We are all well rested, and the Cheetos dust has settled from PAX East. It was a glorious time, as this video will attest. But now, we’re back to work, serving all of you out there hot and fresh mounds of mouthwatering geeky morsels. For today, I’d like to share with you a little insight into the newly released Player’s Handbook 3 by the D&D gang over at Wizards of the Coast. The source book contains a few new races, some great new classes, and the expected shift of the new 4th edition system to include an alternative to multiclassing (now called “hybrid characterization”) and skill powers. The book separates itself from earlier source books — such as Player’s Handbook 2 — in that it doesn’t just contain new information about previously established tenets (classes, races, powers, feats, etc.). Instead, PH3 aims to alter game play (for those who choose to embrace it) to a more mixed and varied experience. Let’s check it out.
Bonnie and Clyde would have ended differently if it were about these two.
The cover art of the PH3 depicts two menacing figures, one which should be a welcome blast from the past and another, which to most probably looks unfamiliar. The Minotaur has returned as a playable race, and his companion on the cover is actually a Githzerai, a race of individuals once dominated in thrall by Illithids (mindflayers). Both have — until recently — been sequestered to the Monster Manuals but now have their days in the sun. I’m happy to see Wizards opening up the Monster Manuals’ doors and allowing some fascinating races into the wild. Other new playable races include the Shardmind (image below, left), a being who is nearly entirely comprised of raw arcane energy and has an appearance made up of crystalline shards; and the Wilden (image below, right), a being straight from nature, usually depicted as covered in brambles, leaves, and branches (think dryad).
There may be a world of difference between the other two races, as you can see here, but they provide fascinating forays into imaginative dimensions of game play. The Minotaur, Githzerai, Shardmind, and Wilden races represent Wizards of the Coast’s successful attempts to open players to beings that might not be wholly biological or so imbued with nature that the character can feel every grass root ripped up or every flower being watered.
Furthermore, the new races are chances for the players to embrace different modes of RP; now the players need to generate intriguing backstories to illuminate why one decided to leave the protected cave fortresses of their people or emerge from the forest trees and bushes to witness the rest of the world or break from intense meditation and self-reflection to finally embark on a spiritual quest. And, ultimately, the new races ask characters to answer — for themselves and the party — why a being of pure energy has decided to join the land of mortal flesh…what could possibly be occurring that demands such a descent into the mortal realm?
The new classes introduced within the PH3 are all connected to the psionic powers. If you all recall, I occasionally embody a little skepticism when it comes to the potency of psionic anything. Every once in a while, I actually don’t want to level an entire city because I batted an eyelash at a particularly well-faceted Shardmind lady. I must say that Wizards pulled back on the efficacy of psionic powers and balanced them as playable classes. What I particularly enjoy AND appreciate is that the psionic “powers” are divided amongst several classes — just as we have the Martial, Divine, Arcane, and Primal Powers source books, so to will we now have the Psionic Powers. That alone, I believe, gives players more agency over the powers and not the other way around.
I said, “Explode now, please.”
The classes new to D&D from the PH3 are: the Ardent, the Battlemind, the Monk, the Psion, the Runepriest, and the Seeker. Though all are sourced by psionic power, each carries its own specific role (leader, defender, striker, or controller) and has fleshed-out purposeful powers for game play. The Monk and the Psion return from previous editions, just as fascinating as before. PH3 maintains the Monk’s ability to fight unarmed an still deal considerable damage. And, while the Psion still maintains her mindcrigger* abilities, her gamut of powered effects is spread wider, allowing a varied strategy for each individual combat or RP encounter. The remaining four classes are essentially psionic versions of previously established classes. This I love, as I’ve been wondering about Warlords, Paladins, or Rangers who take a more meditative and cerebral approach to combat, tapping into the energy that ebbs and flows from battle rather than causing the entropy him or herself. And, I’m just gonna put it out there: the Ardent is a freakin’ Jedi, and now my emotional center fueled by cartoon crossovers is satiated.
As mentioned above, another option is available to players beyond multiclassing. Before, you would have to take feats to multiclass and lose none of the features of either class. Now, with Hybrid Characters, you lose an occasional feature from both classes but you don’t have to use any feats gain all the benefits. Instead, it is as if you were trained from birth to be both a Fighter and a Rogue and are able to experience similar features with none of the cost. Granted, you do become a bit nerfed in hp, armor proficiencies, and healing surges; however, you can choose from any of the two classes’ powers to fill out your character’s power library.
Finally, the only addition to the PH series that I feel a bit skeptical toward is the advent of Skill Powers. Essentially, you can replace any utility power associated with your class with one of the Skill Powers. The only prerequisite is that you are trained in the associated skill. These Skill Powers include, as an example, the Heal Utility power, an encounter power that allows the target to spend a healing surge when this power is used. There is no skill check involved; it just happens. Here’s how they appear in the book and would appear on your character sheet:
Now, I just don’t know how I feel about this. Yes, it’s nice to have specific utilities for trained skills, and it does lower the sometimes superfluous amount of dice rolling for every possible scenario. But I feel it may detract from the RP in a different way. I’m all about having players describe exactly what they want to do when they use skills — then I determine the DC based on their creativity and ingenuity. The flavor is richer, and I get the sense that the player feels more accomplished upon success. To be honest, I feel a little like the RP elements of the game are being encroached upon a little. Of course, I have to play test it first before I make any solid final opinions, but my skepty senses are definitely tingling.
Overall, however, Wizards of the Coast has presented a handsome and intriguing volume with the PH3. Despite one or two minor twinges I had in surveying the book, I thoroughly feel Wizards has hit one out of the park here. Great new races, fascinating new classes, even more ingenious feats, and another seemingly endless array of wondrous items successfully deliver fantastic and viable new options for players (and DMs). Dibs on being a Minotaur Ardent. A half-bull Jedi? Yeah, I’ll be doing that.
The post [Dr. DM] Psionics are back: This particular DM's review of D&D Player's Handbook 3 first appeared on Pixelated Geek.