17 posts tagged “d&d”

Character sheets I think are important in terms of game design. Sure, it's nor your priority when designing the system from scratch, but it's something you'll need to tackle eventually. What's vital is to treat it as a legitimate concern and not simply a half-hearted endeavor which you need to finish. It can spell the difference between gathering new players or intimidating them to try something else.

The problem with the current (or default) character sheet in most mainstream RPGs is that they're not optimized for comprehension efficiency. Rather, they're designed to be filled out, for boxes to be ticked off by the player and for blanks to be filled out. It's a great design to help players learn the rules. In actual play, however, it's not necessarily the best method. Take the D&D character sheet for example: in terms of character creation, it's great design. When I'm actually playing D&D, however, it can be confusing when looking for my bonuses to attack, to AC, and the like. It simply doesn't occur as seamlessly as I'd like it to be. Worse, I need to turn the character sheet around to know certain details, such as what my items are, what spells I've prepared, etc.

This problem, I think, is more visible when you're the GM. A GM for example doesn't use character sheets to create his NPCs. Usually he uses the NPC stat block. In 3.0, the stat block was horrible. Sure, it occupies a small chunk of space but finding which is which can be confusing. But it was still a step ahead of the PHB character sheets in the sense that all the relevant information was on one page. The new NPC stat block (which can be viewed here, at the end of the entry) post DMG 2, is clearly much more efficient. Sure, it took up more space than the old stat block but it was far more easy to use and better organized.

Of course I'm not proposing the new NPC stat block to players--at least not initially. Veteran players will have no problems converting their character sheets to the stat block format; it's more prep-work but the rewards in actual game play is worth it. No, the problem is getting new players to use the new NPC stat block. To a new player, filling out those blanks won't be simple: they won't know the answer. That's the advantage of the clunky PHB character sheet; it helps them get off their feet.

The design dilemma I think is reconciling the two or at the very least if there's a way to better streamline the existing character sheet.

Of course that's not to say that actual game design is independent from designing the character sheet. For example Ability Scores having two values (you know, having an 18 really means you have a +4 modifier) seems like a redundant value (when you could simply state it as a +4) and could actually make designing the character sheet easier. (Of course I understand why Ability Scores have two values, everything from it being a hold-over from the previous edition to it aiding in the generation of random stats.)

At the end of the day, the fact that there are several variants of character sheets, both by independent gamers and third party companies, just goes to show that there's room for improvement in this arena.

Currently, the trend at Wizards of the Coast is to develop more GM-oriented products instead of the deluge of character options products that marked the first few years. That's why this year and the previous, you're seeing more large-scale adventures, the new encounter format, the improved monster stat blocks (I mean who else will use this but the GM?), and the environment series (most notable is Cityscape and Dungeonscape).

That's not to say Wizards of the Coast has ignored this market--even early on, they already had their entry-level adventures from The Sunless Citadel to Monte Cook's Return to the Temple of Elemental Evil. (And let us not forget the hints of Ashardalon in various adventures which culminated in The Bastion of Broken Souls.)

The thing with pen-and-paper RPG design is that it doesn't merely revolve around the designer-player interaction. Pen-and-paper RPGs has a designer-game master-player model. It's not like a video game where once the programmer finishes the game, it's up to the player to enjoy it. And while certain board games like War of the Generals has a mediator (a non-player who judges the players), his participation in the actual game is limited. A game master, on the other hand, isn't just a mere referee--he shapes the game, he shapes the story. From a different perspective, it could be said that the game master is a player too--he engages in the same combat encounters that players face, he participates in the same story they're part of. However, his role is different: he's the yang to the player's yin. I mean it  could even be interpreted that the GM is a player and the players are the ones game-mastering for the GM, reacting to him as he is reacting to them.

However, the typical pen-and-paper RPG usually begins with the GM. It's up to the GM to get the ball rolling, to create a story or an adventure, to gather the players around a common time and place to game. Unlike conventional games where players are all that's necessary, in RPGs you need a game master as well. Thankfully, a game doesn't need a lot of GMs: you only need one. Players, on the other hand, can be almost any manageable number, from one to eight (I've even seen games where there's more than a dozen players but that can get unwieldy). Still, at the end of the day, you could be stuck with seven people and all of them are players--no one wants to act as a GM--and thus you have no game. GM's are the backbone of the RPG. There's probably no shortage of players but it can be difficult to find a GM that suits your taste. And perhaps the only way for gaming culture to spread is if the number of GMs increases. It's easier to convince other people to play for example rather than to GM, especially if you're a newbie or simply uninitiated.

The good news is that people aren't divided into GMs and players. There's usually an overlap and a gaming group can have a rotating routine of GMs and players. The other good news is that the transition from player to GM isn't necessarily difficult. Sure, it's a change in perception: you have to prepare the game, plan to cater to your needs as well as your players, etc. But depending on the game, there are lots of tools out there. And perhaps the most important thing for starting GMs is to start with a modest goal--your game doesn't need to be this huge epic or complicated conspiracy: it merely needs to be fun. And when it comes to D&D, this usually entails combat (perhaps the good thing about D&D is that it has no pretensions as to what kind of game it is--it's not The World of Darkness where the focus is role-playing, nor is it GURPS where it could go either way).

