 3.5 edition is the latest exponent of that evolution. This edition helps clarify some of the 3.0 edition rules as well as addressing some of the game balance issues in the previous edition. Some character types have been made more viable and fun to play; there are new skills (which are more accessible to a wider variety of characters)and abilities to choose from; rules for combat have been streamlined and clarified; and there are important revisions that affect all magic-using characters.Much is being made of the "planned obsolesence" of the previous edition. Monte Cook, one of the three credited authors of the previous edition, has said that the 3.5 edition was planned fromt he beginning. The actual product, however, goes far beyond a mere reprinting with errata. The new edition addresses many concerns voiced by the thousands of active D&D players. Regardless of the original vision for 3.5, here is what it actually is: a response to customers who have given ideas to improve the product. I loved the previous edition, and I am excited about the changes in the 3.5 edition, which I view as a definite improvement. That said, 3.5 is still comprised chiefly of old material. Most of the rules material is taken from 3.0 and 3.0 supplements. The art, which was largely criticized at the release of 3.0, is almost entirely the same. The rules changes are significant enough that 3.5 and 3.0 will not be smoothly compatible. It will be difficult to play the game out of the different rulebooks. If you have already bought the core rulebooks of the 3.0 edition, you will be re-purchasing a lot of your old material, with enough changes to make the new books all but indispensable to the continuing development of the game. Repetition of old material notwithstanding, I am pleased with with my purchase of the 3.5 edition rulebooks. I would like to have seen some new and better art, and I believe that the books could have been edited more carefully. Still, I bought the books for the rules, and they are, by and large, a significant improvement to an already superb treatment of the D&D game. I would recommend (and have recommended) the 3.5 edition rules to anyone who enjoys the role-playing experience of D&D. 3.5 will not be the last word in the evolution of D&D--the last 30 years is indication enough of that. But 3.5 is a good step forward.
Rating: - PHB 3.5 is it worth it?
My first thought was why would I want to buy this book? After all my 3rd edition Players Handbook is doing just fine, and I refuse to buy a new version of a game system so soon after the last series was put out. To say the least I was a skeptic about the new 3.5 material. However after looking through the new 3.5 player's handbook I decided it was worth the price. The revised ranger, bard, and druid class design, the clearly described combat and action system, and both the revised and new feats were the clincher for me.Regards, Derek
Rating:  - Slap in the face to D&D gamers everywhere
Hmmm, well, well, Wizards of the Cash seems to think that D&D players around the world are lumbering fools. We all know what this 3.5 revision is all about. It's about WotC making more money. They don't care about us or our RPG game, they just want our money. Seems like WotC is bent on renaming D&D to "Dollars and Drains", and they are trying to turn our beloved game into some kind of Magic the Gathering revenue generating expansion pack. Even before 3.0 went to the printer, the "business" team overseeing D&D was laughing about the extra sales they were going to generate from 3.5. This revision, according to the original design team, wasn't supposed to happen until 2005. Most of the original design team for 3.0 has since been let go. Hmmm, I wonder why? They could have easily posted a lot of these changes as errata or put all of the changes into a small optional rules supplement, but they didn't. The amount of changes in the 3.5 books was artificially increased beyond what was needed to force everyone to buy all new books and to ensure a good stream of revenue generation. So what are the changes? Lots. With limited word space, I can only hightlight a few significant changes. Rangers are now back to d8 for hit points instead of d10. Half-elves are now suddenly the best diplomats in the game; always thought half-elves were the untrusted outcasts? Gnomes now suddenly favor the bard class; thought there were no bardic traditions among Gnomes?..guess I was wrong since 1st Edition. Virtually every monster is different. Your specialist wizard character, bard, ranger, and monk will have to be redone. Damage reduction has been completely reworked. Perhaps the worst change, weapons are organized by handedness rather than by size. There is now an increased focus on miniatures; only to get you to buy more. And to really frustrate the game, duration for ability score enhancing spells has been shortened. A lot of the new feats are just adding in a +2 bonus. Taking levels of a prestige class now forces you to pay multiclassing XP costs. Caster level is still a prerequisite for magic item creation. 95 percent of the artwork is exactly the same. There are no playtester credits; because they don't care about the playtesters. Basically, just change your PCs, NPCs and whole campaign just because Wizards of the Cash needs more cash. There are just enough changes that a player has to question and re-read everything. Now, in your game sessions, you will have to look everything up again. And hurry up an learn these rules before the 4.0 revision comes! It's true that some of the changes were really needed, but they had to put in a few rules that needed changing to have something to hide behind and try to make it look like this revision was really needed. You see even in this 3.5 Edition, WotC "still" left out rules that needed changing on purpose, because they are already planning to rip us again on a 4.0 Edition. Sounds like they are taking lessons from Bill Gates himself. I wonder if Wizards of the Cash has finacing plans so we can pay monthly installments as they keep churing out new rule book sets for us to buy...? It's sad, I've been a heavy RPG gamer for the last 22 years, and throughout that period I have helped introduce and evangelize D&D. But now, I'm stopping at 3.0 and just using a few selected rules from 3.5 as house rules. WotC's revenue plan for our game is really wrong, and 3.5 is just a big slap in the face to D&D gamers everywhere.
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