Not too long ago, I had the prospect to play Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Versiona brand new iteration of Obsidian Leisure’s 2006 CRPG that faithfully tailored the principles of Dungeons & Dragons 3.5e, which was the usual of the time. Whereas I used to be not notably impressed by the work Aspyr has performed on this up to date model of the basic, one factor of the sport caught with me: how rattling complicated character constructing was in D&D 3.5e. And never in a great way.
I’m conscious that one of many the reason why many D&D gamers nonetheless miss 3.5e — an improved and expanded model of 3e — is the quantity of customization obtainable to characters. Nonetheless, whereas creating some builds for my Neverwinter Nights 2: Enhanced Version playthrough, I used to be reminded of how soothing and compelling the simplicity of 5e, instituted in 2014, will be. I’m not all the time a fan of 5e’s streamlined method to guidelines. The system works for character courses, I believe, however not essentially for each different facet of the sport. Nonetheless, I can’t deny that having a glimpse again at 3.5e character constructing gave me PTSD.
Ranging from the fundamentals, there have been much more courses obtainable to gamers in 3.5, and the variety of status courses, counting all of the supplemental books, was a staggering 1,000 (based on this fandom web page.) Talking of status courses, they have been nothing like 5e’s subclasses. A status class was one thing a personality couldn’t purchase earlier than stage 7, normally, and there have been numerous stipulations. These included a minimal Base Assault Bonus (or BAB, one other factor 5e removed), a minimal rank in a sure variety of expertise, a number of feats, and a few spellcasting ranges in sure circumstances. For instance, if a participant needed to construct towards getting the Arcane Trickster status class, they needed to you’ll want to be of non-lawful alignment, and to have the talents Decipher Script at 7 ranks, Disable System at 7 ranks, Escape Artist at 7 ranks, and Data (Arcana) at 4 ranks. And to have a Sneak Assault capability of at the very least 2d6. And to have the ability to solid Mage Hand and at the very least one arcane spell of third stage or increased. You’d higher not change your thoughts midway.
In 5e, subclasses are merely part of a category development, an compulsory selection at early ranges that units a personality on a particular path. In fact, optimized builds nonetheless require cautious planning, and “stage dips” are a typical apply to amass highly effective options. However that is the massive distinction: In D&D 5e, character constructing is basically about what ranges of which courses you decide (and typically which feats.) In 3.5e, it was about constructing an intricate jigsaw the place all of the items needed to match completely. I perceive why some gamers might discover that interesting, however 5e’s method is what pulled me again into the sport after a protracted pause. (I’m conscious that I’m skipping 4e on this comparability; that’s as a result of I’ve no expertise taking part in that version.)
The change that I welcomed most was eliminating talent ranks. In 5e, a personality’s “rank” in every talent is set by their Proficiency Bonus (which additionally replaces BAB) and the power that the talent is related to. In 3.5e, every class and status class obtained a particular variety of talent factors to distribute at every stage. It meant spending a major period of time on a bit of the character sheet gamers not often even used. It was a transparent instance of the overdesign situation that plagued 3.5e. (In UX design language, this may be known as a complexity overload anti-pattern.)
This situation may have an effect on gamers in some ways: it may very well be an entry barrier to moving into the sport, or it may make it more durable to optimize builds, resulting in disagreeable disparities between gamers on the desk. It may additionally hassle DMs, nevertheless. It was more durable to foretell (and thus include) overpowered builds. Min-maxing continues to be a factor in 5e, however in 3.5e, I spent a lot time as a DM making an attempt to foretell and restrict that, typically ineffectively. Apart from, it was additionally more durable to assist gamers who weren’t proud of their character. As a Dungeon Grasp for 5e, there have been events when considered one of my gamers grew to become sad with their present character after taking part in it for some time. I used to be all the time capable of assist them “respec” by altering minimal issues, equivalent to swapping a expertise or barely customizing a category function. In 3.5e, the best resolution would have been to kill the character and roll a brand new one.
The fantastic thing about Dungeons & Dragons is that it’s a canvas recreation. It provides gamers a floor to color and lots of colours and instruments to do this. There are lots of people on the market nonetheless taking part in 3.5e, simply as there are numerous who’re nonetheless utilizing the primary model of D&D guidelines, “as Gygax meant,” they usually find it irresistible.
In relation to me, nevertheless, I’ve to confess that, whereas 5e shouldn’t be an ideal recreation, its streamlined method to character constructing did lots to rope me again into the sport after 3.5e had worn me off. I’m simply not a jigsaw man.
