Cool News
AICN TABLETOP: D&D Players Handbook 3!!!
Hola all. Massawyrm here.
Well, it’s that time again; time for the new year’s cycle to begin anew. Year 3 brings us its first installment of core rulebooks, beginning with PLAYERS HANDBOOK 3 – this time around focused upon Psionics. Psionics are something D&D has struggled with for decades, always trying to get the balance right. Unfortunately for us, they’ve never gotten it to work properly. But with the advent of 4th Edition, they were presented with a system tailor made to integrate Psionic flavor with fantasy rules without having to bend, break or modify the existing system to shoehorn it in.
So they did it anyway.
In the first major move to disappoint me in the new system, they took something that should have been very easy and decided once again that “You know, psionic characters should just be better than normal characters. And their rules need to be different; at least different enough to confuse other players.” Psionic characters don’t get Encounter Attack powers. Instead, they get three At-Will powers (that they can continually upgrade) and get Power Points - spendable resources that refresh after a short rest that can be spent on At-Will abilities to get stronger, larger or wider ranging effects. It’s not a terrible system, but it is an unnecessarily complicated one. I’m very curious to see how the power level pans out over time.
That said, The Monk class, finally added to the system, came out pretty awesome. Flurry of Blows is a once per round additional damage that might come with an additional effect, and all of the powers are Kung Fu inspired stances and attacks, including a first level Drunken Monkey attack. Awesome. Runepriests are a new divine leader class which can be either offensive or defensive. Lots of flavor there. My favorite class is probably the Seeker, a Primal Controller class that is a woodland hunter that focuses their attacks through magical arrows (or similar ranged attacks.) This is essentially the classical mystic archer , created as a class all its own. Anyone who likes the idea of being a magical Ranger will get a serious kick out of this one.
Making this book essential however are two new Character options. The first and easiest to lay out are Skill based powers: utility powers that you can take based upon skills you have. How about a lvl 2 Utility power for a character with Acrobatics that allows you to stand up from prone as a minor action? Or a jedi mind trick that allows those with Arcana to make a Bluff, Diplomacy or Intimidate check once per encounter using their Arcana skill? Or a Bluff Utility Power that allows you to shake off a Mark? The higher the Utility level, the cooler the power. Lvl 16’s Diehard is a pretty great reason to be trained in Endurance, allowing you, as a daily power, to be Dazed instead of Unconscious when below 0HP.
These are great, flavorful powers, perfect for more skill based campaigns or for those that want a little more diversity for their characters than offered by their classes.
Finally, there is a new multiclassing system called HYBRID CHARACTERS. Easily the best solution to writ for multi-class loving players, this new system essentially splits each current class in half, lets you pick half of the classes abilities and fuse it with one half of another class. I like this system quite a bit, actually. While it is still possible to create some potentially unbalanced characters at the start, the system is set up requiring that you balance all of your attack powers by splitting them down the middle as well. If you have two encounter attack powers, one must come from your first class and one must come from the second. In this way, you can’t simply layer one class’s cool starting abilities onto a core class, allowing you to abuse a loophole. You are truly a character of two classes, without mastering the benefits of either. I have a buddy who only enjoys playing weird multi-class pairings, and this system made him one happy camper.
This should also prove pretty useful for anyone playing more Anime themed adventures, allowing martial characters who also possess mystical powers. I ran a Sorcerer/Monk in 3.5 for about a year, and looking at this made me think about updating him for a campaign. I think a Stormsoul Sorcerer combined with the new Monk class could be pretty sweet. Might have to try that out.
All in all, it’s a book worth checking out. While I’m not thrilled with the Psionics, three new classes, a new power tree based on skills and an awesome multi—classing system make this more than worthy to sit on your shelf. This is available in stores now.
Until next time friends, smoke ‘em if ya got ‘em.
Massawyrm
Got something for the Wyrm? Mail it here.
-
+ Expand All
-
Mar 17, 2010 10:39:30 AM CDT
Never understood why psionics can't just be a spell category.
by royston lodge
Just make psionics a type of spell that has no verbal or material component.
Problem solved. -
You should've checked out the Hallowed Halls Dungeon Tiles set with the 3D elements and tavern/maor house interiors.
-
I will ever NOT find that funny.
BloodNinja FTW! -
Biggest waste of money WotC has ever put out.
How fucking hard is it to download artwork and print it out yourself?!?!
