[ Last updated: Fri Jan 9 13:26:39 2004 ]
I prefer to use official rules, as published by WotC. However, I don't like being held hostage into subscribing to a magazine in order to get that errata. So once errata has been published on the web, it's official from my point of view. This includes Sage Advice and official comments from WotC on their bulletin board system, currently at http://boards.wizards.com/
Level Training
Up until now, level training was required for advancement to levels 5 through 9. Advancing to level 10 required no training and no additional expense. The purpose behind this technique was to reflect that very low class levels shouldn't require much training, while at the higher levels the character reaches a point where they become "self taught". It's the middle levels that require "help" to advance.
Having said all that, tracking the cost and time required to train has become more bookkeeping than role-playing, so I'm dropping it from future campaigns. It will continue to be used in Uncle's Keep, since it wouldn't be fair to the players that have had to go through this if other players did not have to.
The encumbrance rules will be used and players are expected to have their character's equipment weight available in just a few seconds notice. In the real world, this means using software to track the numbers and guess-timating any variance. Combat in 3rd Edition depends heavily on the movement rate of the combatants, hence the need for tracking weight so closely. If you have a longsword, +1, +2 vs. giants and you don't have a specific known weight, use the weight of the closest similar item; in this case, a normal longsword.
There are times when divulging game information to the player may affect the way that player will role-play their character. In order to minimize this effect, the DM will focus on describing the world to the character, and will relay appropriate game terms to the player on an as-needed basis. What this means is that the DM will not be making judgmental statements or offering opinions on what the characters see. If you ask, for example, whether Brobun is angry, the DM's likely reply will be that Brobun's face contains a grimace and there's a deep growl coming from his throat. It's up to the characters to decide what this expression means.
If I believe that asking a player to roll a d20 would give away some information that the character shouldn't have, I may just roll the d20 myself and use the value. However, I may ask the player to roll and then invert the roll on my own, so that 11-20 becomes 1-10, and 1-10 becomes 11-20. This prevents the player from using metagame knowledge to calculate saving throw DCs, AC values, and so forth.
This section tries to identify common problems or questions that arise during the casting, research, memorization/praying, resting, or other concerns for spellcasters.