D&D 3E/3.5 Is there an active 3.0 Community somewhere?

[glass]

Just sell a 5e community on the idea that their characters end their turns facing in one direction. That's close enough.

Only horses (and similar "large long" creatures) had facing in 3.0, and that was largely by accident. Otherwise, facing worked the same way as in 3.5, 4e, and 5e (which is to say, there wasn't any).

Giant In the Playground forums used to be one of the most active places for the 3e crowd (years ago, haven't checked in a long while), but with the ubiquitous nature of 5e things have slowed for 3e considerably across the internet.

The 3e forum is still pretty active (I don't have an account there, but I read it sometimes on my phone) but it seems to mostly be 3.5 not 3.0. Although if the OP wants to get some 3.0 discussion going, there might be the best bet (either there or here - maybe petition @Morrus for a 3.0-specific tag if there isn't one already). Either way, definitely better than a Discord (since almost anything is better than a Discord).

_
glass.

 

[sebecloki]

I'm feeling this thread so much recently. I don't know if my feelings about why I like 3.0 are similar to others -- there was this time before 3.5 when 3.0 was just more options, but not this crazy char op minigame about builds. Prestige classes were just 2e kits. Save vs. die effects, and you just go get resurrected.

Stuff I like:
43 skills! They just keep cutting them down every edition. Aggghhh!!! I don't want stuff consolidated.
Stuff exists because it's classic D&D -- like two handed ranger fighting. It doesn't have to make sense (clerics and maces), but it's the same 2e stuff I grew up with, and I just love it.
Prestige classes are more just weird ideas or converted kits instead of finely tuned mechanical ideas.
There was an approach more to character building of 'just pick some stuff that seems funny/weird/evocative' instead of planning out 20 levels ahead of time.

I'm hard core feeling the need to play some 3.0 again -- the WoTC books, the Moongoose encylopedia arcane series, and some of the edge studios compilations of prestige classes and other material. I can only do play by post, but I'd love to run a nostalgia game on discord if anyone wants to do that.

And to fill out the discussion -- gianttip is basically 3.5. There's some fascinating homebrew stuff there, both settings and rules, but it's very focused on the 3.5 optimization and mechanics-focused approach. Even the 3.5 has really died down the last few years, but there's definitely not a strong 3.0 only presence there, even if stuff from that edition is sometimes used in 3.5 games.

 

[sebecloki]

Just to add to this some more -- I think I'm unusual in my exhaustion with the character op game, because I actually really like complex rules. I just like the klunky, non-elegant stuff from the 1990s like Earthdawn 1e, Rolemaster, Palladium Fantasy 2e, and Players Options Skills and Powers (certainly no kind of elegant design, and not even compatible with the other players options books really). I loved and played the 2.5 stuff, and was really excited for 3.0 in 2000 because it let us do stuff like play halfling and dwarf wizards for the first time, and had prestige classes for casting thieves and other concepts you couldn't really do in 2e. I just play rogues and rogue/fighters mainly. I don't care about being the strongest party member. I made assassin characters because I liked Artemis Entreri from the Drizzt novels, not because it was a good prestige class. I was just excited there were rules for assassins again for the first time since 1st edition (I guess they were in Scarlet Brotherhood, but that was very late, and not really a core book anyway). I started with 2e, and there were lots of kit options, but there were racial character level maximums and classes you couldn't pick if you were, for example, a dwarf. There were no half orcs. 3.0 was so exciting because it brought back stuff from 1e -- there were no TSR fan sites and you couldn't easily buy the old books. I had to photocopy assassin from the library copy of 1e, and could only play thief acrobats and cavaliers when I got together with a cousin who owned unearthed arcana. But 3.0 just had all this new stuff I'd been wanting to do forever. It was an exciting time!

 

[GMMichael]

Just to add to this some more -- I think I'm unusual in my exhaustion with the character op game, because I actually really like complex rules. I just like the klunky, non-elegant stuff from the 1990s like Earthdawn 1e, Rolemaster, Palladium Fantasy 2e, and Players Options Skills and Powers (certainly no kind of elegant design, and not even compatible with the other players options books really). I loved and played the 2.5 stuff, and was really excited for 3.0 in 2000 because it let us do stuff like play halfling and dwarf wizards for the first time, and had prestige classes for casting thieves and other concepts you couldn't really do in 2e. I just play rogues and rogue/fighters mainly. I don't care about being the strongest party member. I made assassin characters because I liked Artemis Entreri from the Drizzt novels, not because it was a good prestige class. I was just excited there were rules for assassins again for the first time since 1st edition (I guess they were in Scarlet Brotherhood, but that was very late, and not really a core book anyway). I started with 2e, and there were lots of kit options, but there were racial character level maximums and classes you couldn't pick if you were, for example, a dwarf. There were no half orcs. 3.0 was so exciting because it brought back stuff from 1e -- there were no TSR fan sites and you couldn't easily buy the old books. I had to photocopy assassin from the library copy of 1e, and could only play thief acrobats and cavaliers when I got together with a cousin who owned unearthed arcana. But 3.0 just had all this new stuff I'd been wanting to do forever. It was an exciting time!

So, you have some thoughts on the subject? I think you're right about 3.0, and the cool thing about it is that it's unpolished - just like the editions before it. Stuff was a little broken, because that's how it's supposed to be! In that sense, 3.5 was a blessing because it meant that 3.0 could stay D&D while further editions got more and more corporate.

 

[GreyLord]

3e definately had charop with it. It's one of the reasons they stated for 3.5, to try to fix the problems of min/max that people were doing with 3e.

3e was more influenced during the playtest for how they played 2e, which is why it was broken by min/max'ers so quickly when it came out. They hadn't expected that so didn't play test in that fashion.

Still, I enjoy 3e as much as 3.5 in play (though probably enjoy PF 1e more than either overall). If played with people just wanting to have fun and not focused on trying to break the game for their own power fantasies, it is a pretty great game.

 

[DeadlyUematsu]

3.5e failed to fix the charop problem of 3e because they made it play less like 1e/2e AD&D instead of re-introducing the decisions that worked in the prior editions and enforcing the 1e/2e play style.

 

[haakon1]

EnWorld was the original 3e fan site … I never left 3.5e and still am here.

 

[rabindranath72]

I am curious if anyone can recommend an online 3.0 (NOT 3.5) community that is friendly and active. Reddit, facebook group, traditional message board, whatever. Thanks.

Hi, have you find such a place? I have been itching to get back to 3.0 for ages!

 

[rabindranath72]

I am curious if anyone can recommend an online 3.0 (NOT 3.5) community that is friendly and active. Reddit, facebook group, traditional message board, whatever. Thanks.

Have you found such a place? I have been itching to run a 3.0 campaign for ages!

EDIT: sorry for the double post, the browser crashed while I was typing the first post so I re-posted it.

 

[DeadlyUematsu]

Not Reynard but I haven't found a community for 3.0e. Might have to make one myself.