The bad news however, is that someone has to actually volunteer. It's easier to be a player rather than a GM, at least in terms of time management. If you want to spread the love of gaming, someone has to pick up the duties of a GM. And when no one is volunteering, perhaps it's time for you to step up.

The classic D&D party assumes that there is a healer in the group, usually a Cleric. Sometimes, however, no one wants to fill this niche -- turns spent healing a companion usually means turns that's not hitting, blasting, or backstabbing monsters. It's rare to find a player  that gets his or her thrills from healing.

There have been some "patches" around this dilemma. Some groups acquire a cohort whose job it is to heal the rest of the group. Others stock up on potions and wands of cure light wounds as well as maxing out their ranks of Use Magic Device. Personally, I even had a previous blog entry that dealt with maximizing the party's healing efficiency.

Of course another solution is to tweak the rules itself. Without creating too much confusion and house rules muck, Reserve Points are an excellent way to give players access to healing without relying on healing spells. As much as I like Reserve Points, it isn't perfect. It only effectively gives you twice as much hit points per day. It also limits the number of encounters your party can face. What happens when you've depleted all your Reserve Points and most of your hit points? You're still stuck staying at the inn, spending several days recovering both your hit points and your Reserve Points. Mike Mearls's Iron Heroes has a partial solution to this by extending the uses of the Heal skill. But what if you have a high-action game, one that has at least four encounters in a day and your party doesn't have access to healing magic?

My solution isn't original. I honestly got some of it from one of the message boards at EnWorld and extrapolated the rest from the basic gist. Basically, characters begin each encounter with temporary hit points equal to his current hit points. When he runs out of temporary hit points, the excess damage goes to his hit points but that character remains unconscious for the rest of of the encounter unless he somehow manages to acquire temporary hit points again (via a spell or some other rules tweak).

For example: Rob is a 1st-level Fighter and he has 12 hp. At the start of the encounter, he has 12 temporary hit points. The group encounters some orcs and over the course of the battle he is hit three times. The first deals 5 damage, bring down his temporary hit points to 7. The second deals 6 damage, bringing his temporary hit points to 1. At this point, he is still functioning perfectly. The third time he is struck he is inflicted with 3 points of damage. His temporary hit points is now 0 and he reduces his hit points by 2, bringing it down to 10 hp. At this point, he falls unconscious. At the end of the encounter, he is woken up by his companions and is still at 10 hp. Later on, they meet a pack of goblins and a new combat encounter begins. This time, Rob starts out with 10 temporary hit points, reflecting his current hit points which is at 10.

A character is staggered when his nonlethal damage is equal to his current temporary hit points. In all other respects, the rules for nonlethal damage remains the same. Hit points are recovered at the normal rate while temporary hit points are "refreshed" at the start of each encounter. If your players have access to magical healing, whether as a spell or supernatural ability (i.e. Paladin's Lay on Hands), you may want to limit it to heal temporary hit points rather than a character's actual hit points.

Applying such rule tweaks has several advantages at low levels:

1. Players can have more combat encounters without necessarily having access to healing magic, more so than using the Reserve Points rules. It is not without cost however. The more encounters the party encounters, the less likely they'll withstand the next. A character might begin the encounter with 12 hit points but face the next with 10, and then the one after that with 4.
2. As a GM, you don't need to hold back on the dice with the fear that you'll kill characters. They might go down in a fight but that doesn't mean they'll die. They effectively have twice as much hit points and the rule that they go down when they exhaust their temporary hit points means that there's little chance that they'll abuse the temporary hit points rule (i.e. continuing the fight because they still have hit points even if they're out of temporary hit points).
3. Characters can fall unconscious without being useless for the rest of the day. When characters do go down in a fight, that doesn't necessarily mean that'll be their last fight for the day (unless they are incredibly reckless).

Of course this rules tweak is not without its disadvantages:

1. Disparity at high levels. The advantages gained from Temporary Hit Points are lost at high levels. Combat are reduced to one of two encounters: encounters that aren't lethal enough that they never penetrate a character's actual hit points (a possibility when your hit points reach three digits) or encounters so lethal that it's actually capable of bringing down your hit points to single digits (you're down to 1 virtual hit point and the next attack deals 50+ damage in one blow) that leaves you virtually useless for the next few days.
2. Much like Reserve Points, it doesn't solve the problem of recovering hit points during combat without access to magic. What happens when a character goes down? He may be up for the next combat encounter but that character is certainly out of commission for the current one, even if it was due to simple misfortune on dice rolls (i.e. a critical hit, a failed save).
3. At higher levels, this system still doesn't address a support which only a Cleric can provide: recovering ability damage/drain, "curing" paralysis and diseases, recovering negative levels, reviving a dead character, etc.

