Hi, my name is Charles and I like Third Edition Dungeons & Dragons (3e, 3ED&D, 3.5e, or 3.5ED&D*). I know that probably sounds odd considering that the game is wrapped up in moth balls and that most of the people online who love D&D mean either: Original D&D (OD&D); one of the Basic versions of D&D edited by either Holmes, Moldvay, or Mentzer (HBD&D, MOBD&D, or MEBD&D respectively); Fourth Edition D&D (4e or 4ED&D); Fifth Edition D&D (5e or 5ED&D); Pathfinder; or some retro-styled indie variant of the earlier editions of D&D (like Swords & Wizardry or OSRIC). The focus always seems to fall on these other versions of the game with Second Edition D&D (2e or 2ED&D) and 3e receiving little love among the role-playing game blogs.
Trust me, I know.
So why focus on 3e? Because I fucking love it. 3e was the game that got me to actually spend time on D&D and it was the one that got me playing role-playing games after years of wanting to but never having the opportunity. It was the game that opened itself up to me and that I completely got from the get go; so much so, that I've run well over 800 sessions of it in the last decade. This, then, is my love letter to Third Edition.
This series will be looking at 3e, warts and all. It won't cover every book that was produced but it will focus on the ones that I liked and that got me excited to play the game. Some of the parts that I'll be looking at might sound a bit boring (I'm looking at you grapple rules) but stick with me and I promise it'll be worth it. Before we go any further though you need to remember two things about Third Edition: (1) we always, always round our fractions down; (2) the math you learned to get here will be meaningless.
Welcome to Third Edition; you're in for a fun time.