Fuck.
People who pay for Dungeon Tiles drive me nuts. -
This book sounds like it is lacking in any unifying theme. A psionics book without Mindflayer characters? I'm guessing Massa gets sent these things for free.
-
That way with the click of a mouse we can add blood splatter or even bloody footprints along the tiles. It works so good and it's fuckin uber-geeky.
-
Looks like Dwarven defender Beorn Oakthorn might be up for early retirement.
-
...are so much fun to play. There's something completely badass about snatching an arrow out of the air...That being said, and without doing more that reading the first 4th edition core books, I find myself preferring Pathfinder nowadays...
-
Mar 17, 2010 1:01:29 PM CDT
The nerdiest most pathetic and awesome thing of all time
by catothecensor
Check out this guys D&D lounge. You gotta see it...
http://www.acaeum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8714 -
It isn't fucking hard to download second rate artwork and screw around getting the scaling right and wasting 40 bucks in printer ink at all. Not to mention the bonus of having shitty little paper sheets to play on, or the waste of my valuable time glueing bullshit crafts together. I don't know about you, but my disposable income has plenty of room for 10 dollar luxury purchases.
-
Verbal and material components? Obviously not with the fourth edition.
-
If he had a projector rig in there as well, it'd be perfect.
www.agyris.net/v3/ugt/default.asp -
I've never seen them for less than $25.
Obviously, I go to the wrong stores.
Regardless, there's plenty of good artwork out there:
http://www.enworld.org/CrookedStaffProductions/page15.html
for example... -
...and never will.
Pathfinder FTW. -
Massawyrm, I hope that you will take a look at the the Gamemastery Guide or the Advanced Players Guide for Pathfinder from Paizo, when they come out later this year. To show that you are not only shilling for WotC, but are actually looking out for all of us D&Ders, old-timers and newbies. :p
A review of one of their adventure paths would be sweet, too. :) -
I'm glad to see this game is stuill goigng strong. Been playing since '77. Even played with some cats who used the original boxed set for a while.
No geek like an old geek, I guess. And don't even get me started on Arms Law.
Still use second edition with a few house rules. -
left the page up from this morning, but didn't post. there weren't any posts until i hit refresh. i r teh fail
-
because to be honest, all the other power sources play too similarly. they should have come up with a different mechanic or system for all the power sources. oh well.
-
I've been playing D&D since it came in a red box with a white crayon. I still play D&D - but for legal reasons, it's now called Pathfinder. 4th Edition is not for me. It's like a video game without the graphics. I didn't need D&D dumbed down and drained of detail.
I hope we see some more focus on the D&D game that is out there that cannot call itself D&D. -
Never less than $25? The friggin cover price is $9.95 for a regular set, Harrowing halls is $11.95 and the soon to be released Master Sets are only $19.95. I've seen the crookedstaff stuff, as well as the dwarf forge, etc. Too much craft. Plus, Wizard's Dungeon Tiles is printed on a heavier cardstock than printers can handle - I know because I went to a bunch of them with my tiles on PDF looking to clone them. Additionally, the tiles WoTC produces have an extra slick layer on top of the cardstock. They're quick and convenient and the dungeons I design with Masterplan software have the dungeon tile library, making map design tailored to my exact tile sets.
-
Heh heh heh . . .
-
I've read some of the books, I've tried the system out. I just don't understand how anyone with a lick of sense can like this system. 4th edition is good for only one thing, toilet paper. The fact that wizard$ has now released "players handbook 3" is a sure sign they are fucking things up. Normally for a system to function properly they need only 1 players handbook.
-
Heh heh heh...
-
a review of a 4E product and people feel the need to come out of the woodwork to bash 4E. If you don't like 4E, why bother a)reading the review and b)posting in the talkback?
-
Well, I wasn't bashing 4E, just commenting that Massawyrm hasn't followed up yet on his review of the Pathfinder RPG. Which could well be because only further Adventure Path modules have come out since then, but that is about to change, as noted above.
-
The true system is Pathfinder. As someone posted eariler PF FTW. Though the groups I play with will occasionally prefer a regular 3.5 feat/rule so it is slightly PF hybrid.
