Player's Handbook: Core Rulebook I (Dungeons & Dragons, Edition 3.5) by:  en 0786928867  9780786928866

• Publisher:   Wizards of the Coast
• Number Of Pages:   320
• Publication Date:   2003-07-18
• Sales Rank:   7932
• ISBN / ASIN:   0786928867
• EAN:   9780786928866
• Binding:   Toy
• Manufacturer:   Wizards of the Coast
• Studio:   Wizards of the Coast
• Average Rating:   3.5
• Total Reviews:   118

This Revised Edition (also called 3.5) of one-third of the Dungeons & Dragons trinity of core rulebooks (the other two being The Dungeon Master's Guide and The Monster Manual) contains errata, rules updates, and outright changes to the already-published Third Edition rules. The majority of changes are made in a quest for the holy grail of game rules: balance. To prevent boredom and enable creative choices, no single ability, spell, character class, or weapon should have an overwhelming advantage over another. So what has changed?

• The spells Harm, Heal, and Haste have been toned down. Other spells have been adjusted or renamed.
• Weapons are classified by the Size of the intended wielder, not the size of the individual weapons. A noteworthy effect of this new weapon size system is that Small characters can wield small-size greatswords, longswords, longspears (with reach), and other two-handed weapons.
• Classes have been tweaked. Bards and rangers received the most changes.
• New feats have been added (some original, some from the builder books), and some feats have been altered (a Power Attack now gives double benefit for two-handed weapons).
• Redundant skills have been rolled into one (such as sense motive and read lips) while others have been renamed (such as "wilderness lore" becoming "survival"). Skill synergies have been expanded and knowledge skills now include appropriate monster lore.

In addition to outright rules changes and tweaks, much of the core rule content has been clarified and updated with 3E errata. The combat section, in particular, is organized much better. Even the dreaded grapple rules are now relatively clear. A much-appreciated import from the D&D Miniatures game are new and simple rules for cover and line of sight, as well as clear photographic illustrations of the concepts of facing, attacks of opportunity, and reach.

All in all, 3.5 is a welcome update. The typographical errors are forgivable, given the extent of the update. The new options available to players (in the form of new class features and feats) make the play experience more fun. Veterans will enjoy re-learning the game they love and exploring all the new character possibilities. Perhaps more importantly, they'll find that introducing new gamers to the admittedly formidable D&D ruleset is easier with 3.5 than it was with 3E--call it a +2 circumstance bonus. --Mike Fehlauer

Player's Handbook

The structure and overall content more or less remained the same. This is still the main book necessary for making characters and running a game. The changes were, on the whole, in the details.

Pros

* They made some good tweaks on the barbarian, making him more playable. For instance, they now have a trap sense ability and the ability to go into an advanced form of rage at 20th level.

* They played with the bard, somewhat, too. Among other things, they now have more skill points, to give them a broader use in the game.

* The druid now has the ability to convert a spell slot to a summoning spell, much like the cleric's ability to convert a spell slot to a healing spell.

* The monk has a few minor tweaks as well, notably in the attacks per round department.

* The paladin now has their powers spread out a bit, to discourage multiclassing into paladin for one level, solely for the saving throw bonuses.

* The ranger has considerably more versatility. They almost made the ranger playable, but messed it up in the end.

* There are minor tweaks in the skill section. They cut the innuendo and scry skills for instance. No one used them anyway.

* Many feats were brought to the Player's Handbook from other books. This opens them up into open game content for the d20 companies out there.

* Weapons are now based on the character's size. For instance, a longsword comes in the medium variety, the small variety and the large variety. While a halfling's longsword may seem like a short sword to a human, the hilt is the wrong size for a human to wield properly.

* There are many tweaks to individual spells that for the most part, don't detract, and usually enhance things quite a bit. Some spells were too powerful in 3.0, some not powerful enough. You can tell that a lot of thought went into adjusting game balance in this section.


Cons

* The paladin is no more playable than the 3.0 version. The fighter is still much more powerful. WotC seems to be of the opinion that because the paladin gets played a lot, it isn't broken. They don't seem to realize that people would still play paladins if they had fur and barked like dogs. The paladin is too well ingrained in the D&D psyche for people to ignore it just because the class is broken.

* The ranger almost made it. On my first read, I thought the ranger was fixed, but then I saw that they shorted the ranger in the hit dice department, so the ranger is only a bit less broken than in 3.0.