Of course this is just a starting ground. Experienced GMs might tweak these rules a bit. You might allow healing magic to actually heal hit points, giving them a bigger bang for your buck. If you find the current Temporary Hit Points rules too generous, you might just award players with temporary hit points equal to half their current hit points, and don't let them go unconscious once they've exhausted their temporary hit points. If you have the time, you might even work on existing game mechanics, such as Feats that might give you extra temporary hit points, Skills and Skill Tricks that let you recover hit points during and outside of combat, or even allow Action Points to bestow additional temporary hit points.

Feats:

Virtual Toughness [General]

When it comes to combat, you are tougher than usual.

Benefit: At the beginning of each encounter, you gain an additional number of temporary hit points equal to half your level, rounded down (minimum 1).

Special: A Fighter may select Virtual Toughness as a bonus feat.

Surge of Energy [General]

In dire circumstances, you receive a sudden burst of strength.

Benefit: You can spend an action point to gain an additional 10 temporary hit points that lasts until the end of your next turn. Activating this ability is an immediate action.

Skill Trick:

Reviving Hands [Manipulation]

You can revive someone who has fallen in combat.

Prerequisite: Heal 5 ranks.

Benefit: If you succeed on a Heal check against DC 15, you can bestow upon another character whose temporary hit points is equal to 0 (but whose hit points is not less than 0) an additional number of temporary hit points equal to your heal check minus fifteen.

Perhaps one of the sacred cows of the D&D game is rolling for hit points. Now while rolling dice as a game mechanic can be fun, the problem with rolling for hit points is that it has long term consequences. Unlike an attack roll or skill check where the repercussions will only be felt for that particular encounter, rolling for hit points has repercussions that last for the entire campaign. All is well and good when you roll high but what happens when you roll low? And while statistics tell us that it all evens out, sometimes simply bad luck can end us having a 5th-level Fighter who has less than 20 hit points.

3rd Edition gave us a partial remedy to random hit points. First, all characters begin with maximized hit points. So the party wizard begins with at least 4 hit points, instead of rolling a 1d4 at first level. As for the succeeding levels, one could take the average plus one, or even some of the RPGA rules which is a variation of that (8 hit points for d12 classes, 2 for d4 classes). Some players even use the variation of getting three quarters of the maximum hit points per level. The weakness of fixed hit points, however, is that hit points loses its “random” factor. Again, there’s a thrill when you roll the highest number possible in a die but a problem arises when we roll the minimum. Is there a way to have our cake and eat it too?

Mike Mearl’s Iron Heroes has a nice variation when it comes to determining hit points. Everyone rolls a d4 every level but it has a fixed number attached to each class. At the minimum, you’re rolling for d4+2 hit points per level (plus your Constitution modifier). At best, it’s a d4+8. It’s a good system but the focus of Iron Heroes is action/adventure in a world without magic items. Thus characters need all the help they can get. Using the same formula for your regular D&D game might be giving an unnecessary boon to your players (since you’ll almost always be getting better than the average hit points with the exception of those stuck simply rolling d4s). And come on, some people might scoff at rolling d4s for hit points. So what’s a possible solution?

Taking a page from Mike Mearls, one could use this chart when rolling for hit points per level:

d4 = d2+2

d6 = d3+3

d8 = d4+4

d10 = 2d3+4

d12 = d6+6

With this, you’ll be getting at the very least half plus one of your maximum possible hit points. You’ll also be using a variety of die types depending on the classes you take and get the same thrill when you roll the highest possible number. Still, if you want to keep things simple, the formula presented in Iron Heroes seems the neatest although you will have to make some adjustments when it comes to classes with d4 hit points.

I've been stuck with GM duties for the past few months and it's not something I altogether regret as I get to create and explore various class and monster combinations. Still, when running an actual game, I shy away from using classes from Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords. Don't get me wrong--I love the book. It's just that creating such characters takes more time than usual (damn prerequisites for maneuvers!) and more importantly, it's difficult to run lots of 'em.

The blame can be placed on the maneuvers. First, I'm simply not familiar with them as I am with spells. Perhaps with more time, I'd get to know each and every maneuver by name. The second is that the maneuvers themselves don't have names which are necessarily evocative of what they do. I mean with spells, I pretty much know the difference between fireball, fly, and mage armor. Not so with douse the flames, leading the attack, and leading the charge. Basically I need the book at hand and much referencing to use one martial adept let alone several.

The complaint is more of experience however. Spellcasters in general are difficult to run but because I'm intimately familiar with them, running several spellcasters at once isn't too much trouble for me. Running several martial adepts, however, is.

I just got my copy of Dungeonscape and Secrets of Sarlona last week, thanks to Comic Quest and I have more praise for it than complaints. So far Wizards of the Coast seems to be starting the year strong. Complete Scoundrel and the Gargantuan Blue Dragon miniature (how can you not love a gargantuan miniature?) were great products for the most part and I can't wait to get my hands on the upcoming Magic Item Compedium.