Ever now and then I go back and look over the 4th edition PHB and each time I'm struck by how MMO'ish it tried to be. I've played from 1st edition and on also as well as a million other RPG systems and I just don't get 4th. Also talk about butchering the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, sheesh. Anyone know what the sales numbers are for 4th. All the people I know that played 3.5 none of them have switched to 4th edition. -
you make it painfully obvious you have no idea what it's really like.
-
Seriously, It has absolutely no real right to be called Dungeons and Dragons. It is not D&D.
I began playing D&D with the Basic set. I played all editions up to 3.5 and despite the mechanical changes, they all FELT like D&D. 4th edition does not feel at all like D&D. You ask why. SSquirrel asks why we bash it? Its because it has no business calling itself D&D. Its something entirely different. -
I will only play 1st Edition AD&D from here on out. WotC has taken away everything that Gygax and Arneson had in mind. I enjoy my 70's DMG, Monster Manual, modules, all of it.
-
This review makes it all sound perfect. I don't like the idea of psionics still having to be "special," but if it's done well it's nice to have some variety...maybe.
-
You just said absolutely nothing. Your post has practically no objective meaning of any kind. Your point is "I have absolutely no idea how it's inferior, BUT MY GUT HATES IT ANYWAY." Fuck off.
-
First off, they pretty much copy pasted 99 percent of the 3.5 players handbook and dmg. The other percent is what? Buffed classes and CMB/D? That's it? Pathfinder is just glorified house rules. If you tards wanted buffed classes, you could have done that yourselves. Instead, you paid 30 dollars for repackaged materiel YOU ALREADY HAD, and one or two houserules. Atleast wotc put in the work to actually create a new system from the ground up. Fucking sheep man.
-
was an indicator of error. What a fucking idiot. The additional PH's add more classes, feats, races, OPTIONS. How is expanding the system any indication of a bad system? Are you fucking stupid? That's like saying video game expansions are bad, or movie sequels are bad, etc etc.
-
All the books in one hardcover book. It's a gimped system compared to AD&D, but that one book is packed with enough stuff to run a campaign from 1st to 36th level.
-
The old guard have reached the point where they're so afraid of change they will not only use their old stuff exclusively, they will actually buy it again. I can't say why exactly.
-
Thanks for the review Massa!
-
But it ended when my friend past away...
-
Mar 18, 2010 7:50:15 AM CDT
The Not Necessarily Limited To Ten Commandments Of RPG'ing
by nippleeffect
Thou Shalt Have A Vowel In Your Characters Name
Bluud_Phart_69 Is a Good Name For your Quake Death Match Character
Not so good for your female elf cleric
feel free to add to this -
RPG games needed revisions past a 2nd edition. I had no problems running D&D and AD&D 2nd Edition. I also played a lot of Star Wars 2nd Edition (West End Games, D6) and my groups loved it.
Just have a core set of rules, that don't change, and release supplements that you use at your discretion. -
Mar 18, 2010 8:12:34 AM CDT
You guys are arguing about what the better RPG System is....
by ctbrandon
nerds
-
K'nerds
The K is silent -
I missed my saving throw versus spelling.
-
Mar 18, 2010 9:33:24 AM CDT
The Adventures of Biff Thorson The Almost Terminally Clumsy Pala
by nippleeffect
Our scene opens with bird song
-
You are such a blind fuck. I looked at their so called "options" and they are all fluff. They've turned the whole game into a piece of shit, only now they arn't even trying to hide the fact that they sacrifice quality for quantity. I find it amusing you lemmings who immediately step off the edge of the cliff for the "next best thing" in roleplaying without really sitting down and analyzing what you are really getting and is it really an improvement on what you had before. Not only did they rape the game but they raped the settings. Their is not one thing worth salvaging in 4e. Hopefully in another 4-6 years or so when Wizards decides to fuck over all of you 4e-devotee's, they will do a better job of "reinventing the system". And if you don't think they don't plan on fucking you over, you are a bigger dumbass than I give you credit for being.
