Rating: 
Summary: The reasons this is collecting dust in my attic
Review: I played RPGs for 20 years. I liked them, i liked the people I played with and then i stopped. Nothing interested me after a while until 3E. I thought this was going to turn it all around again. Boy was i wrong.The ideas behind this haphazard collection of material is sound. The problem is, the rules do not survive under scrutiny. Balance seems to have been thrown out the window in exchange for the 'cool' factor. If you want to make a cartoon charavter out of your imaginary alter ego, this is the game for you I think. The skill and feat system is broken so badly that you probably can't fix it without rewriting the rules. The skills are restrictive by class - making absolutely no sense at all. Afterall, you're character wasn't born this class or that. Class seemes to have become your defining trait more than your personality. Trying to make a character a certain way is actually tougher in 3E as you have numerous skill restrictions. In short, Fighters get paltry skills and Rogues get the mother load. everyone else gets to fill in in-between.
Rangers are useless, becoming simply lightly armored fighters with a few useless special abilities, little opportunity for growth and a dazzlingly undazzling array of spells.
Sorcerers are similiarly built, with a few extra spells to cast per day than wizards, but FAR fewer to pick from and absolutely no class abilities that the wizard gets to choose from.
The old moronic +1 to this ability -1 to taht rules are still in place for non human characters, with the elf that lives 750 years somehow being more frail than you average human. By the same token, dawrves get a nice constitution bonus but are uncharismatic. Why? Well because they had to pick an ability and charisma looked like a good one......
You get to multiclass more easily according to 3E lovers. You needn't split your XP between classes, you simply take a level of any class any time you earn enough experience points to go up a level. Wanna be a fighter/paladin? GO for it. The only probalem is, it is almost useless to multiclass as a spell caster. With a level limit of 20 (which is fine IMHO) you mayonly have a TOTAL of 20 levels all classes included. That's great, but if you take 15 levels of Wizard and 5 levels of Rogue, you are going to be one disappointed mage when you realize you missed out on the best spells in the game in exchange for some paltry lock picking ability. To be fair, multi classing any of the fighter classes works just fine.
On the topic of levels, you should reach 20th after anout 35-45 game sessions if you follow their experience charts. WAY too much XP is awarded and in addition, all classes use the same experience point table. It seem that someone decided that a 20th level paladin and a 20th level bard were pretty evenly matched. I think we all know better.
Finally, the comabt system - which most gamers agree is the most tedious and time consuming part of any game - has been dragged out with so many extra and optional rules, that it takes forever to resolve the simplist battle. Some may applaud the detail, but the game has taken a step back toward the old CHAINMAIL table top battle rule srather than advancing as a ROLEplaying game.
With a chartr included for every detail in the game, this book has taken all of the imagination out of your hands, and given you a rule to cover it. 3E Roleplaying is actually more ROLLplaying, and after a while, that just gets tedious.
Well aware that the game is a mess, WoTC is releasing 3.5 later this summer to suck a few hundred dollars more out of your wallets.
I beg you consider what you might be getting before flushing your money down this over simplified, over hyped toilet of an RPG. Go play Vampire or Werewolf - at least they don;t charge you $... to insult your intelligence by including a chart for your eye color.
Rating:
Summary: Promises a lot...but...
Review: For my background, I will let you know that I have enjoyed the world of roleplaying games for many years. I have still my white box set of D&D from Gary Gygax, I have my first edition stuff, second edition stuff, and now third edition books. I have also roleplayed many other games such as Chivalry & Sorcery, RuneQuest, just to name a few. When I started playing the new 3rd edition, I of course got on the bandwagon. In my game shelves, I think I have most of the books that are published by WotC for D&D. I really love the rules, and I really enjoyed the games at first. Yet some things cropped up along the way that have made me a bit shy back from 3rd edition to the point that I am roleplaying a 1st edition game now. The rules themselves are great, do not get me wrong, I love the 3rd edition rules. The concept of Prestige classes are awesome. I like the fact that the new edition tosses away THACO, along with a few other things. I also like how they simplified savings throw into just having three basic concepts of Savings Throws. The classes are well described and have a lot to tinker around with so that even if two people have fighters, those fighters will be different from one another. What has become a bothersome to me are some of the darker aspects of the game. First, with the core rules themselves, the monsters are far darker in their apperance and construction. They appear, not in the threatening but quant stock of the old Monster Manuals (from 1st to 2nd edition). Instead they resemble something out of the White Wolf's World of Darkness (which I myself dont care for as a roleplaying gamer). These monsters are more sinister, sadistic, and while that is not inheritantly bad, they seem to bleed into one another in a gothic bad guy sort of way. By the time you get the book, Fiend Folio (after the first two monster manuals), the bad guys seem the same. All being a gothic monster bad guy. Secondly, there are the supporting manuals for the Core Rule books trying their best to be as evil as can be (such as this review being under the 3rd edition player's handbook). Foremost in these there is the source book called the Book of Vile Darkness. This book has necrophelia, rape, and other really really sickeningly bad things to examine. Yes I know this book is to be used to show "these are bad guy traits". Still, how could you as a Dungeon Master and you as a group of players really roleplay a rape scene? Do you realize just how disturbed that would be, I myself have known a few women in real life who have been rapped. That is not pretty, that is not interesting, that is just plain disturbing and evil. Its not playable, neither is a whole lot of other things in that book. So scrap that book, that is not needed. Could a person really enjoy roleplaying a bad guy campaign with such choices? I know for a fact I would never ever allow a rape or child molestation, or what not to be roleplayed out in a game, like this book suggests. That is just not good. Third, and while is not that bad, it