player's handbook 3.5

[teefal]

Hi all,

Got the 3.5 Player's Handbook today, and while I expected there to be many differences, I'm seeing more than expected with spells, etc.  I expected many PnP spells to be missing from NWN, but there's similiar spells with different names & stats.   I know NWN was based on 3.0.  Is the 3.0 Player's Handbook closer to NWN?   Is it worth buying a used copy of 3.0?

BTW, the first five pages of this book explain NWN better than the entire NWN manual

[Zhofe]

I wouldn't think it is worth buying a D&D handbook to help to understand silly old NWN, especially considering they can go for about 30 bucks a pop.

[Dorganath]

NWN is based on D&D 3.0 rules.  There are some spells, skills and feats which are specific to NWN (flame weapon comes to mind).  There are a few others which were changed for NWN.  Some of these deviations from the standard 3rd Ed. D&D rules were due to the difficulties and challenges in taking a PnP game and bringing it to life in software.

Furthermore, there are some spells, feats and skills which are specific to Layo.  They are either fully custom and unique to Layo, or they are adjusted to fit better within Layo.

The D&D rulebooks are the generic starting point.  NWN is set in the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, which has its own unique additions to the standard rules, and is a "high-magic" world. Layonara is based on the NWN engine but it is its own campaign setting and is a "low-magic" world, which is evidenced by the best weapon being +3, the overall lack of +7 Rings of Protection and Armor of Repelling Everything Short of a Tactical Nuke, and so forth.

So all this said, the rulebooks are a good reference for understanding the hows and whys of the game system in general.  However, due to a variety of reasons, not all D&D rules are in place, or even possible, within the NWN engine and/or Layonara environment.  And when in doubt, the Layonara handbook takes precedence over the standard D&D rules and NWN rules.

In other words, don't worry too much about the differences between rule sets.  The books do a better job of describing classes and such than the NWN guides.  Keep in mind there are some classes in Layonara which override those in the D&D Player's Handbook.

[teefal]

Actually, I've been enjoying reading it.  It explains many of the core concepts much better than the NWN, such as dice rolling, skill checks, why you'd what certain bonuses, etc.  We got ours new at Amazon for $20.

[Talan Va'lash]

acctually, flame weapon is a PnP spell, its darkfire that was made up for NWN

[Dorganath]

Hmmm...Maybe in 3.5, but I don't have the suppliment.  *shrugs*

3.0 doesn't have Flame Weapon as a PnP spell.

There's Flame Blade, a neat little Druid spell that forms a blade of flame that springs forth from your hand like a scimitar.

There's Flame Arrow, Flame Strike, but no Flame Weapon.

[Talan Va'lash]

by jove youre right.. I conceede the point.

Wonder where I got that idea.


Edit:  I like that druid spell.. wonder why its not in NWN... and for that matter, where are all the detect spells?  At least detect alignment would be usefull if there is a way to script that, since many spell effects, and some item effects are alignment dependant.  Perhaps it could be scripted so that the result would show up in the chat or sever message window on a sucessfull casting? hmm, maybe i'll put this in suggestions.

[Zhofe]

Well, to explain my point better Teefal, it is kinda silly that sense you have a 3.5 book to go back and buy 3.0 just for understanding NWN.

I would work on building a 3.5 handbook collection, getting all the core books and then the suppliments and so on ...

[cappyra]

I don't think it's silly at all.  Books are cool and I have bought D&D stuff just to read it. =)

[Varnart]

Flame weapon existed in 3.0, I believe it's in Magic of Faerun

[Dorganath]

Varnart - 7/24/2005  4:52 AM

Flame weapon existed in 3.0, I believe it's in Magic of Faerun

It does not exist in the base 3.x rules, however.  Magic of Faerun is a suppliment for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting.  And yes, the default NWN is set in the FR setting, which is probably why Flame Weapon exists in the game at all.  This topic was originally founded upon the differences between stock 3rd Ed. rules/spells/etc. and those implemented in NWN.

[MorphlingROR]

Actually a lot of spells added in NWN expansions came from Magic of Faerun, starting from simple cantrips like Electric Jolt and Acid Splash to everyone's favourites like Firebrand and Undeath to Death.

[MorphlingROR]

Talan Va'lash - 7/22/2005  3:05 AM

acctually, flame weapon is a PnP spell, its darkfire that was made up for NWN

That's not entirely true. Darkfire spell comes from Magic of Faerun book as well. Only in that book it has quite a different effect. Instead of enhancing a weapon, it creates an invisible flame which the caster can use every round as a missile to make touch attacks that deal fire damage.