Down the line though, it's a wait-and-see for me. Confessions of a Part-time Sorceress and Dungeon Survival Guide are targeted at the casual reader/non-gamer and it seems like a nice strategy on WotC's part (although if it's effective remains to be seen). At least that's two books this year I'm not going to buy (perhaps). I'm eagerly anticipating Complete Champion but then again, I'm having my doubts with regards to the Rules Compedium. Still, there's the usual cash-cows of WotC, from miniatures to dungeon tiles. There's also a plethora of new adventures going to be released this year and another gargantuan miniature so 2007 seems like the year for D&D for me.

Now if only I could find a game I could actually play in...

In the game of D&D, combat is an expected event and one can’t help but get injured (or worse, actually die). Healing becomes such an integral aspect of the game that an entire class, the Cleric, is devoted to it. This leads to strange gaming dynamics, from a player fully embracing the part, to others shunning the duty of the party healer. Nonetheless, healing is a necessary aspect of the game, at least if you want your characters to live, and here are some tips to help spread out healing duties among party members and even enable the Cleric save his spells for more offensive or utilitarian uses.

In General:

Heal Skill + Healer’s Kit: The heal skill won’t bring unconscious party members back in action but at least it’ll prevent their death by stabilizing them. It’s also handy when a party member is poisoned and Fortitude isn’t his best save. During downtime, Heal can also increase a character’s natural healing rate making it a must-have even for those who don’t have Heal as a class skill. Character classes with a natural high Wisdom score (such as Monks) equipped with a healer’s kit can, on the average, make the DC 15 check.

Healing Potions: It’s a common advice yet holds true nonetheless: stock up on healing potions. They’re no substitutes for a good Cleric but when the Cleric goes down and you need someone to get him back up, you can’t go wrong with healing potions.

Healing Salve (Tome and Blood pg. 72): They’re just as expensive as potions of cure light wounds and heals less but anyone can make them as long as they make the Craft (Alchemy) check. Make sure your GM allows it as Tome and Blood is a 3.0 supplement.

Healing Hands (Complete Scoundrel pg. 87): While conceivably anyone can obtain this skill trick, it’s best used by those who have Heal as a class skill to make certain that the character you’re stabilizing actually gets healed. It’s best if the non-main healer member in the group gets it so that when the Cleric goes down, the damage healed might just be enough to make him active in the game again.

Faster Healing (Complete Warrior pg. 98): If you have the feat to burn and a high Fortitude save, Faster Healing lets you recover more during periods of rest. Doesn’t do much during combat but that’s one less cure light wounds spell the party healer needs to cast before you go to sleep.

Barbarians:

Not exactly the most savvy of classes when it comes to healing, the general tips applies to Barbarians. However, he’s not necessarily the best character to stabilize other characters during a fight, especially when he’s raging. Leave the fighting to him and the healing to others.

Bard:

Wand of Cure Light Wounds: You don’t need to have the cure spells on your spells known list to utilize this magic item. Better yet, maximize your ranks in Use Magic Device mid to late game and you can use magic items that befits a true party healer such as a Staff of Life.

Cleric:

Sacred Healing (Complete Divine pg. 84) and/or Sacred Purification (Player’s Handbook II pg. 89): Both feats transform what would otherwise be a sub-optimal resource on the Cleric’s part into a source of healing. High Charisma Clerics get the most out of it but even those with a decent Charisma score can get mileage with it thanks to Charisma-boosting items. And unlike the other alternatives, these feats can be used during combat.

Augment Healing (Complete Divine pg. 79), Sacred Boost (Complete Divine pg. 84), Magic of the Land (Races of the Wild pg. 152) and/or Sacred Healing (Player’s Handbook II pg. 89): These feats augment your healing prowess, enabling you to heal more for less expenditure of spells.

Druid:

Wand of Cure Light Wounds: You can never go wrong with additional wands of cure light wounds, especially when the party has no Cleric. And unlike the Bard, you don’t really need to invest ranks in Use Magic Device to utilize staves that contain healing spells.

Spontaneous Healer (Complete Divine pg. 84): With this feat, you don’t necessarily have to prepare cure spells in order to cast them. You can save your spell slots for something more useful and then swap them out when needed.

Augment Healing (Complete Divine pg. 79) and/or Magic of the Land (Races of the Wild pg. 152): Much like what’s been mentioned in the Cleric section, these feats gives you more bang for you buck, especially when the party is lacking the services of a true Cleric.

Fighter:

Combat Vigor (Player’s Handbook II pg. 88): Not a replacement for true healing but recovering 2 or 4 hit points per round in the thick of combat ain’t bad. Aside from that, the advice for Barbarians holds true for Fighters.

Monk:

Wholeness of Body: It’s too easy to forget that amidst the myriad of abilities as Monk has, he can heal himself. Wholeness of Body isn’t a lot and it won’t aid your party members but it’s some healing the party healer doesn’t need to expend on you.

Paladin:

Lay on Hands: Much like the Monk’s Wholeness of Body ability, Lay on Hands can lighten the healing load on the rest of the party and unlike Wholeness of Body, can be used on other characters.

