3.0 PHB: worth getting?

[Jacob_Orlove]

I got back into D&D well after 3.0 had turned into 3.5, so I always just played with the 3.5 rules. But now that 4.0 is on the horizon, the FLGS is having a sale on 3.0 PHBs (they have a stack just sitting around unsold). I have one 3.5 phb, but I was wondering if it'd be a good idea to pick up 3-5 3.0 PHBs, in case I can get a group going for it.

Basically, is 3.0 worse than 3.5?

We'll probably be doing minor house ruling, although if I don't bother to get the DMG or MM, we'll almost certainly throw WBL and magic items out the window and just ad-hoc everything.

[the_taken]

If they're mint or near-mint, buy then sell in 50 yrs.

[Jacob_Orlove]

That's not worth the storage space, much less the hassle of taking them with me when I move.

[cthulhu]

Not really, especially if your friends are the sort of people to have laptops etc. It's pretty fesiable for them to just get the SRD - I think the 3.5/3.0 ones are both out there still.

[Rob_Knotts]

I'd skip the sale. It's not that hard to get used 3.5 copies nowadays (try a few used book stores), and they'll only get cheaper and more plentiful in the coming months (especially say, 8-9 months from now?). One of the beauties of new systems, if you're satisfied with the system system that preceded it, collecting the books becomes much more economical.

[erik]

I'd say that for better/worseness 3.0 and 3.5 are nearly identical. My personal preference is for 3.0, but I'm biased. Fvcking weapon sizes.

The differences are mostly minor tweaks across the board, especially with respect to spells. You will find that there are tons of changes that make spells different largely only for the sake of making the editions different. If you know 3.5 backwards and forwards you are going to get a major mindfvck done on you when you start confusing rules between editions since they are so similar, and the changes are so inane and uncalled for that they will be hard to keep straight.

If you are used to 3.5, then I'd recommend simply sticking with 3.5 since as Rob has noted, the books are likely to become filling bargain bins in the near future.

It actually baffles me that your gaming store hasn't already had the 3.0 stuff on 50% clearance or better- I know my local ones did like... years ago. I actually bought a "new" 3.0 PHB since my first one had pretty much disintegrated from much use, and when my hometown friends do get together to play DnD, it is still 3.0. I'm actually planning on a roadtrip to missouri soon to play some more 3.0 DnD with a friend who is doing some time in a college down there.

[Jacob_Orlove]

Oh, they used to be $10 each. Now they're cheaper, which is why I asked.

[Crissa]

At that point they're getting to be cheaper than printing copies.

-Crissa