Rating: 
Summary: Relief Pill for DMs
Review: 3rd Ed for the popular role playing game (RPG) Dungeons & Dragons couldn't be more of a relief for the DMs of the game.Changes: -The rules have been simplified.
-Everyone gets the same XP levels. (i.e. everyone goes up 1 level at the same time.)
-Multi-classing much easier to manage and understand.
-Proficiencies replaced by Feats and Skills
-3 new classes, Barbarian, Monk and Sorceror
-Saving throws have been split up, much easier to manage.
-Armour class changed.
-Dex mod for medium and heavy armour, much more realistic (e.g. you can't exactly do somersaults in full plate mail!)
-Spell failure included
-Clerics are much better in some cases, much worse in others.
-Stat bonuses adjusted, so a STR 14 character is now better than a STR 12 character in terms of combat.
-No statistic caps (All stats can go above 25)
-No 18/00 strength (gets rid of annoying players who have 18/99 STR and wish to argue about it all the time.)
And much, much more It is definately worth buying, especially at this low price. P.S. Also, buy DM's Handbook and Monster Manual
Rating: 
Summary: Handy 3ed resorce a MUST!
Review: This book has EVERYTHING you need to play. It's collection of spells is marvously extensive. It had feats, skills ,and even a fully photocopiable version of the Character Sheets, preventing you from having to buy new ones. The details on the races and classes are so great that you can almost feel the character, The artwork is 5 stars, if is wonderful. Th charts and tables are a tad hard to read, but still infomation ridden. If you want to play D&D you MUST buy this book.... this book is really affordable. A must for any Role-Playing Fan!
Rating:
Summary: Great new version, simplifies things for the better
Review: I have played DND all my life, I even went to the extent of buying the books in English even though I am spanish and I had to order all the books from outside. Anyone that has ever played and loved DND should buy this book, it won't dissapoint them... the only thing I did not like was the fighting system, I don't like to mix board games with role playing games... it's a different thing in my opinion... but as always you can choose not to use it. Trust me, you would love the third edition...
Rating:
Summary: Drop your weapons warriors!
Review: After the launch of the new D&D book, all roleplayers over the world worries about it. WotC starts a reformation of the TSR line of products, and the first was the premium AD&D, the most popular RPG in the world.Looking for something new and ansious to kill my curiosity, I decided to buy the new product. And I see that the new D&D is much better than the old. What do you think about a mage using a full plate mail? Clerics(not priests) can use it and make his gests and mages are excluded. Now, the book allows mages to use armor, having a percentage of spell failure. And the barbarians became a class, not a kit explained in the book, not in red book kits. Halflings now are like kenders of Dragonlance, not the Hobbit of Tolkien books. And the reasons of some races being good in some classes are finally explained in the book. There are new classes and classes, like monks, sorcerers and the half-orc. The book writting is quite clear and the artwork is very beautiful, making our read a moment of pleasure. The game sistems are better too, because some atributes, considered low in last edition, give us more adjustments in the use of skills. And there are some new roleplaying options, like feats, that make our caracters more power and exclusive. The D&D fans will not feel themselves abandoned or desdained, because this book is an inovation for all RPG. A good choice to have in the book shelf.
Rating:
Summary: Uma grande continuação, sem dúvida.
Review: (Please, do not delete my entry. You have many costumers that speak portuguese and spanish. So, my review should be kind of useful for the non-english speakers, ok ?) Realmente uma grande continuação. Em meus primóridios, o D&D da Grow me tragou para este incrível mundo de fantasia, para nunca mais me largar. Logo se tornou meu jogo preferido, e com o lançamento da 2º Edição em português simplesmente me roubou o coração RPGista. Porém, nós brasileiros tivemos um pequeno tempo de jogo com a 2º traduzida (exceto os que tinham acesso à edição americana, é claro) e o descaso da Abril Jovem / Devir com o jogo, uma mudança em tão pouco tempo poderia acarretar em problemas. Como eu disse, PODERIA. Não causou. A primeira impressão que tive quando coloquei minhas mãos no livro (depois de 1 maldito mês roendo as unhas de ansiedade) foi de espanto. O livro é belíssimo, colocando todos os outros livros do ramo na mais fuleira Havaiana. Páginas luxuosíssimas (um pouco frágil demais, mas EU NÃO LIGO), ilustrações belíssimas e bastante explicativas dá ao iniciante uma imaginação mais que suficiente do mundo do D&D (o que levei algum tempo para conseguir). Armas, proporções, classes, raças e itens são ilustrados com exímia habilidade, merecendo todos os méritos. Já na parte do texto (a mais importante), encontramos descrições sucintas e bastante claras sobre o tema, tornando sua leitura fácil até mesmo para os menos experiêntes no inglês. Boa diagramação, colunas bem posicionadas tornam o livro um prazer de se ler, raramente cansando os olhos. As regras novas... ah, estas são um tópico à parte. Não existe mais Tac0 ? Nada mais de CA ?? Sim, graças à Deus. Tudo isso foi resumido em bônus nos rolamentos, tornando tudo mais fácil e prático de se entender (além de eliminar aquele monte de tabelas desnecessárias). As classes são descritas com esbeldade, trazendo ao jogador o verdadeiro entendimento sobre a classe, algo que antigamente precisava ser descoberto. Não vou entrar mais em detalhes sobre as regras, isto é tarefa para você, leitor. Meu veredicto: COMPRE. E não peça pelo WorldMail... suas unhas vão sumir... =) Sério: um ótimo livro, simplesmente o melhor livro de RPG já lançado no mundo. Lindo, maravilhoso e exuberante. Não é possível descrevê-lo somente com palavras. Não é a toa que todo mundo rasga mó seda pro livro, desde os RPGistas como eu até os caras da Dragão Brasil. É impressionante. Vale cada doleta que você gastar.