Wand of Cure Light Wounds: Nothing new can be said that’s not said before. They’re like potions except cheaper.

Sacred Healing (Complete Divine pg. 84) and/or Sacred Purification (Player’s Handbook II pg. 89): If anyone should get these feats, it should be the Paladin more so than the Cleric especially considering a Paladin will most likely have a high Charisma score and thus gain more benefits from these feats (not to mention you won’t be doing lots of actual turning against undead).

Divine Spirit (Dungeonscape): By ditching your mount, this alternate class features significantly increases the healing capabilities of a Paladin. Suddenly Lay on Hands doesn’t seem as limited thanks to Spirit of Healing.

Ranger:

Wand of Cure Light Wounds: ‘nuff said. The general advice, especially Healing Hands, was meant for the Ranger more than any other class. You’re no Aragorn but you’re better off than say the Barbarian or the Fighter. Light armor also means that you can get to unconscious party members quicker than others.

Rogue:

Wand of Cure Light Wounds: All it takes is enough skill ranks in Use Magic Device. You’re not limited to wands but other items as well such as staves. Just be sure to invest ranks and money to such items.

Sorcerer:

Polymorph: It’s not the most efficient way to heal but the spell does let you recover hit points equal to a day’s rest.

Summon Monster: You may not be able to heal but that doesn’t mean you can’t summon a monster that can. Summon Monster VI lets you summon a Bralani which can use cure serious wounds twice a day while Summon Monster VII lets you summon an Avoral that can use Lay on Hands equal to its hit points.

Limited Wish: When you’re truly desperate, it’s nice to have an option.

Arcane Disciple (Complete Divine pg. 79): You need to invest in a good Wisdom score but now you have limited access to Cleric domains, specifically that of the Healing domain assuming you worship a deity of healing. Even better, you can start using wands of cure light wounds.

Draconic Vigor (Dragon Magic pg. 17): It’s bits of healing for every spell you cast but hey, 1 or 2 hit points might mean the difference between life and death. Spells that have a casting time of an immediate action can also acts as a “buffer” for lethal damage, even if it’s the lowly feather fall.

Undying Vigor of the Dragon Lords (Dragon Magic pg. 74): Perhaps not as efficient as cure critical wounds but it does come close and is a nice alternative than resorting to say, Polymorph or Limited Wish for healing.

Wizard:

Polymorph, Summon Monster, Limited Wish, Arcane Disciple: See my advice for Sorcerers. Better yet, you can scribe scrolls of these spells so you don’t have to prepare them ahead of time.

Arcane Toughness (Player’s Handbook II pg. 75): While not necessarily something you want to rely on, Arcane Toughness might save you from death during a tight spot.

Synostodweomer (Spell Compedium pg. 218): Again, not the most efficient of methods of healing but this spell helps you out a bit as you don’t have some of the healing options of Sorcerers.

This is a series of articles focused on how to optimize your D&D character.

There are eleven basic classes in the Player’s Handbook and I’ve divided them into three categories: simple, average, and difficult. This is in relation to the learning curve of using these classes rather than their effectiveness. If you’re a veteran of the D&D game, this might not be so helpful to you, but beginning players might want to take a look at the chart to see why certain classes are more difficult to play more than others.

Average

Monk -- The Monk is a tricky subject. First, he suffers from what we call Multiple Attribute Dependency (MAD) which in lay man's terms means he needs a lot of high stats, at least if you want to play him effectively. It wouldn't be so bad perhaps if it weren't for player expectation. I mean when you hear the word monk, the first thing that comes to mind are these martial artist who excel in combat. Unfortunately, the D&D Monk doesn't excel so much in combat, thanks to his average base attack bonus. And while there are a couple of orcs and goblins you can hit with your attack bonus, you start feeling a monk's impotence when you start facing off the higher AC monsters like Dragons (so if you want to be able to hit things, invest in Strength). His hit points, on the other hand, are in the medium spectrum. Enough to survive an encounter, but not high enough to linger, so defense becomes an issue (so raise your Dexterity, Constitution, and Wisdom). Aside from his deceptive combat capabilities, the Monk is a class that has various abilities sprinkled over twenty levels. Beginning players might be overwhelmed by the options presented to them, but it's obviously not as overbearing as say, learning spells. On a more positive note, the Monk has uncanny resilience: high saves in everything, evasion, and the ability to add Wisdom to your AC. Experienced players will even take the Monk class to a higher level as a mage-killer, thanks to his virtual immunity to evocation spells (which usually require Reflex saves), increased mobility, and the ability to stun opponents.

