Dungeon Master's Guide: Core Rulebook II (Dungeon & Dragons, Edition 3.5)

Rating:
Summary: Well Done Upgrade
Review: In the 3.5 upgrade for the D&D system, this book probably contributes the least. Still, it is worth the price, as it adds a few things, like rules for planar travel and beginning epic campaign. If you are a serious DM, you'll want to check this out.

Rating:
Summary: Well Done Upgrade
Review: In the 3.5 upgrade for the D&D system, this book probably contributes the least. Still, it is worth the price, as it adds a few things, like rules for planar travel and beginning epic campaign. If you are a serious DM, you'll want to check this out.

Rating:
Summary: Hmm.....
Review: Let us see....this book was awesome...it has helped me sooo much...yeah,.....

Rating:
Summary: An updated Guide to DMing
Review: Now, I am not going to say that they needed a 3.5 edition. I am going to say that a revision does seem to make the classes and their abilities more balanced (by making some weaker and a few stronger). Monsters are much more powerful in general terms. Also, there is a lot more helpful information included in the books, especially in the DM's Guide. The DM's Guide contains a great deal more information, helping the DM to make intelligent choices and guide the world of his or her players. All the magic items now include information for Detect Magic and the like, easing that all too familiar problem for DMs. All the included Prestige Classes are also useful. By far the two most important and useful things are the combat/spotting/etc. related information and the free map, counters, etc. at the end of the book. So far I've found very few errors.

Rating:
Summary: ...
Review: So...what's new in the DMG? Not much. A couple of new prestige classes, a bunch of advice on DMing and a couple of rule tweaks. Most of the so called "new" material can be found in existing suplements. They are charging the full price for some minor modifications. They even re-used most of the artwork. In short...NOT WORTH IT.

Rating:
Summary: Perhaps unnecessary in some ways.
Review: The 3.5 edition Players Handbook contains virtually all the necessary rules to play D&D. This book is basically supplementary material. It is reasonably well put together and I love the artwork, but 3.5 edition takes some getting used to.

When compared with OD&D or AD&D (1st and 2nd edition), somethings have been improved, and other things have become harder to manage. I'll start with the improvements...

1. Movement and time are pretty standardized and a little easier to handle in 3.5 edition. The game lends itself towards combat simulation with minatures, and is very exact.
2. Skills have been introduced, which allow for greater character development, although I should mention that OD&D had skills as well (see the Rules Cyclopedia).
3. Wizards has ditched the negative numbers, which lessens the complexity of the game a bit.
4. Apologies to Gary Gygax, but the writing is a whole lot better in the new books.
5. Detecting secret doors, and searching is handled in a much better manner than earlier editions of D&D.

Now for the bad...

1. Savings throws are no longer based on a table, and now require a mathematical calculation based on the level of spell, modifications made by the spellcaster, etc. This is a bit clumsy.
2. Turning undead is a lot more complicated.
3. Attacks of opportunity can slow the game down, as players sit and wonder how they will perform an action without invoking an attack of opportunity.
4. Way too many feats are available, and they also make characters overly powerful and disrupt game mechanics. It would have been a lot better to have a handful of feats available to each character class.
5. I'd like to see the other dice used more (d12, d10, etc.)

So it's far from a perfect system, but the d20 system works well, especially at lower levels. The nice thing about the d20 system, is it can be ported to other time periods and games (Star Wars, etc.)

Wizards seems to want to print as many hardcovers as possible. It would have been pretty easy to combine the DM's guide with the Player's Handbook and cut out some of the fat. Most of the dungeon modules are printed by other companies.

I'm worried that 4th edition will be out very soon, and players will feel compelled to go out and buy all new books. This is what I loved about OD&D -the same system was in place between 1974 and 1993, with some minor modifications.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic if you're upgrading from 2nd ed.
Review: The D&D 3.5 core rulebooks (Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monstrous Manual) represent the newest and best incarnation of the greatest roleplaying game of all time. Many reviews have focused on the differences between versions 3 and 3.5. As someone who "skipped" version 3, I am reviewing these books as a newcomer to the d20 system. This is one of the most coherent, most streamlined, easiest to use roleplaying games I have ever seen. Everything about these books is top notch, from the binding, to the paper quality, to the editing. There is room for tremendous depth of play here. The character creation system strikes an ideal balance between detail and ease of use. Created characters will be rich and unique -- perfect for that extended campaign. The information contained in the DMG and MM are everything a new DM needs to get a great game up and running. If you're new to D&D, or if you're upgrading from versions 1 or 2, I highly recommend these books.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic if you're upgrading from 2nd ed.
Review: The D&D 3.5 core rulebooks (Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, and Monstrous Manual) represent the newest and best incarnation of the greatest roleplaying game of all time. Many reviews have focused on the differences between versions 3 and 3.5. As someone who "skipped" version 3, I am reviewing these books as a newcomer to the d20 system. This is one of the most coherent, most streamlined, easiest to use roleplaying games I have ever seen. Everything about these books is top notch, from the binding, to the paper quality, to the editing. There is room for tremendous depth of play here. The character creation system strikes an ideal balance between detail and ease of use. Created characters will be rich and unique -- perfect for that extended campaign. The information contained in the DMG and MM are everything a new DM needs to get a great game up and running. If you're new to D&D, or if you're upgrading from versions 1 or 2, I highly recommend these books.

Rating:
Summary: Might as well call it something other than D&D
Review: Well when they did 3.5 I would have thought that is was a fill in on the holes in 3.0. It is not. Most things have the basics from 3.0 but many things are totaly different from the ground up. If you want to do 3.5, you have to do all the books. This is not a partial switch, it is an all or nothing. When you first switch you keep finding more changes that on first look make no sense. After playing 4 or 5 sessions, you start to realize that , hey this is really good. My first impression was that 3.5 was the pitts, but after a good while, I realized it is much better than 3.0. I started playing d&d in 1977, and this is a really nice version, once you realize that it is a new total rework, not just a half step. If you are going to switch and need to get all three books, by them as the set. The price drop for the set makes it much easer on the money.

Rating:
Summary: 3.5 is not your old 3.0
Review: Well when they did 3.5 I would have thought that is was a fill in on the holes in 3.0. It is not. Most things have the basics from 3.0 but many things are totaly different from the ground up. If you want to do 3.5, you have to do all the books. This is not a partial switch, it is an all or nothing. When you first switch you keep finding more changes that on first look make no sense. After playing 4 or 5 sessions, you start to realize that , hey this is really good. My first impression was that 3.5 was the pitts, but after a good while, I realized it is much better than 3.0. I started playing d&d in 1977, and this is a really nice version, once you realize that it is a new total rework, not just a half step. If you are going to switch and need to get all three books, by them as the set. The price drop for the set makes it much easer on the money.