is still an annoyance. The rulebooks themselves and then two sourcebooks have the game originally placed in the GreyHawk world setting, my personal favorite setting. However after the first two sourcebooks, there has been the reprint of the Forgotten Realms world setting and that in itself has received a multitude of sourcebooks, all of them more or less good, depending upon which one you are using. Still, I want more in line with the GreyHawk world. I would love to see more sourcebooks about it and how it has changed up to date. Fourth, as mentioned before but more shapped out here, there is the gothic concepts behind all the worlds. From Forgotten Realms to Oriental Adventures, there are now very dark gothic, as in World of Darkness from White Wolf, aspects of the world system. This is hard for me to swallow because 2nd edition was very high fantasy, as in the sets like City of Splendor and Dragon Mountain. Yes Planescape was gothic, but it worked for that because of the nature of the Planescape worldsystem. However with playing Forgotten realm, going from high fantasy of 2nd edition to suddenly "I'm a gothic like fighter, man" worldview of 3rd edition, I just dont know how to meseh them all together. Not that I'm a fool of a Dungeon Master, but the way it has been laid out, what a headache! Lastly, there is the D20 system in and of itself. What angers me is that a multitude of other companies are jumping in on the open licence of D20. There is the EverQuest books that use the D20 system. There is the game Engel using the D20 system (which is interesting because the original company who published Engel did not use D20, but when it was published in American and such, it was transformed to D20). There is also the Shattered Lands, Call of Cthulhu, etc. etc. etc. COME ON companies. Where is the originality in all that? Where is the fun in learning a new set of rules, guidelines, and character creations? Stop copying the D20 system and work your own way around in your games. Or if you are already established under one rule system already (such as Call of Cthulhu), stick to that original rule system. It is because of these and many other problems that I gave this book a one star. Again, the rules themselves in the core books are fun and enjoyable, the modules that were published are also enjoyable (but not enough of them, however, which kinda stinks). However despite the enjoyment of the rules of 3rd edition, the way the publishers and writers are trying to be as evil as they can be in their bad guys and as gothic as they can be in their world systems, perfect example is the new Forgotten Realms, the core rules are just not saved. I myself have gone back to 1st and 2nd edition.
Rating: 
Summary: Simplified, Still Sensational
Review: I was skeptical about Third Edition (3E) rules, and I finally got around to using them. I'm a Dungeon Master, so I'm the guy who needs to be really up on the rules. All of my players wanted to play 3E, so I didn't want to be...unemployed. I thought that 3e was just a beautified version of 2E. Better art, prettier covers, etc. I was wrong. The rules are surprisingly solid, and are much more beginner friendly. They have much more balanced classes, and more detailed races and sub-race options. The combat has been greatly improved, and is much more clean-cut. No more THACO, it has been simplified to "to hit" or "attack roll." Which, I'm sorry to say, is much easier on me and the players. 3E isn't flawless though. Some things are so simplified that they can just seem childish though. Spells are cast with pretty much a flick of the fingers, which is total stupidity. The Attack of Oppurtunity makes it a little more difficult. Still, spellcasting is a difficult task, therefore it should have a more difficult process. Overall 3E is a great change of pace, and is much cleaner cut than 2E. The DM is able to run the game a lot smoother. But if you are a harcore DnD player who neglects to go to 3E because it is too simple, I support you too.
Rating:
Summary: Save your money and Don't buy this book
Review: They don't offer a no stars option. Go buy a First Edition Players Handbook. It won't let you have a Diablo character or an X-man, but 1st edition is a better game.
If you buy into the "new and improved" rules, you're going to feel stupid when they revise them again and start selling 3.5 edition or 4th edition.
Rating:
Summary: Don't waste your money on this
Review: 3rd Edition is complete garbage. Don't waste your money on it.
2nd Edition FOREVER!!
Rating: 
Summary: not gerat but its d&d
Review: D&D is a gerat game but the 2ND edition is better i think havent really played 3erd edition much but what the heck its d&d is gerat any wa u look at it
Rating:
Summary: Nice one
Review: The artwork is good, and the use of the same party to illustrate the ideas throughout the book helps keep it flowing and make it an enjoyable read as well as an invaluable reference. The only thing I would say against buying this one is that the 3.5 edn rule books are out soon (or now), so you might be better off with them. This book is also useful as a companion to those of you playing neverwinter nights or other 3e games on a computer - although you really ought to get a real game on with some mates.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Nececesary
Review: If you want to play DND you NEED this book.
Rating:
Summary: A different RPG
Review: When I bought this book, it was with the understanding that this was a new RPG. It might bear the might D & D stamp, it might still have some of the vestiges of its former self, but this was a new RPG. From radical changes in rules to a new way of publishing supplements, this books was going to be the start of it all. And what a start it was. Now, I've only consciously compared the new to the old when changing over some of my characters, so maybe that's why I was awe-struck with just how neat and simple the rules are. Character creation has been simplified, in many ways, but now there are dozens of ways to make your character unique. There's no more reason why we have to be satisfied with something generic. Combat is simplified, while, again, allowing for greater complexity. I couldn't be happier, although the price could be a little lower.
Rating:
Summary: PLEASE READ BEFORE PURCHASING PEOPLE!
Review: Although this is a solid title and a must have for any D+D 3rd Edition enthusiast, it is my job to let everyone know that ALL 3 core rulebooks for the 3rd Edition setting (Player's Handbook, Dungeon Master's Guide, Monster Manual) are currently being reworked, updated and are being prepared for a rerelease soon. I am not sure about the exact date but I think it is early summer, June I think. I dont know specific details but the Player's handbook is supposed to boast new pages, art and rules modifications to balance out some spells and to even out the character classes.
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