* While I liked, overall, the combat section, I was annoyed that they didn't fix a few problems I had. For instance, I think mages should get a penalty for casting a spell in the same round that they are hit with a full attack (it seems surprising that a mage can get hit five times in six seconds and still cast a spell without anything more than the casting defensively penalty). They also didn't change the one rule in D&D which annoys me the most, the fact that attacking a collar on someone's neck or a pouch on their side provokes an attack or opportunity. I'll just never get that attacking any object on another person's person (I like the sound of that sentence), makes them so confident of their safety they get a free attack on you.

If you play D&D, you need this book.

Simple as that, if you play Dungeons and Dragons v3.5, you physically need this book. Doesn't matter if you're a PC or a DM, BUY IT.

Great revision

Any review of this book is, by necessity, a review of the 3rd edition book it replaces. Regular gamers had some common complaints about the way 3rd edition came out, and this revision addresses some of them. Before I get into the details, I'd like to make a general observation for any first time gamers. D&D is THE role playing game right now. If you're looking to get into an RPG, D&D is your best choice. The D20 engine (game mechanic) is intuitive, and with an experienced DM, any group of four or five friends can be up and running in no time. Now, on to the crunchy stuff (If you're a novice, you might want to stop reading now):
1. Ranger class revision. The ranger class was often maligned as either underpowered or only worthwhile for one level. The new ranger class isn't as front loaded, and turns the ranger from a poorly armored guy with two knives and a dog to the agile wilderness warrior I envisioned. I wish they had found a way to keep the d10 hit die, but I guess it was necessary to drop the ranger to a d8 to give the extra abilities (Evasion, woodland stride, etc). I'd hesitate to say that this is worth the price of admission, but as revisions go, it's heavy-handed enough that I'd consider it a new class.
2. Nerfed magic. There were certain spells or combinations of spells that could prove overpowered in battle. Haste was the most frequent offender, and now loses its effect if the target casts a spell. I don't play casters often, so others can speak to this better than I can, but wizards and sorcerers are brought slightly more in line with other classes in 3.5. That said, at higher levels, there's still far more sorcery than sword in this sword and sorcery game.
3. Fighter improvement. OK, there isn't much to speak of. I think a couple of new fighter feats from supplements were added to the core, but those who thought the fighter was underpowered before will likely still think so now. This shortcoming is probably enough reason on its own to keep this from being a 5 star rating. The new fighter feats are largely just another logical step from their prerequisites (greater weapon specialization, greater weapon focus, a few newer forms of toughness that grant more hp, etc). There's nothing in there that wouldn't immediately be house ruled in by any DM approached with the idea by a player playing a fighter. More importantly, anyone playing a fighter would likely already have thought of these. I'll move on now, but suffice it to say that this is the major shortcoming of this book. However, I still think fighters are great first characters, and yes, I still play them even though I've been playing since college.
4. Improved skill lists. I like adding Intimidate as a barbarian class skill, giving the bard and ranger six skill points/level, etc. Basicallly, the game has been made a little more skill-friendly for folks who don't play rogues. If the lack of creative upgrades for the fighter constitute the obvious shortcoming of the revision, then this is the total opposite, a much-needed revision that is subtle, but helps game play a lot in my opinion.
4. Altered races. Dwarves get a few upgrades to make them even more fighter-friendly. I like this, and feel it adds even greater flavor to the dwarves. I just wish that something would be done with/for half elves.
Final Verdict:
I consider 3.5 a step up from 3.0. I like it, and prefer playing 3.5 if given the option. Most people stepped up pretty much immediately, though, so I'm not sure that option really exists. If you want to play a role playing game, chances are you basically have to buy/borrow this book from someone because D&D is the universal RPG. It could be better, but I'd say this is an excellent system, and an excellent use of that system to create a set of classes/races that really gel.

The nuts and bolts for the nutz

anyone one of my friends and colleagues who ask me how to play DnD this is the first thing i hand them. i have a loaner copy that is in my house no more then 1 day out of the month. in short this is the best place to start.

From love to hate to love again

I jumped on the D&D Bandwagon when it was actually popular in the 1980's. As I matured, and so did roleplaying games, this hack-and-slash Lord of the Rings rip-off became ever more boring.

I was shocked to find out that I actually liked 3rd Edition. The artwork is superb, the writing shows a maturity, and the game's new mechanics keep it truer to the genre that it inspired it, rather than making it far too lethal for low-level characters to ever even think of leaving the safety of their halfling-holes.

• Player's Handbook: Core Rulebook I (Dungeons & Dragons, Edition 3.5)