Recommended Supplements: Complete Warrior, Player's Handbook II, Sandstorm

Paladin -- D&D's holy warrior poster boy, the Paladin, can be quite a challenging class to utilize. First off is the role-playing aspect, the code of conduct, which might not appeal to every player. Less experienced GMs will even assume that he has the same concept of a Paladin's code of conduct as the player. Another learning curve a player needs to master is the rules for mounted combat because as soon as the Paladin reaches 5th-level, he gains his special mount (while flavor-wise is a great concept, takes some getting used to rules-wise). Much like the Monk, a Paladin also suffers from MAD, since he not only needs to raise his physical attributes, but his mental ones as well (Wisdom for spells, Charisma for the Paladin's other abilities). The Paladin's small spell list and turning abilities is also something a player needs to familiarize himself, although again, it's not as overbearing as the abilities of some other classes. A Paladin, however, is not by any means a "weak" class, and the role-playing challenge can be rewarding.

Recommended Supplements: Book of Exalted Deeds, Complete Divine, Complete Warrior, Draconomicon

Ranger -- While not as complicated as the Monk or the Paladin, the Ranger is nonetheless a step above playing your typical Fighter. For one thing, your less-than-d10 hit points means you're going to have to play your Ranger smart (more so if you take the two-weapon fighting path). Another aspect that complicates a Ranger's life is choosing the right favored enemy (which actually depends on you communicating with your GM), which becomes an issue to someone who's not familiar with D&D's cosmology. Your animal companion can also give players additional burdens, whether it's acting as a mount, or simply another character the player needs to control when combat occurs. Finally there's your meager repertoire of spells, as well as skill set. Thankfully, they comprise a small list, and isn't too overwhelming.

Recommended Supplements: Complete Adventurer, Complete Warrior, Player's Handbook II

Difficult

Bard -- A jack of all trades yet a master of none, the Bard isn't necessarily a hard class to play, it's simply knowing how to play him well optimally. As a bard, it might be tempting to wade into combat, or cast all your spells, but unfortunately, you don't really have a lot of hit points, nor a lot of spell slots either. So where does a Bard excel in? Finding the answer to that is what makes playing a Bard quite difficult, and the answer is support: Inspire Courage for example is a boon most combatants would find helpful, irregardless of level. A Bard also has a more comprehensive spell list compared to a Paladin or a Ranger, but not as extensive as the other spellcasting classes. Finding your niche is the name of the game when it comes to playing a Bard.

Recommended Supplements: Book of Exalted Deeds, Complete Adventurer, Complete Arcane

Cleric -- One thing the Cleric shares with most of the classes in what I deem the "Difficult" section is the fact that he has 9th-level spells. And honestly, that's a huge reading list. If you also slap on the optional turning rules (basically the [Divine] feats in supplements like Complete Divine), that's another set of headaches for starting players. Still, the Cleric is one of the more powerful classes in the game: good hit points, two good saves, ability to wear heavy armor, 9th-level spells and domain powers make it a terrifying package.

Recommend Supplements: Book of Exalted Deeds, Complete Warrior, Complete Divine, Spell Compedium

Druid -- As some of you might assume by now, classes with 9th-level spells make it to this list automatically. An addition consternation to the Druid class is the need to keep track of your animal companion, and worst of all, the powerful-but-leading-to-rules-confusion Wild Shape ability. Perhaps the problem with the Druid is that a player wanting to use him optimally doesn't just need to keep track of all the new spells that gets published, but all the new monsters (specifically animals, but can apply to other creature types as well) as well. Again, much like the Cleric, the Druid is a very powerful class, more so than the Cleric because one can solely focus on the Wisdom ability score and simply use Wild Shape to make up for any lacking in the physical attributes.

Recommended Supplements: Book of Exalted Deeds, Complete Divine, Draconomicon, Monster's Manual, Spell Compedium

Sorcerer -- In a way, a Sorcerer is played more easily compared to a Cleric, Druid, or Wizard simply because he doesn't prepare spells. Once you've made your choice of what spells you know, it's simply a matter of having the spell slots to use them or not. No more problems of "if only I prepared this spell" and similar situations-- that is, once your character has been made, your only concern is how to play him and not the mid-game tweaks (i.e. what spells do I prepare today?) that plagues most spellcasters. Still, that's still a huge task, and once you've chosen a spell to know, you have to live with that choice for most of your Sorcerer career. Low hit points also make the Sorcerer one of the most fragile classes in the game.

Recommended Supplements: Complete Arcane, Complete Mage, Races of the Dragon, Spell Compedium

Wizard -- I'll be blunt: it's a nightmare to play a wizard. You have access to 9th-level spells and that list is amorphous. Unlike divine spellcasters, your spell's known is determined by your spellbook, and while that's not a problem in the early levels, it is later on as you level up as you have to keep track of pages spent in your spellbook and the cost of additional spells (whether copying it from another wizard's spellbook or from a scroll). Then there's the fact that you have to prepare your spells every day, but unlike Clerics and Druids, your spell slots are less so you really have to make those spells count. And then you continually ask yourself the question whether I should expend my spell now or later. A Wizard also has one of the lowest hit points in the game, so surviving becomes an issue as well. The Wizard is a powerful class, make no mistake about it, but the learning curve is one of the steepest.

Recommended Supplements: Complete Arcane, Complete Mage, Spell Compedium

This is a series of articles focused on how to optimize your D&D character.

