What’s this I hear about D&D having yet another revision? The 3rd Edition PHB was released back in 2000, but recent word is that they’ve been rewriting the PHB, DMG, and MM for what is being reffered to as version 3.5.

Let’s break down some of the new info versus some of the old. In this case, the Ogre character stats from Dragon Issue 304.

Ogre Characters

There were already rules for making monsterous characters, between the DMG and the Monster Manual. I’ll start with the 3.5 version for Dragon 304:

3.5 version

Abilities: Str +10, Dex -2 Con +4, Int -4, Cha -4
Size: Large
Face/Reach: 10/10
Darkvision: 60ft
Speed: 40ft
Racial Hit Dice: 4 levels of “giant” provides 4d8 Hit Dice
Racial Attack Bonus: 4 levels of Giant provides +3
Racial Saves: 4 levels of Giant provides Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +1
Racial Skills: 4 levels of Giant provides (2 + Int modified) * 7 and racial class skills of Climb, Listen, and Spot.
Racial Feats: Simple Weapon Proficiency, Martial Weapon Proficiency (Great Club), and Medium Armor Proficiency. 4 levels of Giant provides an additional two feats.
Natural Armor: +5
Languages: Common and Giant
Bonus Languages: Dwarvens, Orc, Goblin, Terran
Level Adjustment: +2 along with the 4 levels of Giant for an ECL of 6

3.0 Version

Abilities: Str +10, Dex -2, Con +4, Int (see DMG table 2-6), Cha (See DMG table 2-5)
Size: Large
Face/Reach: 5/10
Darkvision: none
Speed: 40ft (30′ in Hide Armor per PHB104)
Racial Hit Dice: 4d8 Hit Dice
Racial Attack Bonus: 4 Giant HD provides +3
Racial Saves: 4 HD of Giant provides Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +1
Racial Skills: 4 HD of Giant provides 4, with racial modifiers of +2 for Spot, +2 for Listen
Racial Feats: Medium Armor Proficiency, Martial Weapon Proficiency (Great Club), plus one feat
Natural Armor: +5
Languages: Giant
Bonus Languages: Common
Level Adjustment: +5 per DMG22. This is the moral equivalent of 1 per HD + 1 for being Large and strong. Trolls, in contrast, are listed on DMG22 as being +8, though they have 6 HD and are also Large. Of course, they also have remarkably good physical (Str, Dex, Con) stats and Regeneration to boot, so this seems quite fair.

How they compare

It looks at present like D&D 3 is going to be more accomadating to munchkins that want to play bizaare uber-von-wierdo characters. The 3.5 Ogre has many more skill points, more feats, better access to languages, the sudden appearance of a Darkvision ability, all at the cost of a single Effective Character Level. Seems a more-than-fair trade in favor of the prospective munchkin.

My advice to future DMs who wish to use version3.5 rules regarding character creation? Make sure the bad guys focus on killing the character that sticks out like the big fat twink that he is. Game mechanics don’t account for everything, and NPC reactions will have to pull a little extra weight in keeping play balanced for everybody involved.