Player's Handbook, Chapter 7

First of all, I need to interrupt this read-through of the 3rd edition Player's Handbook to mention an online release that happened exactly 25 years ago today (see why I named the blog that way?): The next Map-A-Week for August 17, 'Typical Dwelling'. So, that's a thing that happened. And here it is, in miniature:

I also received a package in the mail from Noble Knight Games that contained the stuff I needed from August 2000's D&D released, namely the next Dragon magazine and Living Greyhawk Journal #0, as well as Dragon 272 (the one with the big dragons). I also bought the original Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game boxed set that was released that month, an intro to the game for beginning players. I will be reviewing it after I do the PH. But I was surprised to find that inside of it was not only all the material from the original box sans dice, including the mail-in cards for Dragon magazine subscription, but it also had an intact Dungeon Master's Screen and a package of Player Character Record Sheets! The latter isn't complete, but still. It was a nice bonus for my order.

Anyway, back to the Player's Handbook. Chapter 7 is about equipment. I'm going to review the different categories of equipment, then equip Relgar. I'll provide his complete character sheet afterward, since he's not a spellcaster (yet) and I don't need to worry about those chapters for purposes of finishing his sheet.

So, the chapter opens with a reminder about the starting packages for the different classes, allowing players to just equip their characters with a basic effective kit and get playing. If you're not interested in doing that, then you can roll your character's starting money based on their class. Monks get very little money (5d4 gp), while everyone else gets at least 2d4x10 (fighters, paladins and rangers get 6d4x10).

Coins are given relative values, and old-time gamers may be surprised to learn that electrum has been eliminated from the list. Copper, silver, gold, and platinum are it for coins. Everything is based on multiples of 10 (10 copper = 1 silver, 10 silver = 1 gold, 10 gold = 1 platinum). So, platinum is even more valuable now than it used to be in earlier editions. There's also a brief section on trade goods for either buying or selling, or trading via barter methods. A dog (25 gp) is worth 1,250 chickens (2 cp), apparently. I'm a farmer, and I would not make that deal from the chicken side. The coins are given pound values; a pound of gold is worth 50 gp, so 50 coins weight one pound now. Again, this is a change from earlier editions when a coin was 1/10 of a pound.

Alright, let's get to the good stuff. First up, weapons. There are, as mentioned in the Countdown articles, three categories of weapons: Simple, Martial, and Exotic. Any character class can use Simple weapons (although druids, monks, wizards and rogues have specific weapons lists that exclude some Simple weapons), and some (the fighting classes) get the Martial Weapon Proficiency feat automatically as well, which means they can use all Martial weapons. Exotic weapons are weapons that a) cost more, and b) are rare and difficult to learn. The racial weapons such as the dwarven waraxe are considered Exotic weapons. These all require separate Exotic Weapon Proficiency feats to use. The one exception is monks, who get some of the Exotic weapons as part of their class abilities (kama, nunchaku, siangham, shuriken). But they aren't Asian, remember.

The weapons are also broken out into size categories, from Tiny to Large. And of course, there are Melee weapons, and Ranged weapons. Unarmed attacks are also included in this list, and they are considered Simple weapons (anyone can punch someone in the face, even if they aren't very good at it).

I'm not going to list all the weapons; they haven't changed all that much from edition to edition, although obviously 3e has different statistics for weapons than the earlier ones did. For starters, each weapon has a Critical Threat range. If the CT is just a multiplier, than the player must roll a natural 20 to threaten a crit with that weapon. If the crit is successful, the damage is multiplied by the CT. Sometimes there's a range included, such as 19-20. That means that a natural 19 or 20 threatens a critical hit, and if successful the damage is multiplied. None of the weapons with a bigger threat range have a multiplier of more than x2, but some of the weapons that only threaten on a nat 20 have a damage multiplier of x3 or even x4. You do not want to take a critical hit from a half-orc wielding a heavy pick (damage is 1d6+ Str bonus, x4 crit multiplier). Ouch.

As in 2nd edition, weapons are either bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing. This is important because some monsters will have partial or total immunity to certain types of weapons. Skeletons only take half damage from slashing and piercing weapons, for example. However, bashing them with a club is very successful.

Some weapons are 'double-weapons', which means you can use them to attack twice. However, all two-weapon fighting rules apply, so if you're trying to whack someone with a quarterstaff at both ends, you're going to be taking penalties (unless you're a ranger, of course). All the weapons are given illustrations, which is really helpful for visualizing them.

Okay, that takes care of the weapons. Now for the armor. As with weapons, armor is divided into different categories, in this case Light, Medium, and Heavy armors, with shields being added as a separate category on their own. There's also 'extras', which are additions to armor that do interesting things. The categories are important because some classes get Armor Proficiency feats for free; fighters, paladins, and clerics can use any armor; rangers and barbarians can't use heavy armor without the appropriate feat, and other classes are restricted to light armors only. Wizards and sorcerers don't get any armor proficiencies. However, they can take the appropriate feats and wear armor if they so choose. Of course, there are consequences to such a choice.