The Player’s Handbook starts out explaining Ability Scores and then followed by Race. It’s only after those pages that we finally see Character Class. To someone who’s unfamiliar with the game, getting to know Ability Scores and Race is important. From an optimization standpoint, however, character creation begins with Character Classes. Why? Because more often than not, a good chunk of your concept for your character will be derived from the classes you take. Yes, there’s a conceptual difference between a dwarf wizard and an elf wizard, for example, but in the end, you cannot deny that there’s more in common between the two compared to say, a dwarven fighter and a dwarven cleric, even if they’re both dwarves. Choosing where to dump your highest, and lowest, Abillity Scores is also dependent on the class you pick (you don’t want to end up with a Sorcerer who has Strength 18 for example but a measly Charisma 12), as well as what races are advisable.

There are eleven basic classes in the Player’s Handbook and I’ve divided them into three categories: simple, average, and difficult. This is in relation to the learning curve of using these classes rather than their effectiveness. If you’re a veteran of the D&D game, this might not be so helpful to you, but beginning players might want to take a look at the chart to see why certain classes are more difficult to play more than others.

Simple

Barbarian – Barbarians are for the most part simple to use because they’re focused on combat, and most likely melee combat at that. For most people, the challenging question they ask themselves is to Rage now or to Rage later. Aside from that, the other choices aren’t as overwhelming. You don’t have room for lots of Feats so you needn’t bother with the more complex feat trees (i.e. taking Whirlwind is out of the question as it has too many prerequisites for example). Early on, players might ask what method of fighting should I use. However, Barbarians being low on defense to begin with (more so when raging), it’s best to focus on their strongest selling point, which is the ability to deal a lot of damage. More often than not, the best choice for a Barbarian is to wield a two-handed weapon and forget about defense. That’s what your d12 hp is for.

Recommended Supplements: Complete Warrior, Frostburn, Races of Stone

Fighter – Unlike the Barbarian, the Fighter is a flexible class in the sense that you can mold your character to fit one of many warrior archetypes, rather than being a jack of all trades. On one hand, the sheer number of feat options available to you can be overwhelming, but it’s similarly more forgiving to a starting player as well because a wrong feat at a certain level isn’t as crippling compared to most classes (where they’re most likely limited to one feat every three levels). The biggest challenge for a Fighter is where to find his focus (thrown weapons, archery, tripping, grappling, defensive, two-weapon fighting, two-handed weapons, sword and shield, etc.) and to maximize that strength. Still, as complex as that sounds, a Fighter needs only to concentrate on combat when a dangerous encounter begins, and his seemingly lack of options in other arenas (skills, spellcasting) make him one of the easier classes to pick.

Recommended Supplements: Complete Adventurer, Complete Warrior, Draconomicon, Miniatures Handbook, Player’s Handbook II

Rogue – The Rogue actually excels in many arenas such as dungeon exploring (by the sheer fact that he’s the only class, at least in the Player’s Handbook, that has the trapfinding ability) and combat (thanks to Sneak Attack), but these are abilities that are packaged with the class. It’s not like you can discard a dice of Sneak Attack to get another ability. While choosing a Rogue’s method of fighting is a secondary priority, his first, and the focus of a beginning player, should be what Skills he picks. Much like the Fighter who has to focus on a certain method of combat, a Rogue must focus on what Skills he should be good at because despite possessing the largest pool of skill points, it’s still not enough to do everything. In addition to simply picking skills, he must synergize them as well. I mean there’s little reason to take Hide if you’re also not going to take Move Silently. And if you want to detect your opponents, the pair Spot and Listen skills should almost always be taken together, to give you at least two chances of sensing the enemy. And while the page devoted to Skills is quite a lot, it’s a lot less than the Spells spellcasters need to know, and they’re more generally used compared to Feats (honestly, do you really need to read the description to figure out what Jump does?). Once that’s done, the Rogue’s next responsibility is to figure out how to stay safe in combat, yet still manage to deal out his Sneak Attack damage on the enemy.

Recommended Supplements: Complete Adventurer, Races of Destiny, Races of the Wild

I was browsing through some of the forums at Wizards of the Coast and while D&D 3.5  is far from perfect and without its own flaws, perhaps one of the noticeable complaints are coming from the old guard, the gamers who played D&D 1st Ed. and 2nd Ed. That's not to say that their complaints aren't valid, or that all old gamers are like that, but they do make up a percentage of the gaming community, and they are lodging the same complaints over and over again. Perhaps one of the biggest hurdles of the existing game is that it has a legacy to live up to, a 1st Ed. and 2nd Ed., and the rules of D&D 3.5 are significantly different, mechanics-wise if not in the spirit of it.