Rating:
Summary: Nice way to streamline D&D!
Review: I have thoroughly enjoyed the few games I've played with the third edition! Jonathan Tweet and Monte Cook have done a fine job with the third edition. I never liked the arbitrary racial restrictions, and the multitude of skills and profeciencies as well as other random "junk" introduced in the second edition. D&D basically takes the 20-sided die, which D&D was really about to begin with, and applies it to skills -- not just combat anymore. The result is a fun and easy to learn system. Well done! The game should be about heroes and villians anyhow, not random charts and tables. So if you are a fantasy RPG'er pick this one up now, and you'll realize the adventure has just begun!
Rating: 
Summary: TIMELY BUT HEARTLESS
Review: These two words sum up my opinion of the new D&D3 gaming system. 'Timely' probably goes without saying, as most of us gamers have been begging TSR (oops WotC) to improve AD&D2 for years now. It now makes sense to see your character's improved armor class rating, as it receives a higher number. Before, with THAC0's and AC's and saving throws, amateur gamers were never sure of what to expect when they rolled the die. That has been happily thrown out the window. Also, the editors have managed to take a huge amount of customized rules from years of gamers and campaigns, and combine them into a seamless product. Bravo on a huge and daunting job. However, I should also explain my 'heartless' feeling. There seems to be no understanding on the part of the editors to D&D3 as to what exactly made the earlier versions so endearing to us. Gone are the days of the paladin being a holy, haughty, powerfully balanced player. Half-orc paladins? Please. Are we supposed to believe that a creature with orcish ancestors will truly be able to obtain the level of purity and honor that is required of a paladin? This is not Sensitivity 101 folks, this is fantasy role-playing. Orcs are evil, plain and simple. Elves are racially flighty and aloof. Halflings are earthy and honest folk. These races do not fit with the idea of a paladin. Want to make a lawful good gnome fighter? Fine, but to compare that with Sir Galahad or Rolande is silly. And a dwarven ranger? Dwarves spend their lives in caves, guys. They aren't exactly in tune with the outdoors. What happens when a dwarf gets stricken with goldlust and goes wondering in search of a treasure hoard? Does the village or forest he's protecting simply lose his interest? Secondly, there were weapons restrictions FOR A REASON. I realize that the editors were trying to steer clear of the medievel-feel of the earlier versions, but to use a bow or longsword proficiently takes a lot of practice. Sure, the idea of a scimitar- or flail-wielding magic-user sounds glamorous, but if you spend eight or nine hours a day with your nose in a spell book you simply don't have time to learn to use these weapons. Hence, the mage's restriction to daggers, slings, or staffs--truly crude and simple weapons, but then they always have Aganazzer's Scorcher or Mordekainen's Sword to fall back on. That's the whole point, folks. My final humble complaint is the drastic departure from the medievel setting of the earlier versions. I realize that a certain amount of reality-suspension is already required to imagine someone summoning monsters or talking to an intelligent sword, but please help me out here WotC. 20lb weapons? Two-bladed swords? The human propensity for imagining weapons--and trying them on the battlefield--is limitless. There's a reason why these things were never used in history: they're ridiculous. That's my spiel. My intentions are probably similar to most gamers: to use what I like and discard the rest, just as I've been doing all along. Just wish there wasn't so much to discard this time!
Rating:
Summary: BUY THIS BOOK!!
Review: TSR has made a great new revision of a classic game. ThePlayer's Handbook is easy to read, and very interesting. The onlything wrong with this book is that the organization could be better.Alot of times you are forced to flip back through just to find asimple explanation. This is not that bad though, and the price seemsright. I have never played D&D before, but the new d20 systemmakes everything alot easier, from what i have heard. My only gripeabout the revision is that they are selling EVERYTHING separately. Torun your own adventures, you MUST have the player's handbook, DMGuide, AND the Monster Manual. ... The game is great fun, and for thefun you can have, the price is really not that bad (in comparison). Idefinately recommend this for any RPG player END
Rating:
Summary: Redemption At Last!
Review: The third time is a charm. Being one of those old, long ago, players of AD&D, I found the 3rd Edition Player's Handbook a gift from on high. In recent years I felt that TSR's mismanagement of the Dungeon's and Dragon's system cost the game it's masterful flavor and feel that sparked the game's initial popularity. Under Wizards, the game has finally been re-worked, by players for players. The result is a modification of the D&D gaming system that eliminates much of the games mechanical unworkability, and put imagination and creativity back into the hands and minds of the players and the DM. The 3rd edition system removes many of the 2nd edition's insipid changes that cost the game much of its original audience (we didn't just grow up, we played other, better games). This new system elegantly recreates the original flavor of the game while packaging it in a well put together system. Also, ... it comes in at a better price than most other RPG's on the market.
Rating: 
Summary: Big Let down
Review: I'll admit that the 2nd edition rules needed some revamping, but this seems like almost an entirely new UNBALANCED game. If you're a DM, I hope you don't want to run any old large modules like Temple of Elemental Evil, or UnderMountain. Have fun modifying it to fit the 3rd edition, it's not going to be easy. Character classes are so unbalanced now it's ridiculous! Waiting an entire day to cast spells again??? One of my wizard characters cast more than 10 spells in one battle let alone one day. Guess he'll just have to try and run away if things get bad now... The new edition also requires some serious study time to get up and going for new and old gamers. The 3rd edition seems to focus on game mechanics more than role playing. You'll spend 3 times as long in a combat sequence than in 2nd edition and it dosen't need to be that difficult. My personal belief is that WotC tried to make their own D&D game and ignore the good parts of the second edition. I don't see any similarity between the two, and this has been an extreme disappointment!
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