It used to be that you just wore your armor and it just protected you from getting hit. Great, but now there are certain restrictions and trade-offs for wearing heavier armors. One of these is your maximum Dexterity bonus. If you're wearing splint mail armor, you don't get your Dex bonus to AC. You could be the most nimble elf in the world with a 22 Dex, but you get absolutely no benefit to your armor class if you're wearing splint mail. Ouch.

The other effect of armor hits arcane spell casters (that would be bards, sorcerers and wizards). If you are wearing any armor at all, there is a percentage chance that any spell you cast fails. This chance can range from a mere 5% for wearing padded armor, all the way up to 40% from splint mail or half-plate armor. Oh, and shields have an ASF penalty as well, which is cumulative with the armor. So, a wizard who for some ridiculous reason wore splint mail (40%) and carried a tower shield (50%!) would have a 90% chance of spell failure. So don't do that.

Alright, that covers the armor and weapons. The next part of the chapter is for 'goods and services', which is basically everything else. This category is broken down into several subcategories: Adventuring Gear, Class Tools and Skill Kits, Clothing, Food, Drink and Lodging, and Mounts and Related Gear. Adventuring Gear is all the basic gear gamers have been using for decades; backpacks, scroll cases, flint and steel, lanterns, torches, flasks of oil, etc. Everything is given a weight value to make calculating encumbrance easy. Yes, encumbrance is a thing here, and it's just as optional as skills.

Class Tools and Skill Kits are things that the different classes would need to perform their basic functions, such as musical instruments for bards, thieves' tools, holy symbols, and spellbooks. It also includes alchemist's labs, artisan's tools, climbing equipment, etc. Clothing is just what it says, as is Food, Drink and Lodging. Mounts and Related Gear includes different kinds of saddles as well as prices for different kinds of horses.

Finally, there are 'Special and Superior Items'. We are introduced to 'masterwork' weapons and armor here, as well as something new called 'alchemical items'. These are semi-magical items that can be bought in stores alongside weapons and armor, and have interesting effects. For example, a sunrod is an iron rod that glows brightly when struck, illuminating a 30' radius and glowing for 6 hours, after which time it is useless. Finally, the prices for casting different level spells is included. Unlike previous editions, where each spell has its own particular cost, here it's just a basic calculation: The caster's level times the spell's level x 10. If the spell comes with expensive material components, you're paying that on top of the basic cost. Other factors may affect the cost, and if the caster just doesn't like you, money isn't going to help.

So, that covers the equipment chapter. Now, let's get Relgar Bloodhawk geared up, and then we can have his final character sheet available.

So, I'm looking over the starter package for rangers. The default starting package for a ranger assumes an elf, but Relgar is a half-orc. Fortunately, there are alternatives available, which take the basic starting package and modify it slightly to suit the race in question. For half-orcs, there is no change to the elf list. So, the armor listed is studded leather. I can go with that; it's better than regular leather, and it's not too heavy. Of course, Relgar isn't a spellcaster and doesn't have a Dexterity bonus to speak of, so armor type isn't going to be much of a factor in terms of the drawbacks. Still, studded is a good choice.

Next up, the weapons. The default list of weapons is longsword, shortsword, and longbow. That's great for an elf, but Relgar isn't interested in pansy weapons. He wants something serious. He wants...axes. That's right, he's going to be running at his opponents with dual-wielded axes. That should get their attention. You see a guy with a longsword and a shortsword in his hands, you're expecting a duel, some sort of swashbuckling affair. You see an angry half-orc with a couple of meat cleavers in hand, and you're going to know you're in for a fight. So, Relgar is going to dual-wield a battleaxe and a hand axe. The costs are somewhat smaller, saving him 9 gp. And he's not bothering with a longbow, either; crossbows are easier to use, and cheaper, too. That saves him an additional 25 gp. It's not going to help him upgrade his armor from studded to chain shirt, however, since the studded leather only costs 25 gp, and the chain shirt costs 100. Ouch. He could afford to upgrade to scale mail, which would give the same armor bonus as a chain shirt, but then he's into medium armor...which means no dual-wielding. So, studded it is.

The rest of the adventuring gear listed for the default ranger is fine; Relgar will just take all of that stuff. Finally, he rolls 2d4 to get his remaining gold, adding 4 to his 34 already saved, leaving him with 38 gp in his pocket. Not a bad little nest egg.

And that's it. Next, I'll post his character sheet in a separate post. And after that, Chapter Eight is all about Combat. Let's go.