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Summary: 11 year veteran
Review: No longer will you have to deal with the many problems of 1st and 2nd edition D&D. Very nice book too....
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Summary: Great Improvement from Previous Editions!!!
Review: They have made DND a WHOLE lot better with this book. This book has made DND a lot easier to play and understand. I showed my friend this book when he didn't know how to play, and he picked it up in a couple of hours due to the simplicity. The new class' are superb, and now there will not be any lv1 charactors with -8 ac. For in the new edition, -8 is bad! The higher the better. This book looks as though it were a very old text, the pages looking to be a burnt color. Drawings are excellent, and a couple of words, buy this book! Your gaming experiences will be a lot better than before. Good job TSR!!
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Summary: Awesome 3rd Edition
Review: This new edition of D&D sends every other RPG game to the grave. The first time you peek through the book you are awed by the astonishing artwork and illustrations.3rd ED has boosted the d&d gane well into the new millenium. Its rules are easy to get the hang of, comprehensive and lavishly illustrated with diagrams and examples. The new classes are fun to play and have an extra fantasy edge to it that is really good. The new spell rules are easier and a lot better than the old ones, with better described effecs and easier to implement for the players. 3rd ED has revamped all the heavier sides of the d&D game as, AC, saves, skills and weapons So i can only recomend this to any diehard D&D fan and any newcommer to the hobby.
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Summary: a great leap forward
Review: the 3rd edition took a while to come out, and it was definitely worth the wait. i love how characters are so customizable now and the new systems make the game flow much better now. i can't wait for the dm guide and monster so that i can fully play a 3rd edition game.
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Summary: New Look, Same Great D&D Feel
Review: I knew this game had to be very good. Not because I am any sort of TSR fan, or anything. But simply because of the fact that I knew over 600 playtesters had spent well over two years working on this game. Also because the folks at TSR were actually listening to the playtesters, something some companies fail to do. The book is very nice, full color, over 280 pages. All in all the size of a standard White Wolf main rule book, ten dollars cheaper than a White Wolf book, and did I mention FULL COLOR. The organization seemed somewhat clunky, maybe because I was used to 2nd Edition, they also seemed to repeat themselves often. When I first read the book I thought these repeats were quite annoying, but in reality they are very useful. First it makes you remember the rules, because you hear them so often. Secondly the rules are repeated where the rules are needed, cutting down on page flipping. Over all I would say it was put together really well. I thought all of the classes were very well designed, and while balanced, all the classes were very different and had different roles to play. I like that the game, much like Alternity, runs on the same core mechanic. It seems very cohesive, much more than the older editions. The few problems I have had with the book are these. It seems that, although D&D3E is trying to break convention, Half-Orc's seem cursed to be simple fighting machines. I thought Monks were a poor choice of character class, and don't seem to fit the Quazi-European Fantasy D&D3E was designed for. The new PHB is designed with Greyhawk in mind, making those of us playing Forgotten Realms in for a little tweaking of the rules. Lastly the glue the book is made out of seems to be weak, for my pages started popping out of the cloth binding on the inside cover. Now I will admit no pages came out, the pop-up did not go through the whole book binding, and some home surgery with Super-Glue fixed the problem. But it was somewhat annoying. My real pleasure was when one late night, I created a character and threw him up against a pair of Goblins (Found in the nice mini-rules insert in the back of the book). The new combat rules work nice for minatures, and that old AD&D fealing came back during the fight. It got me psyched up to try and get my old group back together to play some Forgotten Realms once more.
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Summary: 3rd Edition Handbook is a great buy.
Review: This book fanned my flame for fantasy! Many gamers resist change. They become comfortable with their roleplaying style and rules - in this case, change is good. The book is a must for gamers and I reccomend it to anyone interested in roleplaying. The layout is beautiful: each page has a full color border with a lot of art depicting the "main-example-characters" doing different feats according to the material presented on the particular page (which was a wonderful touch.) Many of the central subjects presented in D&D are here: classes, hit points, races, etc. with some brand new elements mixed with a revamping of older mechanics. The new combat system looks complicated at first but after two reads it makes so much more sense (and seems a lot more colorful) then the 2nd edition rules. For the new gamer, the 3rd edition gives you easy mechanics, great roleplaying hooks, and understandable examples that describe the game. For the experienced gamer, the 3rd edition gives you streamlined mechanics, a less restrictive roleplay environment, and that same fantasy that you love.
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Summary: Experienced Gamer says....... decent....
Review: I have played D&D for the past 9 years, and I think that this book is worth every penny. I have tried many game systems, including many versions of d&d and this is the best I have found for fantasy roleplaying aside from the Hero System. My only complaints are the lack of enough skills and feats. A few more weapons would have been nice too. Overall, this book is worth the cash. Even if you don't agree with me on the rules, the artwork is breathtaking, especially the cover, which looks like a true ancient tome. Buy it, you wont be disappointed. Update: They fixed some things in the 3.5, Its better than the 3.0 by far. Still, there are some holes. On further examination there were a few balance issues and rules problems but most can be overcame by GM ingenuity.
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Summary: The update that updates itself
Review: This book has won my respect as a Dungeon & Dragons masterpiece. Although I've not yet red the entire manual, from looking at the descriptions and illustrations, it is a definite improvement over last edition's PHB. The descriptions of each character class were marvelous. The description of the races fared just as well. The new rules (along with the conversion manual that WOTC so generously offered for free at their site) made the game a breeze while keeping the challenges up to the right level. The spellbook section caught my eye first and foremost. The hard work put into this manual shows itself from cover to cover.
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Summary: Even if you hated D&D before, check this out.
Review: Excellent. Much better than its 2nd edition counterpart. Just looking at the cover (which is a photograph of a 3d model), you can tell a lot of work that was put into this book. The art is wonderful. The book is very well organized and informative. Lots of diagrams. The game mechanic has been greatly simplified to make battles and everything else go much more smoothly. Higher is always better (even AC). A d20 (with bonuses and/or penalties) is nearly always used to determine whether a character can do something (attack, jump across a chasm, swing from chandeliers, etc.). Initiative is now such that everyone rolls once at the beginning of combat and stays in that order. Nearly everything is streamlined; no more having a completely different rule for every situation. The spell list is no longer divided by class and level, just one alphabetical list. This might annoy long-time players a bit at first, but it is much easier. It even includes diagrams of spells' areas of effect. Barbarians and Monks are back, and the new Sorcerer class has been introduced. Demi-humans no longer have class/level restrictions. Multi-classing is MUCH better. Non-weapon proficiencies (now called skills) are handled a lot better. I wish the ability scores were sub-divided as in the Player's Option: Skills and Powers book (or at least included as an optional rule), but that's what house rules are for, right? Everyone who plays RPGs should try the new D&D. For everyone who doesn't, this is the perfect time to start. D&D has never been better. It's great for experts and novices alike. If this book is representative of its yet-to-be-released peers, we're in for a real treat.
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Summary: Definately all they promised
Review: I've been playing D&D for about 7 years, introduced on the second edition rules. When I heard about a 3rd edition I was both excited and skeptical since a new team was developing it under a new company. But when I picked it up and read through it I wasn't disappointed in the least. Everything is much more consistant and streamlined. No need for house rules anymore since all the ones provided are great. Combat is definately MUCH nicer than second edition. So for all of your hardcore second edition freaks out there, give it a try at least, you won't be disappointed.
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