-
slapity slap slap
if they're cosplay you can look forward to mascara running
oooooooh yeaaaaah -
I've had more than enough "4E sucks" "No it doesn't" over on ENWorld. I've played for over 20 years and have enjoyed each edition of the game (I did skip 3.5 tho). It's always still felt like D&D to me and I've been able to have fun with my friends. That ahs been all that matters. We also have fun playing Cthulhu or Star Wars or Vampire or Mage or Abberrant or even RIFTS. Yes I hate the Palladium system itself, but RIFTS is an interesting setting and can be fun in small doses :)
-
in comparison to 3.5/pathfinder, which is MIRED in fluff, especially when it comes to certain classes being absolutely CRIPPLED by fluff and not actually being at all useful or unique in combat, I'm looking at rangers and their ability to walk through bushes at normal speed (fucking awesome!!!) or monks being able to slow fall, the ENTIRE bard class, in comparison to the cleric, just proves you don't know jack shit about EITHER system and you have no business in this thread, and are beneathe notice. Fuck off retard. I also like how your entire post has ZERO facts in regards to the 4E system, just heated opinions of this and that is shit. Atleast I submitted the single biggest flaw in pathfinder, COPY FUCKING PASTE FOR 30 DOLLARS. Enjoy your archaic save or die system with zero class balance, filled with worthless fluff and rules no one would ever use. Oh and your fly skill, lawlz wtf man.
-
If you literally think that your choice of imaginary pretend elf game makes you a better or more discerning person, you are a moron and deserve nothing better than to be herded into camps and humanely gassed to death.
-
I personally got disillusioned with PF pretty quickly when they started off saying that backwards compatibility was very important to them. Then the original alpha came out and people ripped them about the huge boost given to most classes and then their attitude shifted to "well compatibility is only A (rather than the) goal" and "we're making it compatibile with all the late era 3.x stuff". You know, the stuff that was ridiculously powerful compared to the original PHB thanks to power creep. Power creep was one of the biggest problems in 3.x (and lets not even talk about RIFTS heh) and Pathfinder boosted right on past all of that. Sorry, doesn't do it for me.
-
I never brough up Pathfinder in the discussion. Your jumping to conclusions mate.
-
He's right, it was 5 or 6 other people who specifically mentioned Pathfinder.
Koie, a lot of what you were saying matches a lot of the same arguements people who have switched to Pathfinder give. He may have jumped to conclusions, but for people who have had this argument a lot it starts sounding similar pretty quickly. -
Yeah, plenty of people hate the art too. Then again, people have hated changes in art ever since OD&D :)
-
I enjoy it
was into wow when it ca,e out
Tried it when it went f2p back awhie ago
Like how you can do something in an hr or so and feel like you've advanced ypur char -
I paid $10 for the PDF and printed it off at work.
Nootch. -
Can I jump on the 'I hate 4th edition'-bandwagon too? :)
-
I guess you never played anything before 3.0 or you would no exactly what I meant.
DJR said it very well, "It's like a video game without the graphics." I guess 4th Edition is perfect for the ADHD generation. Oh, and how mature telling me to "Fuck Off" because i think 4th Ed sucks and you cant understand why. Healing Surges for all classes...WTF is that? Have a Cleric in the party. No multi-classing...And so much more...Its not D&D. -
Anyone who doesn't like 4th edition or understand its advantages is a fuckin' retard.
-
As a newcomer to D&D, all I can say is that so far, I'm having fun with it. Isn't that what really matters? If you don't like a certain version, DON'T PLAY IT! Its not like people are rounding up all of the old versions of the books and burning them! Play what you want, and just have fun with it.
-
pathfinder group, sorry bud. Also, god, it's quite embarrasing to look back at my posts and see how god awful I talk to people. These fits of nerd rage can really cloud a persons judgement in communication. I apologize to anyone I may have lashed out at. At the end of the day, it's just a game, there's no need to be abusive about it.
-
all I'm going to say is that you are incorrect. There IS multiclassing, and in fact, if you had read massa's article, you'd have found out that said multiclassing JUST GOT EXPANDED.
Also, healing surges are in the game to put a cap on how many times a character can be healed in a day, because 4E technically has infinite healing spells due to the per encounter system, and encounter spells used out of combat have 5 minute cool downs. Anyway, since healers can heal infinitely in theory, they had to cap the amount of times someone can be healed in a day so that they'd be forced to rest and not be able to adventure indefinately without rest. It's posts like yours that lead me to believe that 99 percent of 4E haters haven't even read the books, much less played the system. -
...and have of the 1st Edition stuff. Just my opinion, but the rules have overtaken the fun factor. There needs to be some serious simplification. Maybe they could do both. Keep the stuff they have now, but release a really basic set of rules with all the new classes and abilities they've added over the years.
-
I play it with my 7 year old and he has NO problem with it. And with a group going full bore tactical it can get as complex as far as strategy goes as you want it to.
