25 Years Ago...

Alright, this is the last month of the countdown before we get to the release of the Player's Handbook . Our online character spotlight is  Imsh, the Half-Orc Barbarian . And this is a very interesting character, because while we have 1st, 3rd and 7th-level versions of this character, he is our first example of how multi-classing works in 3rd edition. So, he's really strong (17 at 1st level), and really ugly (Charisma of 6) and dumb (Intelligence of 8). He's fast, has lots of hit points, and likes to use a really big axe. What is it with axes in this edition? I've hardly seen any swords in the artwork so far. Half-orcs get darkvision like dwarves do; the other special abilities seem to be barbarian-related (rage and fast movement). At 3rd level, we now have a multiclassed Barbarian 2/Rogue 1 character, so he still has his barbarian abilities but also the abilities of a 1st-level rogue, including his skills. He's added three skills (Move Silently, Spot, and Search), ...

Closing in on the release date, and we've got a bigger batch to go through today. In addition to the Countdown article, Dragon had its annual 'dragons' issue, including our first look at a 3rd edition monster writeup. But first...we have  Ember, the Human Monk  to look at. They formatted this sheet differently from the prior ones. It's not spaced out very well, and everything is listed in a column format without abbreviations. It's the same information as the previous characters, but it just feels off. And the artwork makes it clear that Ember is not from the far East, but rather the Dark Continent. Interestingly, the levels on this sheet are 1st, 3rd and 7th. I'm not sure why they did the switch, but there it is. For 1st level, Ember's top stats are Strength and Wisdom, and she's skilled in acrobatic-type skills. At 3rd, I noticed that her movement speed went up, and I don't see a magic item to explain that, so I'll assume it's a class featu...

Again, two things on the list as we get closer to the release date. This time, the online character is  Tordek, the Dwarven Fighter . He's got the usual 1st, 4th and 7th-level writeups. His first-level sheet shows that he's using an Exotic weapon, the dwarven waraxe. He had to take the proficiency for it as a separate feat. He also took Weapon Focus (dwarven waraxe), which according to the previous Countdown article means he's getting a +1 to his attack rolls with it. We get the dwarven special abilities here of darkvision (replacing infravision, but different from what the elves got), Intuit unusual stonework (+2), which is undefined at this time, as well as a saving throw bonus vs. poison and spells and a +1 bonus to hit goblinoids and orcs. Other than that, not much else of interest here. On his 4th-level writeup we see how the fighter bonus feats add up quickly; he now has five feats, adding Improved Initiative, Dodge, and Specialization with his dwarven waraxe. His 7th...

April 2000, and we're four months away from the launch of the 3rd edition. This month there are, as before, two things to cover: the Rogue character on the WotC Archive, and Dragon 270's Countdown article. The online character is Lidda, the Halfling Rogue . The brief description at the beginning doesn't give any new insights into how this rogue is different from a prior edition thief, but we'll see what comes up. Her Dexterity is an impressive 17 at 1st level, and bumps to 18 at 4th level. She has plenty of skills, as promised, but there appears to be one missing; she should have a minimum of ten based on her Int bonus of +2, but there are only nine listed. Her 7th-level sheet includes Gauntlets of Dexterity +2, which boosts her Dex to 20 and a +5 bonus on Dexterity things (most of her skills, not to mention her AC and ranged attacks). There's not much else to note on this sheet, except that there are no racial special abilities listed for this halfling. You would t...

There are two things related to third edition in the month of March, 2000. First up, we'll cover the online article that follows up from last month's Countdown article: The wizard character sheet. Next will be the promised article on the Rogue from Dragon #269. First up, our second iconic character after Jozan the Cleric: Mialee the Elven Wizard . She's got the same three writeups at 1st, 4th and 7th levels. Her highest ability score is Dexterity, giving her a +3 bonus to Dexterity things. Like Jozan, her most important ability score (in her case Intelligence) has a 15, bumped to 16 at 4th level. Surprisingly, since she's an elf, her lowest score is a measly 8 in Charisma. An antisocial or ugly elf. Well, there's a first time for everything, I guess. And she's got a lot of hit points for a wizard at 7 with no Con bonus. She has the Toughness feat, which adds 3 points, so she's at her maximum at 1st level. She also carries a shortbow, and later on adds a long...

Okay, so there are six more issues before the game is released, so I'm going to just cover two per post before getting into the Player's Handbook. But there are other things that get published related to 3e, so I'll cover those as we get to them chronologically. ************************ Dragon #268 Cover-dated February 2000, this issue introduces us to the 3rd edition wizard. And dear Lord, I don't like the art work on this guy. I get not wanting the typical 'old guy with a robe and a beard', but this is just...no. He looks like a mixture of Harry Potter and the Punisher with more pouches than a pack of kangaroos. I can't take him seriously at all. Alright, so let's take a look at how the new wizard works mechanically. First, the schools of magic are still there, but there's no 'opposition' schools. So when you become a specialist, you still have to forego learning at least one other school of magic, but you get to pick which one you want so ...

Hello again, everyone. So today I'm going to cover three issues of Dragon Magazine and their Countdown to 3rd Edition articles. The first one is from Dragon #265, cover-dated November 1999. This one is really just a brief recap of the Gen Con 1999 announcement of the upcoming 3rd Edition. The most significant event of that announcement is the return of both Gary Gygax AND Dave Arneson to the fold, talking about their own gaming experience as well as their enthusiasm for the new edition. Dave also spoke about his visit to the set of the Dungeons & Dragons  movie. The monk, barbarian, and sorcerer classes were introduced, along with some of the new 3e monsters, including something called a 'dropper', which apparently is a replacement for the piercer. Two computer games ( Pools of Radiance II: The Ruins of Myth Drannor and Neverwinter Nights ) were also previewed, both of which use the new rules. There are some pictures from the convention which have amusing captions, suc...

Hello, everyone. This is a separate blog that I have started in order to work on a fairly involved and lengthy project that would otherwise takeover my regular blog,  Sprigg's Scribblings , What is it, you may ask? Well, nothing all that impressive; I'm just going to be doing a retrospective on the 3rd edition of Dungeons and Dragons, which was released 25 years ago on August 10, 2000. And I'm going to be covering...all of it. The rulebooks. The modules. The splatbooks. The campaign settings. The rules expansions. Even the web archives of the myriad of articles that WOTC published over the lifespan of the rules. All of it. Yes, I'm utterly crazy. But besides that, I never really got into 3rd edition at the time. The group I was with was made up of hardcore old school players who had no interest in getting a new edition, and at the time I wasn't keen on 'new things'. So, I stayed away for a while until a friend of mine interested me in the Neverwinter Nights ...