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View Full Version : 3.0 vs. 3.5: Is there a difference?



YvizztX23
2009-12-20, 01:47 AM
So, I recently acquired some used 3rd Edition books, and am looking to possibly join a 3rd Edition game.

The problem is that all there seems to be are 3.5 games. Is there actually a significant enough difference between the two that I wouldn't be able to play with my 3e books?

Before you ask, I have looked at used 3.5 Books, and have found them to be quite expensive, while for some reason, all the 3e books are dirt cheap. Its sort of a 70 vs. 7 dollars sort of thing...

Anyway, the only things I can find are the fact that a) Rangers are playable (what was wrong with them in the first place?) and b) the DM's guide has more Prestige Classes.

Can anyone help?

golentan
2009-12-20, 01:52 AM
So, I recently acquired some used 3rd Edition books, and am looking to possibly join a 3rd Edition game.

The problem is that all there seems to be are 3.5 games. Is there actually a significant enough difference between the two that I wouldn't be able to play with my 3e books?

Before you ask, I have looked at used 3.5 Books, and have found them to be quite expensive, while for some reason, all the 3e books are dirt cheap. Its sort of a 70 vs. 7 dollars sort of thing...

Anyway, the only things I can find are the fact that a) Rangers are playable (what was wrong with them in the first place?) and b) the DM's guide has more Prestige Classes.

Can anyone help?

There are a couple bug fixes, skill changes (scrying, for starters) and a number of class tweaks. You can still play, not least because there is an update booklet (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20030718a) to consult on all your edition change needs.

Koury
2009-12-20, 01:52 AM
Insofar as being able to play in a 3.5 game, the SRD (www.d20srd.org) should be enough to get you going.

BobVosh
2009-12-20, 01:53 AM
There is a grandfather clause on those books. If the content hasn't been reprinted, it carries over to 3.5. The differences aren't all that big. However some were definitely need. Look at 3.0 haste compared to the current one.

However if you want you can play 3.5 entirely off of d20srd.com

Random832
2009-12-20, 01:54 AM
If you want to play 3.5, use the SRD for the core rules, and a lot of 3.0 books (including the core rulebooks) have a free conversion guide available online http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/dnd/20030718a

AslanCross
2009-12-20, 03:50 AM
Most 3.0 books have updates released for them to reflect the major changes to the skill system, spells, monster types, and feat names. Everything else that hasn't been changed is still fare game.

Myrmex
2009-12-20, 03:54 AM
The biggest changes have been with spells, skills, and feats. Most spells that had a range touch attack in 3.0 also had a save; in 3.5 they typically removed the save, and, in many cases, removed SR as well. Many spells got a big buff in 3.5: the Holy Word type spells, polymorph line, and Cloudkill are the main ones I can think of. The Orb spells got a way better- they no longer have a save or SR.

Many skills have been removed or consolidated, and the knowledges are explicitly defined to identify certain creature types. For instance, knowledge: religion identifies undead creatures instead of the knowledge: undead skill introduced in Defenders of the Faith. There are also many more skill synergies.

Some feats have been made better, such as power attack, two weapon fighting, & skill focus. There are some other other feats that got introduced like the improved X line which allows you to perform combat actions more better.

Optimystik
2009-12-20, 04:13 AM
Another big change was damage reduction - all the DR 10/+3, DR 10/+5 got changed to specific materials, like DR/magic, DR/adamantine, or alignments, like DR/good or DR/lawful.

So a +1 weapon will ignore DR/magic just as effectively as a +5 weapon, because they are both magic (though the +5 will still do more damage.)

Aquillion
2009-12-20, 06:09 AM
And (as someone else alluded to but didn't specify) in 3.0, Haste let you take an extra Standard action every round. Yes, really.

Rangers were worked over to discourage people from taking them as a quick dip, which everyone did in 3.0.

Haven
2009-12-20, 06:19 AM
Rangers were worked over to discourage people from taking them as a quick dip, which everyone did in 3.0.

IIRC, Paladins too--in 3.0 they got Divine Grace at first level, right?

PhoenixRivers
2009-12-20, 06:40 AM
IIRC, Paladins too--in 3.0 they got Divine Grace at first level, right?

Yes. Several classes were reworked to discourage dipping.

Kurald Galain
2009-12-20, 06:45 AM
Rangers were worked over to discourage people from taking them as a quick dip, which everyone did in 3.0.

Oh yeah, I remember that. It took me less than an hour on my first reading of the 3E PHB to realize that certain classes were most effective by taking one or two levels in them and then MC'ing out. It amazes me that it took the designers several years to realize that.

nyjastul69
2009-12-20, 01:46 PM
And (as someone else alluded to but didn't specify) in 3.0, Haste let you take an extra Standard action every round. Yes, really.

Rangers were worked over to discourage people from taking them as a quick dip, which everyone did in 3.0.


Haste only gave an extra partial action in 3.0. In 3.0 a standard action included movement. A partial action was a standard action minus the move.