-
...don't really make it sound that way. I'll give it a shot if some friends run a campaign with it. I don't know anybody whose switched all the way over yet.
-
Let it be known henceforth that whatever the current edition of D&D is shall be referred to as "the edition that ruined D&D". All who played an earlier version shall look on all others with disdain who do not belittle those who enjoy any later version.
This shall carry forth into the future where the version you were used to shall always be the one "true" way to play the game, regardless of any other people's ideas of fun.
Carry on then... -
the 4e books are pretty, and if they suddenly dropped the price of the books to $10 each I'd give them second opinions. But as it stands I have a library of various editions and I don't feel like dropping a ton of cash for yet another one. And lets face it, 4.5 is probably just around the corner.
-
or are just too ashamed to admit it
if you play WoW, your current an edgy
If you play DDO
Your a dork -
I played DDO back in the beta and thought it was awful. I was already playing WoW after having played SWG for a couple of years. Tried DDO again after the free play and it still isn't that great in my eyes. Glad they're doing better than they had been.
Healing>In 3rd edition Clerics got ridiculous amounts of power and certain builds that focused on heals could heal all day long. Add in several party members with wands of healing and things got out of hand. 4th Ed we have healing surges to control the number of heals in a day, but also to allow for those moments when the hero has a surge of strength and pushes himself on to victory. Look at pretty much any of the Die Hard films, look at Hulk Hogan "Hulking Up", look at Rocky swaying on his feet then suddenly taking a good shot and getting a 2nd wind. There is a long history of this is novels and movies and now there are mechanics that more accurately show it. If you dislike a more cinematic style of play then 4E is probably not for you.
Settings>I was sick of every square inch of the Realms being known, so I'm ok with the changes they made. Maybe we don't have 8 billion high powered NPCs running around solving everything now. Altho Drizzt and Elminster are still around I think. Dark Sun comes out in June and I'm super psyched about that. The awful version of Dark Sun they had in the magazines during 3rd Ed sucked and the athas.org conversion never sat well with me either. -
As far as price drop go, Wizards is planning on releasing the essentials line - reprinting the core books in trade paper back format, resulting in a dramatic price drop. The basic rules can be downloaded free from the site along with a starter adventure for people who just wanna test drive it.
-
Actually the Essentials is a slimmed down version of 4E, sold in a box and designed to resemble the old Red Box D&D from the early 80s. There have been quickstart versions of 4E rules on the official site since before 4E was released.
-
There is a red box starter set of the essentials being released but that is not the sum total of the essentials line. The essentials core books are still being released individually at $19.95.
-
Yes there are more books coming after that, but it isn't simply re-printing 4E stuff from what I've seen
-
Has anyone heard of the Old School Renaissance? The Remakes of the original games using the Open Gaming License? Have you tried any of that stuff? Swords and Wizardry 0e, Labyrinth Lord BX, and OSRIC AD&D. Look them up they are free to download.
Readers Talkback
User Login
Top Talkbacks
- Whitney Houston 1963 - 2012 -- 209 total posts 207 posts
- AVENGERS enemy revealed as pink boardgame pieces... You might suffer some form of elation... SPOILERS!!! -- 160 total posts 97 posts
- There's a STAR TREK video game that is going to lead into JJ's STAR TREK 2 apparently... -- 144 total posts 77 posts
- Here's The Red Band Trailer For Drafthouse Films' THE FP! -- 68 total posts 68 posts
- New JUDGE DREDD post production footage pops up -- 67 total posts 67 posts
- Does ‘SNL’ Rhyme With ‘Deschanel’?? Learn Which SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE Vet Hosts After Sexy Zooey!! -- 64 total posts 60 posts
- To Commemorate The 3D Release Of STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE, George Lucas Wants You To Know...Greedo Shoots First!! -- 480 total posts 55 posts
- HANNA's Saoirse Ronan to boss around seven little people -- 53 total posts 50 posts
- Friday Brings SWEEPS DAY NINE!! Gab Here About Tonight’s FRINGE!! Plus Einstein on TIM, Wiig On PORTLANDIA, MAHER, CLONE, GIFTED, GRIMM, SPARTACUS, SUPERNATURAL, GOLD RUSH And More!! -- 118 total posts 32 posts
- SPACE 2099!! -- 182 total posts 27 posts