3Ed, Ten Towns and You

[Lord Brass]

Hello all, I wondered where you were. Hope I'm not terribly OT here.

Some of use are still over at IWD, smarting over the fact that this bl**dy country can't get the damn game until the end of the month. [img]graemlins/1pissed.gif[/img] Not that I'm bitter or anything.

So what is the impression of the game so far, and how is the 3rdEd rules holding up? Does the manual provide enough to understand the nuances, or should we invest in a copy of the PnP version (Player's Manual anyway)?

BTW I've had a post out for a while which no one seems willing or capable of answering, but have you ever used 'Mind Blank' in IWD1 and if so, did it work?

Thanks guys.

LB

[Vornae]

Lord Brass,

Hmm no I never used Mind Blank so i cannot answer you there. As for the game it rocks but after having to explain some things to my brother-in-law (who has never played 3rdEd) he decided to borrow my PHB. I am not saying that you need it but he found that it helped explain the classes better. For understanding the gods and some of the race you might want to look into a copy of the Forgetten Relm book (sorry not sure iof the exact name). Yes they are two diffenent books.

I personally feel that having played 3rdEd and knowing the rules somewhat have helped a bit.

Vornae

[Lord Brass]

Thanks Vornae I know what you mean about the rules. I've played 1st and 2nd Ed, so I jumped right in to BG and IWD. This one however, looks to be completely different - from an outsider's point of view. I think I might just mooch over to the book store in a day or two and have a look.

Could really do with a response on the 'Mind Blank' though. I don't think the b*ggery thing works.

[Nanobyte]

If you want to get some 'gaming history' about the game, go read the Icewind Dale Trilogy by R. A. Salvatore (The Crystal Shard, Streams of Silver, and The Halfling's Gem). The Player's Handbook helps, but I might add that the DM's Guide might as well, as it explains the concept of subraces and their level penalties.

Overall, I'd say the game is good, hard, but good. It is really combat oriented, which I'm not used to, so it's kindof a new experience for me as well. They reduced the Skills and Feats lists quite a bit, but they are efficient, I mean, they weren't aiming for a revision of the PH. I hope you enjoy it when you get it.

[Magness]

As a veteran BG1, BG2-Soa/Tob, and IWD, I'm completely comfortable with the 2nd ed rules, even thought BIS and/or BW has tweaked them for each game. Going to the 3rd ed rules was quite a shift. Combat tactics aren't all that different. But any preconceptions that you have should be thrown out the window. Check out every potion before you use it. It will have probably been modified in some way.

Multiclassing is very different. But then again, if you play a party full of single class characters (like me), it's not that big an issue.

But there are no weapon limitations by class anymore. If you want your mage and cleric to use a crossbow, go for it. No need to dual-class or multi-class to have your mage carry a bow or crossbow.

Be very careful when you create your characters. Be very certain to max out your character's primary class stats. But also, don't drive down the other stats too far because all of the various rolls are based on these stats.

Your tanks do not NEED to have DEXs of 18. See the Armor section below. But they do need to pay attention to STR and CON. For some reason that I cannot fully explain (I'm not a 3rd ed rules guru), CON seems to be more important than before.

Bard magic is similar to BG2 sorcerors and both Bards and Sorcs use CHARISMA based, not INT based magic. And, like BG2 sorcerors, pipck your spells very carefully.

Armor:
Armor is handled a bit differently. Heavy armors have a max DEX bonus. That is, a high DEX fighter won't gain the full benefit of his high DEX if he puts on some heavy plate. OTOH, a fighter will likely get the full benefit of a high DEX if he's wearing leather or studded leather. And he might end up with as high or nearly as high an AC as that plate wearing tank. My rogue has almost as high an AC as my plate wearing Paladin for this reason. Don't ask me to explain why. Them's the rules.

BTW, Base Attack Bonus or "BAB" is apparantly the 3rd ed version of THAC0.

Magic spells:
Read the descriptions very carefully before selecting spells. Many changes have been made. Don't get caught be surprise by selecting a spell that ends up being not quite as potent as you think it should be.

A few points.

Stoneskin is not as potent as in BG2. BUT ... now you can cast it on other party members. And that's pretty darned awesome. A stoneskinned tank is a thing to behold.

Animate Dead is an ABSOLUTE must. It's really awesome. I'm only in chapter 3 and I can tell that it's awesome. It's more than just a Skeleton summoning spell. It can summon all sorts of undead. And many of those undead are very resistant to damage. And they stay around for hours, not a few rounds, like those run of the mill summoned monsters.

And Magic missile is the still ol' reliable for wizards.

There's lots of other little things(like skills and feats), but I'll stop here for now.

[Nanobyte]

Originally posted by Magness: BTW, Base Attack Bonus or "BAB" is apparantly the 3rd ed version of THAC0.

Not necessarily. Base attack bonus is the bonus to your To Hit roll, To Hit is more of the 2nd ed. THAC0. The game rolls a d20, adds the BAB, and then all modifiers. Damage is pretty much the same though. Roll a d20, add modifiers, subtract the damage from the enemy's health.

Health-wise, the PnP and IWD2 games are different. IWD2 maintains the =0 or lower you die. In PnP, 0=inactive, -1 thru -9=unconcious and dying, and -10=death. I prefer this method, but it would be too complicated to work this into a game.