Transferring from 5e, which one should I pick?

[supremerulerguy]

Hello, my friends and I have only really played fifth edition (except for Josh, he has also played Second Edition) and were thinking of doing a campaign in a different edition next year. I figured I'd go with 3rd edition, as that is what OOTS is based on. My Question is this, as somebody coming from 5e, which edition should I pick? 3 or 3.5?

[Psyren]

OotS is based on 3.5 actually - they convert in the very first issue.

Personally my favorite is 3.PF (i.e. combine the best aspects of 3.5 and Pathfinder.) If you have no PF books, worry not, all the rules are online for free.

[Malimar]

Unlike 2e to 3e, 3.5e to 4e, and 4e to 5e, each of which were big changes without necessarily being upgrades per se, 3.0 to 3.5 is objectively an upgrade. A hotfix. A patch. An improvement. If your question is 3.0 or 3.5, play 3.5, no question.

[Nifft]

You should play 3.5e.

[inuyasha]

I agree that you should play 3.5 over 3.0 over the sheer amount of content, but unlike everyone else I'm going to suggest that some parts of 3.0 lead to more fun, with two very important examples:

1. spell lengths

This gets rid of the whole "let's get to the next room before my Bull's Strength spell wears off" because it lasts for an hour per level! Fly lasts 10 minutes/level, etc. If it's OOTS you're looking for, take a look at Zz'dtri.

2. Things that don't stack but should!

Improved Crit and Keen being the big ones. Keen is a magical enhancement to allow me to do something cool, Improved Crit is an innate prowess with doing cool things. In my opinion (and thus my games) they should combine if a player wants to invest their money and a feat slot into it.


So essentially, I play a big mix of 3.0/3.5/Pathfinder, and it's simultaneously fun and not too messy.

[Kurald Galain]

Hello, my friends and I have only really played fifth edition (except for Josh, he has also played Second Edition) and were thinking of doing a campaign in a different edition next year. I figured I'd go with 3rd edition, as that is what OOTS is based on. My Question is this, as somebody coming from 5e, which edition should I pick? 3 or 3.5?

Pathfinder.

It has all books available online for free, is in active development, and contains numerous improvements and fixes to common issues with 3.X (many of these fixes also appear in 5E). Furthermore, if you want a prewritten story to your campaign, Pathfinder offers several which are very good and very long.

To be fair, they also offer a few that are mediocre to rubbish, so don't play those. Everything on the Paizo site is rated by its fans; anything rated three stars or below, be it adventure or sourcebook or whatever, you should probably skip.

http://d20pfsrd.com

[Thunder999]

3e to 3.5e is almost universally considered an upgrade, you definitely want to play 3.5. You could also consider pathfinder, it's certainly easier to get the material for (thanks to both being available free online and still being in print).

[supremerulerguy]

Thank you everyone. I'll look into Pathfinder more, I remember playing it a bit and being a little lost but liking it (this was before I'd played any DND) but It will likely be mainly 3.5e that we try next year. That is if we can ever get past level 5 in out current 5e campaigns.

[Luccan]

Certainly 3.5, if it's between the two. Not having played Pathfinder, I have no idea if it's actually better, but that is what I'm told.

[Nifft]

Thank you everyone. I'll look into Pathfinder more, I remember playing it a bit and being a little lost but liking it (this was before I'd played any DND) but It will likely be mainly 3.5e that we try next year. That is if we can ever get past level 5 in out current 5e campaigns.

3.5e has one very important failing as compared to 5e -- in 3.5e, there is a wide disparity of power between the different classes.

Here's a list of power levels (which is roughly accurate): http://minmaxforum.com/index.php?topic=658 <-- JaronK's tier list for classes.

You don't need to dig very deep to circumvent this disparity. You can just pick classes which are from roughly the same power level.

If everyone in your party is from a pair of neighboring tiers (i.e. T1+T2, or T2+T3, or T3+T4, or T4+T5) then you're all going to be roughly even in terms of raw potential power.


In terms of differences between Pathfinder and 3.5e, it seems like the biggest difference is the sheer quantity of choices. Pathfinder has more stuff. This can be good (if you've played everything in 3.5e and you want new stuff), or it can be bad (if you're just starting out and you're lost in a sea of options, 90% of which are garbage).

Another potential difference is that 3.5e has some really high-quality guides to most classes. I say "potential" because I know Pathfinder also has guides, but I can't speak to their quality.

Here are examples of high-quality 3.5e guides:
- http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?439991-Being-Everything-Eggynack-s-Comprehensive-Druid-Handbook
- http://www.joshuad.net/new-bard-handbook/

[Kurald Galain]

Another potential difference is that 3.5e has some really high-quality guides to most classes. I say "potential" because I know Pathfinder also has guides, but I can't speak to their quality.

You rang? (www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?423754-Myrrh-Frankincense-and-Steel-Kurald-Galain-s-Guide-to-the-Magus) :smallcool: