Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook: Core Rulebook 1

The new Player's Handbook (PH) D&D Design Team has created a marvelous product--filled with generally clear writing and excellent artwork--containing a major change in game mechanics. The PH nonetheless manages to retain the spirit of the D&D game created by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson in 1974.The 3rd edition replaces the old movement system, denoted in confusing scale inches--which goes back even before D&D to Gygax's Chainmail rules for medieval combat--with a clear system of speed denoted in feet. Yet the 3rd edition includes familiar races and character classes. It retains the bard, cleric, druid, fighter, ranger, rogue, paladin, and wizard, and resurrects the barbarian, monk and half-orc.Fans of clerics and druids will cheer the addition of 8th- and 9th-level spells. Clerics will love the 9th-level Miracle spell, similar to a Wish. Barbarian fans will rejoice that the 3rd edition removes the unplayable restrictions of the original barbarian, even at the cost of somewhat reduced physical prowess. Fans of the monk and druid will celebrate elimination of limited levels.Each class now requires the same amount of experience to advance in level. Regardless of which class you choose, your character initially will advance rapidly because reaching the lower levels requires relatively small amounts of experience; earning a mere 1,000 experience points, for example, will gain your character second level. The 3rd edition grants each 1st level character full hit points. Combining easy advancement at lower levels with full hit points at 1st level will help keep characters alive through their fragile early days.The 3rd edition introduces a sorcerer class. The sorcerer gains access to the same spells as the wizard, gets more per day, and needn't carry spell books or prepare spells, but can't learn as large a repertoire. The sorcerer can't specialize in schools of magic like the wizard, while the wizard specialist now has some control over the school from which she can't learn spells. All spellcasters except the ranger and paladin now have access to zero-level spells, the way Gygax intended in 1982 when he introduced cantrips in Dragon magazine issues 59-61.The spellcaster will find that she's more effective because a touch spell no longer needs to penetrate an opponent's armor. She also gains the ability to counterspell an enemy's spell, which, when successful, negates the enemy's spell entirely. A rogue will find that his sneak attack comes into play more often than did the old backstab, making him more useful in combat. Your rogue or barbarian will learn to avoid a surprise attack which leaves the rest of the party flat-footed.Your warrior continues to grow in power at higher levels by gaining up to 4 attacks per round, substantial bonuses to hit, and even more hit dice. Characters continue to gain hit dice right up through 20th level. All character classes also eventually get more than one melee attack per round, but the warriors get more and get them faster than anyone except monks.Any character, regardless of race, can now belong to any class. You can play hafling paladins, dwarven rangers or anything else you choose. Any character, regardless of race, can belong to multiple classes. The 3rd edition removes limits on class combinations and maximum levels. It allows you to decide in which class your character will advance with each new level she gains. Best of all, your character gains all the skills and benefits of each level she gains in each class! You can decide, for instance, that when your 4th level wizard reaches 5th level she should take her new level as a fighter. She will remain a 4th level wizard and become 1st level fighter, adding the hit points, skill points, and combat bonus normally gained by a 1st-level fighter to her existing hit points, skill points and combat bonus. She can train as a wizard or fighter, or in another class, each time she earns a new level. Humans gain small advantages over non-humans when advancing in multiple classes.Humans gain a small advantage in acquiring skills too. The 3rd edition divides the old non-weapon proficiencies into skills, which you can "buy" with points your character earns at each level, and feats, which your character acquires more slowly. Skills include more ordinary abilities like Climb, Swim, and Wilderness Lore. Feats include more extraordinary abilities like Alertness, Endurance, and Lightning Reflexes. The 3rd edition fully integrates skills and feats into play, making often-neglected ability scores more important. Your barbarian, for example, may find the Intimidate skill quite useful, but if he has a low charisma he'll find that it won't work as often as he might like.The 3rd edition bases the results of virtually every attempted action on the roll of a 20-sided die (d20). You roll a d20 to determine initiative in combat, whether your attack hits an opponent, whether you successfully save against a spell, and whether you successfully use a skill or perform a feat. In the 3rd edition, the higher you roll on the d20, the better. A higher roll hits a higher armor class (which now sensibly rises as it improves), performs a tougher feat, gives you a faster initiative (which likewise rises as it improves), and saves against a more powerful spell. Unlike the old system, which varied between high and low rolls being better, the new system always makes high rolls better.The 3rd edition simplifies combat by generally limiting the initiative roll to the start of each encounter and eliminating weapon speeds and numbered casting times; it complicates combat with rules on movement, surprise attacks, partial actions, attacks of opportunity and being caught flat-footed. I believe that players will tend to have the most trouble adjusting to the new combat system. After a cursory examination, however, I think they'll find the adjustment worthwhile...

It's about time.WOTC has applied their lawyerly precision to the granddaddy of all role-playing games, and the result can only be described as cathartic.The first impression a veteran gamer will have is that the visuals, the feel of the game have been given a major upgrade. Quality art and image are a definite plus in the RPG world and this book's art and layout is a major leap from such dismal products as the previous version of the Player's Handbook.Diving into the rules, it becomes immediately apparent that making the game simpler and faster was a major priority. All classes now advance in levels at the same rate. Character attributes have been streamlined, the original six saving throws have been cut to three intelligently defined categories. Combat now has one (1!) initiative roll for an entire encounter. Annoying complexities like weapon speeds and size-based damage have been eliminated. Combat encounters will no longer bog down on die rolls and flipping through tables, although players will very likely be asking for more time to consider the many more tactical options they now have.The flexibility of the new rules is almost alarming. A DM under the old rules was forever looking for rules to say "no, you cannot do that" to a particularly innovative player. The combat tactics and feats in the Third Edition emphasize trade-offs. If a high level fighter wants to use all of the attacks he is allowed in a round, his movement is restricted. If a person chooses to switch weapons in combat they must now consider how they switch (sheath the old weapon, or drop it?) and what they switch to (missile weapon? Melee weapon?). Poor choices could allow an opponent an "attack of opportunity," a marvelous addition to combat rules which adds all sorts of new dimensions to the standard "charge and attack" mentality. Race/level restrictions are gone - be anything you want, but some combinations are better than others. Gain attribute points as you increase levels, multi-class as you go along... It makes a DM's head spin.The clarity of the rules, particularly in a topic as historically dreadful as spells is very impressive. While I am certain that my players will (as ever) come up with exotic ways of twisting a particular spell description, it is gratifying to see that spell descriptions have been made less ambiguous. The integrated layout (thankfully alphabetized across all levels and classes) eliminates previously standard questions like "anyone remember what level Wall of Force is?" as well as maddening entries like "This spell is exactly like the 4th level wizard spell of the same name..." (argh!).The new PH contains twenty-odd pages at the end that give a skeletal view of creatures, magic items, and other essentials to begin Third Edition play immediately without the new DMG. They are an unfortunate and necessary workaround the release schedule of TSR. It is aggravating to read the section disclaimer and think that these pages in your brand-new book might contain rules that will be superceded, or discarded as soon as next month.That aside, as a veteran of eighteen years of campaigning, I'm thrilled to have the new edition Player's Handbook on the shelf. It's a revision that will add new players to the fold, and serve as a shot in the arm for long-time gamers.

Having grown up with the dnd Basic Box and Expert Box Sets with Keep on the Borderlands and Isle of Dread in the early 80's, I saw the realease of 3.0 edition as a much needed update in 2000.The wonky negative armor class and Thaco systems were tossed and skills were finally made into a functional part of the game.One can argue that 3.0/3.5 were made overly complex (hence the creation of 4e and 5e); however, the sheer uninhibited ability to create virtually any type of player character (pc) or non-player character (npc; for the dm's), make this the ultimate edition of dnd in my opinion.One is only limited by one's imagination in this edition. Throw in the best Monster Manual and DM Guide and you have the power of limitless options at your fingertips.Furthermore, the Cleric class in 3.0, with the ability to "cast off" spells to create more healing is far more useful than any of the cleric archetypes presented in the more recent editions. In 3.0/3.5, clerics were the tanks that Circle of the Moon druids are in 5e.The entire Pathfinder system was spawned from this edition of dnd!Thus, while 5e has its positive features (scaleable spells and a less complicated skill system to name a couple), this is simply the best edition for anyone that is serious about their dnd and craves more flexibility in creating unique and detailed characters.

Chegou em perfeito estado. Livro top!

Super exciting to find a 3rd edition players handbook!

Fantastic book, exactly what my son was looking for.Condition stated was very good but when it arrived there was a lot of staining in the first 20 pages, apart from that, we are thoroughly happy with the purchase.

thank you for the product it came on-time and in the conditioned it said i was i will recommend you to my friends

Another must have D&D book. Don't you just love the amazing covers on these books?