deimos3428 wrote:This has nothing to do with collecting except I was looking through my 1st Ed. PHBs and had one of those "wow, never noticed that before" moments...

Pg. 33, paragraph above "ALIGNMENT":

"Note that this does not allow spell use while armor clad, such as an elven fighter/magic user is able to do." (underline added)

My next character is definitely going to be an elven F/MU in full plate

Damn, now I have to go and check this out....

.....rifling through boxes....

ahhh, interesting...... NICE.....
checking some more....

DOH!! the highest levels he can attain is fighter level 7 / magic user level 11 and then only if he has strenghth of 18 & intelligence of 18. Damn racial class limitations!!! Oh well, guess you can't have everything

I guess that would be the "game balance" then...but I had always assumed they couldn't wear armor at all.

Actually, I didn't know that either. That's why that little tidbit caught my attention so much , and that after reading it, I just had to check it out .

ifearyeti wrote:I recently found something interesting on page 30 of deities and demigods in the Celtic mythos under item name of tathlum. It's not necessarily a rule but I thought it was pretty weird.

It is one of those "truth is stranger than fiction instances". I figure it has to be based on some old historical celtic practice.

Hey, is that in the Deities & Demigods version with or without Cthulhu? lol.

Going back to the tathlum. I have a long held interest in mythology, expecially European and Celtic. I have exhausted my library on the matter and can tell you this it's not much, but it's a start.

In the legends of the Danai and the Da Danaans there is a hero/demigod called Lugh (Lug), often considered to be an Anglicised Perseus. At the end of his adventures he returns to Erin (Ireland) carrying with him his magical sword (the sword of light) and a tathlum. This is not well described, but obviously because it is mentioned an important item.

A dictionary/encyclopeadia I have of mythology from 1911 says a tathlum is a magical sling shot, but does not reference this description.

Anyone else have any idea of it's aetiology?

A tathlum is supposedly the lime-encased head of an enemy. When thrown at someone in battle, it is devastating. Supposedly.
bclarkie, you can indeed have everything. Just play 3E. Make a half dragon/half mind flayer fighter/wizard/monk/bard/paladin. Should be easy to pick up a +27 holy vorpal flaming bastard sword of allslaying. Quite realistic, IMHO.

That just makes me even more glad I never wasted any money on that crap

Amen,
3E is terrible. The guys that invented this, have to be the same guys that came up with the "new" coke concept back in the 80's.

Epicrates_cenchria wrote:Well I am glad it's not just me that think 3E is a total bag of SH*TE.

Having been out of the game for a while I snapped up a 52 book collection of 3E (still a good deal @ £110 ($200) I suppose). Looked through about three or four and had to get my old 1Es out to remind me what a good game was. The books remain in the box they came in.

I thought I had just got old and set in my ways!

Damn right that is a good deal regardless of how crappy the product really is. Unbelievably, there is actually a fairly decent market out there for 3 & 3.5. If you sold them individually on Ebay you would probably double that price if not more.

Perhaps I should give 3E a bit more reading time, but fear my first conclusion was right I AM old and crotchety.

One of my big issues was the number of books that seem to be required. When I started playing 1E there were only three books and therefore no surprises for anyone. I remember the launches of Deities and Demigods, MMII, Fiend Folio, Dungeoneers and Wilderness Survival Guides and bought them the day they were released. 30minute walk, 45 ont he train and then an hour walk the other end. The day FF was released I forgot the games store was closed that day and had to make the journey twice. The joys of youth. Now I would just pre-order it on line and have it delivered.

In 1E I felt a number of these rules were unnecessary and took a certain amount of imagination and play away from DM and player alike. Now to be completely up with the rules you need a samll library.

While I am sure there is good in these books, they often feel like glossy coffee-table books rather than serious game accessories, over designed and over illustrated. This is what offend my gaming sensibilities. 1E always seemed if it wasn't 100% necessary it wasn't in. This allowed gaming groups to set rules that suited their situation style of play. I never joined a group that used spells the way the manuals described it.

Perhaps I will take a random selection with me on my business trip and try harder to understand the new system.

I guess the good thing about D20, and the part that can be translated into 1E, is the D20 system. it IS easier than using 10 charts. Skills are acceptable. Feats are a joke. Great Cleave?
3E is for the new generation of video powergaming kids. That's why it sells.