I love D&D 3.5, but then again, I'm nearly as old as the original I6 Ravenloft module. In other words, I don't belong to those generation of D&D players who came from the Gygax-era but it's also not as if I haven't played AD&D (I've ventured, and died, in the original Temple of Elemental Evil). And then D&D 3.0 came around and became committed to it. I made the switch to D&D 3.5 when it was announced and because the changes made sense to me (although I'm sure some will disagree with me on this point, and it's perfectly valid... different strokes from different gaming groups). Of course there are still some gaming groups who've stuck to AD&D and that's fine also. Perhaps my biggest gripe are the people who converted to D&D 3.5 with the same expectations they had of 1st Ed. and 2nd Ed. Unfortunately, that's not possible, at least with the present perspective. D&D 3.5 after all is 3.5, not AD&D.

First off, the fact of the matter is,  D&D has grown. It's no longer the game you played in the basement with your friends, it's a game that everybody (well, not everyone...) plays in the basement with their friends. It has a bigger scope, a bigger reach, and it's also being operated by a huge toy company. What that means is that the game needed to be streamlined to fit a lot of people's needs. And honestly, not to bash any of the old D&D game designers, without which the present game would not exist, the old D&D had a steep, and more importantly, seemingly capricious learning curve. Just look at how you generate stats. In order to get tangible benefits in combat, one needed to roll at least a 17 for Strength, and even when you did manage to roll a lucky 18 for it, you needed to roll percentile dice for it to determine how much stronger you are compared to other Strength 18 characters/monsters. Depending on your race and class (let's not even go towards the dual-class, multiclass arena), experience points needed to level up varied (a Wizard needed more experience, for example, compared to a Fighter). While I could live with the attack bonus matrices chart for characters of THACO (to hit armor class 0), the present system made it more comprehensible (base attack, for example, followed a formulaic progression, and for AC, we didn't need to readjust our minds to think that lower is better when it comes to defense). That's not to say there's not much to appreciate in AD&D. It's just that one needed to be masochist in a lot of things, from character generation to facing adventures like The Tomb of Horrors. Suffice to say, I'm happy with D&D 3.5 and while it's not perfectly balance, it's a lot more safer for the players, and easier to comprehend for beginning players.

The second complaint by the old guard is that D&D 3.5 is more: more detailed (in terms of adventures), more rules-intensive, more commercial.  I'm sorry but those complaints are plain crap. It's something people got used to that when something was finally done right, they didn't recognize it was better because they've been so used to the inefficient one. For example, in terms of existing adventures, some were complaining that the books had too much detail: too much NPC stats, the rooms were completely filled, etc. If you have the time to tweak every nook and cranny of the adventure, you're not the target market. Wizards of the Coast is tailoring these adventures for people who want custom-made adventures (that's why they're buying pre-made adventures after all). That means that they want to run the adventure out of the box, and that means the less homework to do, the better. Of course some GMs meet these expectations half-way: they buy the adventure, and either draw inspiration from it for their own adventures, or modify it to their own liking. And honestly, nothing is stopping you from doing it that way. But if your complaint is that a dungeon is too fleshed out (i.e. no empty rooms), why did that suddenly become a bad thing?

As for D&D being more rules intensive, it's there to help starting GMs out. Experienced and veteran GMs will have their own set of house rules and rule calls. The extensive rules are there to help players and GMs alike resolve actions beyond the "I attack and damage the guy" decisions. Too little rules and the GM will have to make a lot of ad-hoc decisions on the fly. Too much and anyone, both players and GMs, can get overwhelmed. But is D&D 3.5 truly overwhelming? At least now, my Fighter knows he can trip, grapple, sunder, or disarm foes. It's not a perfect system as there will be some actions a Fighter might want to do that isn't covered in the rules, but covers a lot of ground and still leaves the GM to make decisions of his own on the fly in case a player wants to do something unconventional. The additional rules also helps players from different backgrounds, in fact from all over the world, find common ground instead of merely depending on the house rules of their present GMs. It's what makes organizations such as the RPGA possible (hence there are also more restrictions in the RPGA in comparison to a "standard" D&D game).

Finally, the complaint that D&D is more commercial thanks to its line of maps, miniatures, and the like? You know why video games are appealing? Because they're tangible. D&D still exercises your imagination but honestly, it's a lot easier for everyone if they had physical representations of what they're roleplaying, from the world they're in to their characters to the monsters they face. Is it essential to do so? No. But I'm sure a lot of gamers, especially the newer ones, are glad that the current system supports miniatures and miniature-like combat. (As an aside, we should also remember that the original D&D had its roots in war games, and what would war games be without miniatures?) Tangibility also doesn't merely extend to sight but to sound as well. Enterprising GMs might come up with background music or sound effects to emphasize the gaming atmosphere, but that's all tricks of the trade.

Again, I'm not saying that everyone should adapt the D&D 3.5 style of gaming, or that it's infinitely superior to 1st Ed. or 2nd Ed. If you want to keep on playing AD&D, go ahead and do so if that's what makes you happy. However, I will say that the current D&D is as product of its time just as AD&D was part of the 80's. I won't apply D&D 3.5 expectations on AD&D, and similarly, some people should realize that they can't apply certain 2nd Ed. or even 1st Ed. expectations on the current game. That would be a regression in gaming.